What kind of fat do you prefer?
Posted: December 30, 2006 Filed under: Uncategorized 5 Comments »
We had dinner at our friends’ house the other night. The subject of chocolate chip cookies came up.
I mentioned that I prefer to make mine with margarine, not butter. HORRORS. You should have heard the gasp.
I never did think like this before. It was my sister-in-law’s fault. I used to go to her house and eat her cookies (she’d have about a kabillion dozen in a jar at all times – in case of emergency or my surprise visit). Maybe it’s good they live so far away now — I don’t have a lot of cookie control. But I digress.
What she told me when I asked why her cookies were scrumptious and mine were average was this. Margarine. She used margarine.
Blasphemy.
But, since her cookies were so great, I decided to try. And you know what? They were better. Not as good as hers, but better. So for years now, I’ve been working to rise to her level. And I’m getting close.
But our friends could not believe that the cookies would be better with margarine. Au contraire.
So the next day, with the help of my boys and 2 stray boys that offered their assistance (particularly for the licking of the bowl), I made 2 batches of cookies. One with butter and one with margarine. We packaged them and dropped them off for a taste test.
Of course, we tested them too.
The results? In my immediate family, it was a tie. I was stunned. All the others? Margarine won hands down.
And speaking of fats, there was an article in the NYTimes about pie crusts. I’ve always made mine with a combination of butter and shortening. But it’s a huge debate in the pie community. And the article swears that rendered lard (from a butcher) is the way to go.
It might be awesome. But yuck. I might actually try it one day. If I do, I’ll have to tell myself it’s something else. Seriously.
For years I used margerine to make my chocolate chip cookies. I was the cookie girl, always making cookies. They were yummy, everyone loved them. Then I went to make cookies for my neighbors and since Kathy is allergic to dairy, I used butter flavored Crisco sticks. The cookies were AWESOME. Big, beautiful, chewy, and I’ve never gone back to butter or margerine. I’ll make some for your family Wendy and you’ll see… : – )
what the heck is rendered lard?lo
I will have to try that, since I suck at chocolate chip cookies.
I heard about the lard for pie crusts. I think my grandmother used it, back when you could buy a pound of lard like a pound of butter.
I’ve used both, and come to think of it..the margarine ones may have been better.
Never heard of butter flavored Crisco sticks…will have to try that.
I am a third generation Crisco cookie maker. It is the key ingredient in our chocolate chips and our sugar cookies. I swear by it.