Out of Butter, one case

Butter substitute for brownies

6 options, ranked, with the exact amount

Use thisBest of 6 options

Use Vegetable oil

¾ cup for every cup of butter

Use ¾ as much neutral oil as the butter the recipe melts: 6 tablespoons of oil for ½ cup (1 stick) of butter, ¾ cup for 1 cup. Leave the other liquids alone. Oil brownies are fudgy and stay soft for days, but the butter flavor is gone. Melted stick margarine or coconut oil are the next choices.

Verdict —: Tweak it
The tweak —: Stir the oil into the sugar, eggs and melted chocolate or cocoa where the recipe adds melted butter. Do not cut any other liquid.
Best for —: fudgy and chewy brownies
Pantry —: Likely in your cupboard

One casethe full butter card

Every option, one card

Ranked

Butter substitutes compared
#	Substitute	Instead of 1 cup butter	Verdict
1	Vegetable oilfudgy and chewy brownies	¾ cupTweak it	Tweak it
2	Stick margarinekeeping the recipe as written	1 cupTweak it	Tweak it
3	Coconut oil (melted)dairy-free brownies	1 cup + 2 tbsp waterTweak it	Tweak it
4	Gheekeeping a buttery flavor	¾ cup + 2 tbsp waterTweak it	Tweak it
5	Olive oildark chocolate brownies	¾ cupYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
6	Unsweetened applesaucecutting the fat by half	½ cup applesauce + 6 tbsp oilYou'll taste it	You'll taste it

What changesWhat changes, option by option6 options

Vegetable oil

plain chocolate; the buttery, toasted note is gone

Brownies start with melted butter, which is the one case where oil is a good swap. Oil is 100% fat and butter about 80%, so use three quarters of the amount. Most box mixes are written for oil.

Best for: fudgy and chewy brownies, box brownie mix, brownies that need to stay soft for several days
Prep: Stir the oil into the sugar, eggs and melted chocolate or cocoa where the recipe adds melted butter. Do not cut any other liquid.
Suits: vegan, dairy-free
Where it fails: Brown-butter brownies, where the browned milk solids are the flavor. Used cup for cup, oil puts in a quarter more fat than the recipe expects, and the pan comes out greasy.

If the butter was salted, add about ¼ tsp salt per stick you replaced.

Stick margarine

cleaner and slightly saltier, with less dairy flavor

Firm stick margarine has the same 80% fat as butter. Melt it and use it exactly as the recipe uses butter. Nothing else in the recipe changes.

Best for: keeping the recipe as written, brownies with a cakier crumb
Prep: Melt it the way the recipe melts the butter. Use the stick, not a tub spread.
Suits: vegetarian
Where it fails: Tub and light spreads. They are 35 to 60% fat and the rest mostly water, and the brownies bake wet in the middle and tough once cool.

Coconut oil (melted)

neutral if refined; virgin coconut oil tastes of coconut, which suits chocolate

Coconut oil is solid at cool room temperature, so brownies made with it set firm and dense, close to the way butter brownies do, and firmer still from the fridge.

Best for: dairy-free brownies, dense, firm-set brownies, brownies served chilled
Prep: Measure it melted, the same amount as the butter, and add 2 tbsp water or milk per cup (1 tbsp per ½ cup). Use room-temperature eggs so the oil stays liquid while you mix.
Suits: vegan, dairy-free
Contains: coconut
Where it fails: Cold eggs: the oil hardens into flecks and the batter looks curdled. Warm the bowl gently and stir until it smooths out.

Ghee

nutty and buttery, slightly more concentrated than butter

Clarified butter: the water and milk solids are removed, so it is close to pure butterfat. It is the only swap here that still tastes of butter.

Best for: keeping a buttery flavor, when there is ghee in the cupboard and no butter
Prep: Melt it, measure ¾ as much as the butter, and add 2 tbsp water or milk per cup of butter replaced.
Contains: dairy
Where it fails: It is still dairy, so it does not help with a milk allergy.

Olive oil

fruity and a little peppery with extra-virgin oil

Measures the same as any other oil. A mild or light olive oil passes almost unnoticed under chocolate; a peppery extra-virgin oil gives the brownies a fruity, slightly bitter edge.

Best for: dark chocolate brownies, brownies finished with flaky salt
Prep: Use 6 tbsp per ½ cup butter. Choose a mild oil unless you want to taste it.
Suits: vegan, dairy-free
Where it fails: Milk chocolate or blondie-style recipes, where the olive flavor has nothing strong to sit behind.

Unsweetened applesauce

less rich, faintly fruity

Applesauce has no fat. It can replace half the butter, cup for cup, with oil or butter covering the other half. The brownies come out cakey and soft, not fudgy.

Best for: cutting the fat by half, cakey brownies
Prep: For ½ cup butter use ¼ cup applesauce plus 3 tbsp oil. Bake about 5 minutes longer and test with a skewer.
Suits: vegan, dairy-free
Where it fails: Replacing all the butter: the brownies turn rubbery and spongy and lose their chew.

How it behaves in this recipe

In this recipeButter

Brownies melt their butter, so the butter is there as fat and flavor, not to hold air. Any liquid fat can do the first job. Only butter, browned butter and ghee do the second.

Tips for substituting butter

5 tips

Conversions for melted butter to oil: 1 cup butter is ¾ cup oil, ½ cup (1 stick) is 6 tbsp, ¼ cup is 3 tbsp.
Do not cut the eggs, water or milk when you switch to oil. Going to ¾ as much oil has already taken out the water the butter carried.
A recipe that melts butter and chocolate together works the same with oil: warm the oil and chocolate over low heat and stir until smooth.
Oil brownies look underdone longer. Pull them when a skewer 2 inches from the edge comes out with moist crumbs, and let them cool in the pan before cutting.
Line the pan with parchment. Oil brownies are softer than butter ones and lift out more cleanly on a sling.

Questions

5 questions

Can I substitute oil for butter in brownies?

Yes. Use ¾ as much oil as butter: 6 tablespoons for a stick, ¾ cup for a cup. The brownies are fudgier and keep longer, with less butter flavor. Do not reduce the other liquids.

Why did my brownies come out greasy with oil?

The usual cause is swapping cup for cup. Butter is about 80% fat and oil is 100%, so a full cup of oil is a quarter more fat than a cup of butter. Use ¾ cup per cup.

My box mix calls for butter. Can I use oil?

Yes, at ¾ the amount: 6 tablespoons of oil where the box says ½ cup melted butter. Mix by hand as the box directs.

What replaces browned butter in brownies?

Nothing fully does. The flavor comes from milk solids toasting in the pan, and oil and margarine have little or none. Ghee is the closest, at ¾ the amount, because it is butterfat that has already been cooked.

Can I use applesauce instead of butter in brownies?

For half of it. Use ¼ cup applesauce plus 3 tablespoons of oil in place of ½ cup butter. The result is cakier. With all applesauce and no fat, brownies bake up spongy and rubbery.