Crisco is 100% fat, but butter is only about 80% fat (brands vary). the remaining 20% is mostly water and some milk solids. They don't substitute one-for-one in most recipes.
Most chocolate chip cookie recipes call for very little water, except that provided by the eggs. By substituting butter for Crisco, you have greatly increased the percentage of water in the recipe. You need to make corresponding adjustments to the other ingredients or find a recipe that is already scaled for the liquid in the butter.
Although I have never tried it, you may have more success if you use clarified butter or ghee in the recipe. It might provide the buttery taste without the added liquid. FWIW, the ATK recipe mentioned browns much of the butter before using, effectively cooking out most of the water in the process.
Actually gets you close to the Rose L.Barabaum recipe, which makes a very nice, fairly dense cookie. Takes forever, but good cookies. Water in cookies tends to make them cakier- I'm still wondering what the OP meant by awful.
Nearly all chocolate chip cookie recipes are minor variations on the original (all butter) Tollhouse cookies; looking where yours varies from that could be instructive. I have heard of people making cookies with Crisco, though I've never met one; it really isn't the done thing. At any rate, thank you for not calling it shortening.
Kim Boyce's recipe for Chocolate Chip cookies (https://food52.com/recipes/25844-whole-wheat-chocolate-chip-cookies) is the best recipe I have ever made. It uses all butter. I have tried many recipes and this one will not disappoint you!
Merci...when i use Crisco, my cookies have been deemed the best ever by many people ( i cream wt sugar and crisco til light and fluffy, and bake them til almost done but still gooey in center). I followed same technique w butter...cookies are just so so. Think i need to find a recipe which takes advantage of butter and modifes ingredients a bit.
If you want a fabulous chocolate chip recipe that uses butter, try America's Test Kitchen's. But you can't substitute shortening in it, because most of the butter is browned and that's an essential part of its deliciousness.
Diana B, I SO agree! I am not a baker (other than bread), but people I assume I am because that is the recipe I use anytime there's a baked good to be brought. It's truly amazing.
You can usually sub butter for Crisco. Here's a tutorial from The Kitchn: http://www.thekitchn.com/shortening-vs-butter-in-cookies-whats-the-difference-213812
Your cookies should not have been awful. What recipe did you use?
I don't know what the issue was because I don't know what your recipe is, but I never use anything but butter in my chocolate chip cookies. Why don't you give the recipe here and some of the great bakers here might be able to help you.
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Most chocolate chip cookie recipes call for very little water, except that provided by the eggs. By substituting butter for Crisco, you have greatly increased the percentage of water in the recipe. You need to make corresponding adjustments to the other ingredients or find a recipe that is already scaled for the liquid in the butter.
Although I have never tried it, you may have more success if you use clarified butter or ghee in the recipe. It might provide the buttery taste without the added liquid. FWIW, the ATK recipe mentioned browns much of the butter before using, effectively cooking out most of the water in the process.
Your cookies should not have been awful. What recipe did you use?
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