All About Pie

Can I substitute butter for shortening in a pie crust?

I'm making a French silk pie and the ingredients for the crust say to use shortening or lard. Can I use butter instead? This is for the "Baked Pie Crust". Should I use the Graham Cracker crust instead? I know how to make the pie part, it's just the crust I'm worried about. Thanks! Yeah I mean real butter not margarine.

Public Comments

1. I only use butter or lard ! Never any of those hydrolyzed fatty acids called shortening or margarine . They are fake fats more commonly known as trans fatty acids ; very , very unhealthy
2. You can use the buter in place of shortening. I've done that before. The crust won't be quite as flaky as it is with shortening but it will work just fine.
3. its got to be lard
4. you probably can as long as you bake the crust
5. You can, but the crust won't be as flaky as it would with shortening or lard. I'm assuming that you mean real butter and not margarine.
6. so many opinions - - first the word ( hydrolyzed ) is water whipped into an oil to form a cream. . big fear of crisco YES keeping the butter - - lard - - shorting cold is the main point of a flaky crust even the forgotten chilling of the dough to absorb the moisture think what did they have before America - - butter and lard all kinds of regal recipes were made there (Europe) biscuits are best made with bacon drippings (lard) pioneering America
7. YES! You can, and it's encouraged. People are just cheap, that's why they use shortening, and it leaves that nasty taste at the top of your mouth.