Why are cookies baked with butter flatter than cookies made with margarine?

I believe because butter is a solid fat and margarine is a liquid fat that has been solidified through hydrogenation, the process is a natural leavening agent. Paul, shame on you, using margarine is really bad for you (trans fats). Plus butter just makes a better cookie.

Julia Child's rolling over in her grave!

Jai is correct. Margarine is one step away from being a plastic. Other factors that contribute to variances in baking results:type of flour, humidity, altitude, oven temperature, bake ware (aluminum, non-stick (light versus dark), ceramic coated surface, etc), location of racks, and time of day are just a few.

Also, cooking time and cooling time on the tray and off the tray will affect the texture of the cookie.

I think Jai is correct. I only use butter when baking with the exception of biscuits and scones, in those I use butter flavored Crisco. If you prefer to use margarine you may want to increase the baking powder by 1/2.

Baking powder makes cookies that are more 'fluffy'. If you are wanting crispier cookies increase the baking soda. :).

Margarine has water in it and can't be creamed as thoroughly as butter. The melting temperature is different also.

Butter is more dense and therefore heavier than margarine.

Good question. I don't know but hydrogenated margarine (you can get soft margarine that is not hydrogenated) causes a kink in the molecule while butter is a long skinny molecule. That might cause the difference.

Interesting question. I'd use butter. We need to treat ourselves to small luxuries and butter is one of them... some fat is good for you anyway.

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