If you had stick butter, you can substitute that for the shortening, I do that in pastry crusts all the time. They will spread too much and the cookie may be too crispy. It is still fat, mostly unhealthy fat, and a highly processed food. Tastes like butter but with zero trans fats. Note that, because of its lower fat content, Smart Balance Light (37% oil) Buttery Spread is primarily intended for use as a topping, though you may also use for light sauteing and broiling. Among the company's other products is a flax-oil-infused peanut butter for a heart-healthy sandwich spread. Honestly, as someone who has tried both, I like Earth Balance ok (maybe it's better in baking), but I have to say, Smart Balance Light is delicious. Mayonnaise is easy to make with an immersion blender! And Smart Balance doesn't just stick to butter alternatives. regular Smart Balance 67% oil Buttery Spread contains enough fat to make it excellent for cooking and pan frying as well as most baking. At the time, I did a little bit of research and discovered that Smart Balance had recently unveiled a new product called 50/50 Butter Blend sticks which are formulated specifically for baking. Another way is to use canned chicken broth instead of milk. However, smart balance has too high of a water content and you will probably not like the outcome. Regular (not Light) Smart Balance has more saturated fat (2.5 grams per tablespoon) than our Best Bites (1.5 grams or less). A while ago, I received a question about what kind of fat could be substituted for butter to make cookies healthier. But few people fall into this category. Recently, I tested a new product for baking: Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend sticks.
While Smart Balance may be better than most margarine – if you adhere to the specified “balance” of fats in the rest of your diet – my views about margarine remain unchanged. You can play with the ingredients to create a creamy garlic pesto mayo, black pepper Parmesan, etc. Use Smart Balance. These sticks are a combination of 50% Smart Balance spread and 50% butter. 1 minute homemade mayo w/ smart balance. That's what people ate in studies that tested Smart Balance's impact on cholesterol. Smart Balance margarine items are, instead, chock-full of good-for-you omega-3s, vitamins, calcium and protein. :P I could eat it with a spoon.
The benefit to baking with Smart Balance sticks is that they contain 28% less saturated fat and 50% less cholesterol than butter (according to the Smart Balance web site). The extra sat fat might not be bad if at least two-thirds of your fat came from Smart Balance. The less processed food you eat, the better. (Ok, not quite, that's yucky.