The complete guide to baking fats

Butter (227 g per cup)

Butter is the gold standard of baking fats. It contains about 80% fat and 20% water and milk solids. The water creates steam during baking, which helps pastry layers separate and cakes rise. The milk solids brown and add flavour. No other fat replicates butter's taste completely.

Butter can be used cold (for flaky pastry), at room temperature (for creaming with sugar in cakes), or melted (for dense, fudgy brownies). Temperature matters — using cold butter when a recipe calls for softened butter, or vice versa, changes the texture significantly.

Vegetable oil (218 g per cup)

Vegetable oil is 100% fat with no water. This makes baked goods moister than butter — oil coats the flour proteins and prevents gluten from developing as much, producing a tender, moist crumb that stays soft longer. Carrot cake and banana bread are classic oil-based recipes.

Oil cannot be creamed with sugar, so it does not work in recipes that rely on that technique for structure. It is also flavour-neutral, which is either an advantage (when you want other flavours to shine) or a disadvantage (when you want richness).

Coconut oil (218 g per cup)

Coconut oil changes between solid and liquid with temperature. Refined and virgin products can differ in flavour. Follow the recipe’s specified state instead of treating it as identical to butter.

Shortening (190 g per cup)

Vegetable shortening contains essentially fat without butter’s water. It can trap air during creaming, so the absence of water does not mean that a cake cannot rise. Results depend on the recipe.

Ghee (220 g per cup)

Ghee is clarified butter — the water and milk solids have been removed, leaving pure butterfat. It has a rich, nutty flavour and a higher smoke point than butter. In baking, it produces a denser, richer result and adds a distinctive flavour.

Why measuring fats by weight matters

Air pockets can leave less solid fat in a filled cup. Weighing avoids that filling problem, but still follow the recipe’s instructions for cold, softened or melted fat.