Duncan Hines cookie mix calls for addition of vegetable oil, egg, and
water to their dehydrated chocolate-chip mix. I am planning to
experiment with substituting some (or all) of the oil with Crisco
shortening to get a better texture to the cookie. Is there any
experience or wisdom in this forum that might be able to guide me in
this experiment?

How much oil should I substitute - half, all, or some other fraction?
Is the substitution direct? That is, a teaspoon of shortening should
replace a teaspoon of oil?
Are there other considerations to keep in mind?
Can you forgive me for using a mix? It was a gift, and it was given in
bulk!

Thanks,
~Jen

My real email address is but you will have to
remove the dashes so that I can see your email. I don't check my
"other" email account.

wrote:
> Duncan Hines cookie mix calls for addition of vegetable oil, egg, and
> water to their dehydrated chocolate-chip mix. I am planning to
> experiment with substituting some (or all) of the oil with Crisco
> shortening to get a better texture to the cookie. Is there any
> experience or wisdom in this forum that might be able to guide me in
> this experiment?
>
> How much oil should I substitute - half, all, or some other fraction?
> Is the substitution direct? That is, a teaspoon of shortening should
> replace a teaspoon of oil?
> Are there other considerations to keep in mind?
> Can you forgive me for using a mix? It was a gift, and it was given in
> bulk!
>
> Thanks,
> ~Jen

If I were to sustitute anything, it would be butter. You can probably
substitute Tb for Tb between oil and butter without ill effects. I mean,
it's a mix

--

saerah

http://anisaerah.blogspot.com/

"Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a
disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice."
-Baruch Spinoza

"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly
what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There
is another theory which states that this has already happened."
-Douglas Adams

wrote:

> Duncan Hines cookie mix calls for addition of vegetable oil, egg, and
> water to their dehydrated chocolate-chip mix. I am planning to
> experiment with substituting some (or all) of the oil with Crisco
> shortening to get a better texture to the cookie. Is there any
> experience or wisdom in this forum that might be able to guide me in
> this experiment?

If you melt the Crisco it will be vegetable oil.

Why do you use a cookie mix that requires the addition of egg and vegetable
oil? You are paying a premium price for the cheapest ingredients, flour,
salt, sugar, baking powder, all of which are kitchen staples. You would be
better off to just make regular cookies, and lots of cookie recipes call
for Crisco.

I always worry about throwing off the liquid - solid proportions. Be
careful not to make them dry out or anything - how much oil goes in the
mix? Will you significantly affect the amount of liquid by replacing
oil?

writes:
>I always worry about throwing off the liquid - solid proportions. Be
>careful not to make them dry out or anything - how much oil goes in the
>mix? Will you significantly affect the amount of liquid by replacing
>oil?

liquid/solid doesn't matter - that's just a phase change

what you're concerned with is wet/dry, and since oil is dry whether
it's in the liquid or solid phase, the substitution will not affect the
wet/dry ratio

replacingt the oil with butter will change the wet/dry ratio, since
butter contains water, but it probably won't make much difference

tert in seattle wrote:
> writes:
> >I always worry about throwing off the liquid - solid proportions. Be
> >careful not to make them dry out or anything - how much oil goes in the
> >mix? Will you significantly affect the amount of liquid by replacing
> >oil?
>
> liquid/solid doesn't matter - that's just a phase change
>
> what you're concerned with is wet/dry, and since oil is dry whether
> it's in the liquid or solid phase, the substitution will not affect the
> wet/dry ratio
>
> replacingt the oil with butter will change the wet/dry ratio, since
> butter contains water, but it probably won't make much difference

Wow, I never knew this...can you please explain more? Especially the
p[art where you said, "oil is dry", even in a liquid stage, that
confused me. how does wet/dry differ from liquid/solid?

I've always avoided changing some of my baking recipes to use honey for
sugar or vice-versa when I run short on something, becasue I've always
heard that you can't mess with the proportions of liquids to solids. So
please help me out some more here!

Dave Smith wrote:
> wrote:
>
>
>>Duncan Hines cookie mix calls for addition of vegetable oil, egg, and
>>water to their dehydrated chocolate-chip mix. I am planning to
>>experiment with substituting some (or all) of the oil with Crisco
>>shortening to get a better texture to the cookie. Is there any
>>experience or wisdom in this forum that might be able to guide me in
>>this experiment?
>
>
> If you melt the Crisco it will be vegetable oil.
>
> Why do you use a cookie mix that requires the addition of egg and vegetable
> oil? You are paying a premium price for the cheapest ingredients, flour,
> salt, sugar, baking powder, all of which are kitchen staples. You would be
> better off to just make regular cookies, and lots of cookie recipes call
> for Crisco.
>
>
>

she said she received a bunch of mixes as a gift.

