Out of Vegetable oil, one case
Vegetable oil substitute for cookies
6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Canola oil
1 cup for every cup of vegetable oil
In cookies, replace vegetable oil with the same amount of canola, sunflower or any other neutral oil and nothing changes. With no oil in the house, use melted butter at 1 ¼ cups per cup of oil, which is 10 tablespoons for ½ cup: the cookies taste richer and spread a little more. Melted shortening swaps cup for cup and makes a softer, taller cookie.
- Verdict —
- Works
- Best for —
- cake mix cookies
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
One casethe full vegetable oil card
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 cup vegetable oil | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canola oilcake mix cookies | 1 cupWorks | Works |
| 2 | Melted buttercake mix cookies | 1 ¼ cupsTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Shorteningsoft, thick cookies that should not spread | 1 cupTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Stick margarinecake mix cookies | 1 ¼ cupsTweak it | Tweak it |
| 5 | Melted coconut oilchocolate and oatmeal cookies | 1 cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Unsweetened applesaucesoft oatmeal and spice cookies | ½ cup applesauce + ½ cup fatYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Canola oil
no change
The same kind of refined, flavorless liquid fat. Sunflower, safflower, corn, grapeseed and refined avocado oil all behave the same way.
- Best for
- cake mix cookies, oil-based sugar cookies and snickerdoodles, any cookie recipe written for oil
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Nowhere in cookies. It adds no flavor either, so it will not make an oil cookie taste buttery.
Melted butter
richer and buttery
Butter is about 80% fat and the rest is mostly water, so it takes 1 ¼ cups to match the fat in 1 cup of oil. It adds the flavor that oil cookies lack.
- Best for
- cake mix cookies, chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies written for oil, sugar cookies
- Prep
- Melt it, let it cool for 5 minutes so it does not cook the egg, and chill the dough 30 minutes if it feels loose.
- Contains
- dairy
- Where it fails
- The water in butter makes the dough softer and the cookies spread more and crisp at the edges. Dairy-free baking.
Shortening
neutral; no butter flavor
Vegetable shortening is 100% fat, as oil is, so it swaps in equal measure once melted. It sets firmer than oil as the cookies cool.
- Best for
- soft, thick cookies that should not spread, cut-out and sugar cookies, dairy-free cookies
- Prep
- Melt it, cool it slightly, then measure.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Thin, crisp or lacy cookies, which need a fat that stays liquid and spreads. Cookies made with it taste plain.
Stick margarine
mild and slightly salty
Stick margarine with at least 80% fat behaves like butter in this swap and is measured the same way.
- Best for
- cake mix cookies, oatmeal and drop cookies, dairy-free cookies, if the label confirms it
- Prep
- Check the wrapper for 80% fat or about 100 calories per tablespoon, then melt and cool it.
- Where it fails
- Tub margarine and light spreads hold much more water. Cookies made with them spread flat and turn cakey, then go soft.
Melted coconut oil
coconut, unless the jar says refined
All fat, like vegetable oil, but solid below about 76°F. Unrefined coconut oil tastes of coconut; refined does not.
- Best for
- chocolate and oatmeal cookies, vegan cookies, cookies that suit a coconut flavor
- Prep
- Melt it, measure it liquid, and have the egg at room temperature.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- It firms up when it meets cold eggs or milk and leaves hard flecks in the dough. The baked cookies are firmer and snappier once cool.
Unsweetened applesauce
faintly fruity, less rich
Applesauce replaces the moisture of oil, not the fat. Use it for half the oil at most and make up the other half with any fat you have: ½ cup applesauce plus ½ cup melted butter or oil per cup.
- Best for
- soft oatmeal and spice cookies, cake mix cookies you want cakier, cutting the fat by half
- Prep
- Replace half the oil with an equal amount of applesauce and keep fat for the other half.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Crisp, chewy or thin cookies. Applesauce makes cookies puffy, soft and cake-like, and they do not brown or crisp at the edges.
Tips for substituting vegetable oil
5 tips- Butter amounts: for ¼ cup oil use 5 tbsp melted butter; for 1/3 cup use 6 tbsp plus 2 tsp; for ½ cup use 10 tbsp, which is 1 stick plus 2 tbsp.
- Cake mix cookies usually take ½ cup oil and 2 eggs per box. Use ½ cup of another oil, 10 tbsp melted butter or ½ cup melted shortening.
- Dough made with melted butter or coconut oil is looser while warm. Chill it 30 minutes before scooping and the cookies hold their shape.
- Do not cream butter or shortening in a recipe written for oil. Melt the fat and stir it in the way the recipe stirs in the oil.
- If the butter is salted, cut the salt in the recipe by ¼ tsp per ½ cup of butter.
Questions
5 questionsCan I substitute shortening for vegetable oil in cookies?
Yes, cup for cup. Melt the shortening, let it cool slightly, and measure it as a liquid. The cookies come out a little thicker and softer because shortening firms up again as it cools. It has no flavor, so a little extra vanilla helps.
Can I use butter in place of vegetable oil in cookies?
Yes. Use 1 ¼ times the amount, melted: 10 tablespoons of butter for ½ cup of oil. Butter is about 80% fat, so the extra makes up the difference. The cookies taste better and spread slightly more; chill the dough if it is soft.
Can I use margarine in place of oil in cookies?
Stick margarine with 80% fat works the same way as butter: 1 ¼ times the amount of oil, melted. Tub margarine and reduced-fat spreads have too much water for cookies.
Can I use olive oil in cookies?
Light or refined olive oil swaps cup for cup with almost no taste. Extra virgin olive oil also measures the same, but its peppery, grassy flavor comes through in plain cookies. It suits chocolate, citrus and spice cookies better than sugar cookies.
Can I use applesauce for all of the oil?
Not in cookies. Applesauce has no fat, and a cookie with no fat is puffy, pale and rubbery. Replace half the oil with applesauce and keep fat for the other half, and expect a soft, cake-like cookie.