Can I substitute olive oil for butter?

[Petez]

Can I substitute olive oil for butter in any recipe?

 

[pdswife]

It depends on the recipe Petez... we'd need to know which one you want to use.

 

[Michael in FtW]

In cookery, probably - in baking, probably not.

Like pdswife said - it depends on the recipe, what you're making and how the fat is being used.

 

[jpmcgrew]

As the others have said it depends on what you are making. What did you have in mind?

 

[VeraBlue]

If you are sauteing, yes. Watch the temperature, though. In recipes that call for butter as an ingredient, I wouldn't. The flavour is different, not to mention that one is solid and the other is not. Even when melted, their properties are not equal.

 

[Petez]

VeraBlue, I have made the discovery by trial and error that what you say is true. I made a sort of bread pudding with a caramel sauce. Instead of butter I used olive oil for the caramel sauce. It turned out to be very runny. It was quite awful. My husband and I had a good laugh at my flop. I definitely won't be doing that again. I was just trying to look for healthier alternatives to butter.

 

[QUEEN-GUINEVERE]

Petez, in baking, absolutely not. In cooking, possibly, tho it depends on what you are making. As you already learned with your caramel sauce, oil, especially olive oil, didn't work!!! Butter really is NOT a "bad thing", and like pretty much everything else, when used, eaten, consumed, etc., in moderation, most things are NOT bad for you.

 

[VeraBlue]

I was just trying to look for healthier alternatives to butter.

I assumed that from your original post. When opting for healthier eating habits, there is more to consider than just fat, calories, sodium, etc... Somethings, when made healthier, just are plain lousy. Sometimes, you are better off doing without something than trying to change it. A simple glaze of 10x, skim milk and vanilla would have been easire on the diet than the regular caramel sauce.

Sometimes, a little taste of something is satisfying, as well. Make the sauce as the recipe calls for, but just put a tablespoon of it the bread pudding...

Butter, cheese, red meat, sugar....just think moderation and you can have whatever you want, (that is, of course, unless you doctor has advised against something). Portion control is always going to be the key issue.

 

[jennyema]

Petez, in baking, absolutely not.

Actually, there are situtations in baking where it's acceptable to sub olive oil for butter.

 

[Petez]

I suppose it's true that sometimes moderation is the superior option.

 

[roxanam]

You sure can

 

[Petez]

My mother in law made applecrisp and made the crumble with olive oil instead of butter and it was delicious - only a little crunchier.

 

[snack_pack85]

I substitute natural peanut butter instead of oil or butter in baking recipes (for sweets that is) and it comes out great. I've never seen it done anywhere, but the ratio is the same, for example if a cake recipe calls for a cup of butter or oil I'll replace that with one cup of natural peanut butter. The cakes or cookies are extremely moist and the peanut butter isn't very overpowering. Also, if you use a salted brand, you can ommit the extra salt in most cookie/cake recipes. My favorite time to make this switch is when making chocolate cake or cupcakes/brownies. The texture is wonderful, and you can't beat a chocolate and peanut butter flavor combo

 

[Petez]

mmm...sounds great! Thanks snack pack85

 

[QUEEN-GUINEVERE]

Actually, there are situtations in baking where it's acceptable to sub olive oil for butter.

olive oil in a simple white or yellow cake?
olive oil in apple pie?
olive oil in a berry crisp?
olive oil in a white chocolate raspberry crisp?
olive oil in palmiers?
olive oil in bear claws?
olive oil in a simple chocolate cake?
olive oil truffles?
olive oil toffee?
olive oil caramels or caramel sauce, over ice cream? Quick.....get me a serving of that!

Care to give any examples, jennyema?......cuz from where I sit, from the simple to the complex, I can see NO place where the delicacy and decadance of butter can be substituted by olive oil. You'll never see that in my bakery!

 

[GB]

olive oil in a simple white or yellow cake?
olive oil in apple pie?
olive oil in a berry crisp?
olive oil in a white chocolate raspberry crisp?
olive oil in palmiers?
olive oil in bear claws?
olive oil in a simple chocolate cake?
olive oil truffles?
olive oil toffee?
olive oil caramels or caramel sauce, over ice cream? Quick.....get me a serving of that!

Care to give any examples, jennyema?......cuz from where I sit, from the simple to the complex, I can see NO place where the delicacy and decadance of butter can be substituted by olive oil. You'll never see that in my bakery!

Do a search on any recipe site for olive oil cake and you will find a ton of entries. Here is just one. Note that within this recipe it states that olive oil is a common ingredient in Provençal cakes.

 

[QUEEN-GUINEVERE]

GB, the reference for swapping butter for olive oil was made in the plural!

Yeah, I've heard of an olive oil cake, which is something quite specific, in ingredient AND locale......but for people to just post these one-line answers, "yeah, you can", and to generalize and state that olive oil CAN be swapped for butter is definitely not true. People who make such statements are setting others up for disaster -- failure of the end product-- as well as a an absolute waste of other ingredients -- which can be expensive.

Show me a recipe for "the average home baker" which calls for butter and where olive oil can be successfully swapped.....and NOT be "the" recipe, as your example of the "olive oil cake". I've been doing professional baking for over 33 years and I cannot think of ONE recipe where butter can be successfully swapped for olive oil.

The example made by the original thread starter, Petez, was making a bread pudding with a caramel sauce where she actually did make this and DID sub the butter with olive oil and it DID fail both in the end product AND taste!

 

[GB]

but for people to just post these one-line answers, "yeah, you can", and to generalize and state that olive oil CAN be swapped for butter is definitely not true. People who make such statements are setting others up for disaster -- failure of the end product-- as well as a an absolute waste of other ingredients -- which can be expensive.

!

Jenny had said there are situations where it is acceptable. She never generalized anything or said it could could always be swapped. You then asked her for examples, which I gave you.

 

[QUEEN-GUINEVERE]

Jenny had said there are situations where it is acceptable. She never generalized anything or said it could could always be swapped. You then asked her for examples, which I gave you.

That's right, GB, and the example you gave for her was for a SPECIFIC recipe -- OLIVE OIL CAKE. I've heard of it. Have even made it. But, this is a cake which already calls for olive oil. Present a cake recipe which calls for BUTTER, tell everyone that it CAN be made with OLIVE OIL and that it can be done successfully. That is generalization, and the proof that it CANNOT be done successfully is the bread pudding with caramel sauce.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Let's try it this way:

For a shortened cake/pastry where the fat needs to be a solid - the answer is no.

For an oil cake/pastry where the butter would be melted - the answer is yes.

This brings us back to - sometimes yes, sometimes no - it depends on the recipe and how the fat is used.