Craving Hearty Biscuits Without the Trans Fat? Try This Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a substitute for lard in biscuits? ›

Yes, vegetable oil can be used as a substitute for lard in pie crusts and biscuits. The substitution ratio is generally 1:1, which means you can use the same amount of vegetable oil as you would use lard in your recipe.

Choosing the fat for your biscuits

Let's start with the base of any good biscuit — the fat. Our original recipe calls for 4 to 6 tablespoons of butter or shortening. The higher amount will give you a richer, more buttery crumb. I decide to split the difference for testing purposes and use 5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces).

The key to flaky biscuits is in the fat. Fat—butter and shortening in this recipe—creates the tender texture of biscuits and helps form the flaky layers. Butter delivers rich flavor. But because shortening contains no water, it creates more-distinct layers, which is why our Test Kitchen uses a combination of the two.

Lard has a higher melting point than butter, which means that you'll likely end up with lighter, flakier biscuits (or cookies that spread less - not sure what kind of biscuits you mean). However, the upside with butter will always be flavor. Your biscuits won't taste like butter if you don't make them with butter.

A good old-fashioned rich tea is a healthier choice as they're low in sugar and saturated fat. This is because, unlike most biscuits, they are made with vegetable oils rather than butter. Nairn's biscuits are low in saturated fat and sugar, and are a source of fibre thanks to the oat base.

McVitie's Rich Tea Lights

Granted these aren't the most satisfying of biscuits out there – but if you're looking for a healthy biscuit they are one of the lowest calorie offerings on the market with 30% less fat than an ordinary Rich Tea at just 36 calories each. Dunk them in your cuppa and you'll be none the wiser.

If you are looking for a healthier alternative to butter, consider switching to liquid oils, such as olive oil or avocado oil, or use a nut butter as a spread.

Like margarine, shortening is a smart butter substitute when baking (here's the difference between all three). You can use a one-to-one swap for most recipes. But remember, shortening lacks flavor (and water), so bakers will often add a bit more.

Do Cracker Barrel biscuits contain lard? - Quora. No. I used to work there.

In baked goods, fat also contributes to the tenderness of a product as it prevents flour from absorbing water. Muffins or biscuits with reduced fat are often tougher because the gluten is more developed.

What happens when you add more butter to biscuits? ›

Increasing the amount of butter definitely makes the biscuit "taste" softer, more crumbly, and more flaky.

If you're starting with a biscuit recipe that calls for shortening, you can swap in butter or margarine at a 1:1 ratio. We even have a recipe on the site from Sweet Laurel Bakery that uses almond flour instead of all-purpose and coconut oil instead of shortening or butter.

While you can use lard, duck fat, shortening, butter, or even coconut oil in a biscuit recipe, the kind of fat you use will have very different effects on the crumb and flavor of your biscuit. Lard was the original fat in southern recipes as it was more readily available than butter.

If a recipe calls for melted shortening, vegetable oil is a good swap. Just don't use vegetable oil as a shortening substitute in recipes like pie dough, biscuits, or scones—you won't get pockets of fat, so the dough won't puff up properly.

Yep! as a child, I worked at cracker barrel all the time, and I used to mix the lard into the biscuit mix.