--

saerah

http://anisaerah.blogspot.com/

"Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a
disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice."
-Baruch Spinoza

"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly
what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There
is another theory which states that this has already happened."
-Douglas Adams

writes:
wrote:
>
>> Duncan Hines cookie mix calls for addition of vegetable oil, egg, and
>> water to their dehydrated chocolate-chip mix. I am planning to
>> experiment with substituting some (or all) of the oil with Crisco
>> shortening to get a better texture to the cookie. Is there any
>> experience or wisdom in this forum that might be able to guide me in
>> this experiment?
>
>If you melt the Crisco it will be vegetable oil.

it will be hydrogenated vegetable oil


>Why do you use a cookie mix that requires the addition of egg and vegetable
>oil? You are paying a premium price for the cheapest ingredients, flour,
>salt, sugar, baking powder, all of which are kitchen staples. You would be
>better off to just make regular cookies, and lots of cookie recipes call
>for Crisco.

she said it was a gift

writes:
>tert in seattle wrote:
>> writes:
>> >I always worry about throwing off the liquid - solid proportions. Be
>> >careful not to make them dry out or anything - how much oil goes in the
>> >mix? Will you significantly affect the amount of liquid by replacing
>> >oil?
>>
>> liquid/solid doesn't matter - that's just a phase change
>>
>> what you're concerned with is wet/dry, and since oil is dry whether
>> it's in the liquid or solid phase, the substitution will not affect the
>> wet/dry ratio
>>
>> replacingt the oil with butter will change the wet/dry ratio, since
>> butter contains water, but it probably won't make much difference
>
>Wow, I never knew this...can you please explain more? Especially the
>p[art where you said, "oil is dry", even in a liquid stage, that
>confused me. how does wet/dry differ from liquid/solid?
>
>I've always avoided changing some of my baking recipes to use honey for
>sugar or vice-versa when I run short on something, becasue I've always
>heard that you can't mess with the proportions of liquids to solids. So
>please help me out some more here!

All I mean is that there is no water in vegetable oil, or at least there
shouldn't be. When you're concerned about something drying out, you're
concerned about the amount of moisture being too low, and moisture is
water.

tert in seattle wrote:

> >Wow, I never knew this...can you please explain more? Especially the
> >p[art where you said, "oil is dry", even in a liquid stage, that
> >confused me. how does wet/dry differ from liquid/solid?
> >
> >I've always avoided changing some of my baking recipes to use honey for
> >sugar or vice-versa when I run short on something, becasue I've always
> >heard that you can't mess with the proportions of liquids to solids. So
> >please help me out some more here!
>
> All I mean is that there is no water in vegetable oil, or at least there
> shouldn't be. When you're concerned about something drying out, you're
> concerned about the amount of moisture being too low, and moisture is
> water.

So let's say my recipe calls for 1 c honey, but I only have sugar or
brown sugar. How would I substitute and keep the moisture content
right? Although honey does not contain water, I knw you can't just sub
dry sugar for liquid honey and have the consistency work right. Or,
same idea, if I want to make something without using processed sugars
and prefer to use honey, I can't just swap it for the sugar, or my
batter will be too gooey and liquidy. How do I figure this out?

Sorry for hijacking your thread with my qurestion, BTW!

Jude wrote:
> tert in seattle wrote:
>
>
>>>Wow, I never knew this...can you please explain more? Especially the
>>>p[art where you said, "oil is dry", even in a liquid stage, that
>>>confused me. how does wet/dry differ from liquid/solid?
>>>
>>>I've always avoided changing some of my baking recipes to use honey for
>>>sugar or vice-versa when I run short on something, becasue I've always
>>>heard that you can't mess with the proportions of liquids to solids. So
>>>please help me out some more here!
>>
>>All I mean is that there is no water in vegetable oil, or at least there
>>shouldn't be. When you're concerned about something drying out, you're
>>concerned about the amount of moisture being too low, and moisture is
>>water.
>
>
> So let's say my recipe calls for 1 c honey, but I only have sugar or
> brown sugar. How would I substitute and keep the moisture content
> right? Although honey does not contain water,

honey *does* contain water. oil does not.

I knw you can't just sub
> dry sugar for liquid honey and have the consistency work right. Or,
> same idea, if I want to make something without using processed sugars
> and prefer to use honey, I can't just swap it for the sugar, or my
> batter will be too gooey and liquidy. How do I figure this out?
>
> Sorry for hijacking your thread with my qurestion, BTW!
>


--

saerah

http://anisaerah.blogspot.com/

"Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a
disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice."
-Baruch Spinoza

"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly
what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There
is another theory which states that this has already happened."
-Douglas Adams

writes:
>tert in seattle wrote:
>
>> >Wow, I never knew this...can you please explain more? Especially the
>> >p[art where you said, "oil is dry", even in a liquid stage, that
>> >confused me. how does wet/dry differ from liquid/solid?
>> >
>> >I've always avoided changing some of my baking recipes to use honey for
>> >sugar or vice-versa when I run short on something, becasue I've always
>> >heard that you can't mess with the proportions of liquids to solids. So
>> >please help me out some more here!
>>
>> All I mean is that there is no water in vegetable oil, or at least there
>> shouldn't be. When you're concerned about something drying out, you're
>> concerned about the amount of moisture being too low, and moisture is
>> water.
>
>So let's say my recipe calls for 1 c honey, but I only have sugar or
>brown sugar. How would I substitute and keep the moisture content
>right? Although honey does not contain water, I knw you can't just sub
>dry sugar for liquid honey and have the consistency work right. Or,
>same idea, if I want to make something without using processed sugars
>and prefer to use honey, I can't just swap it for the sugar, or my
>batter will be too gooey and liquidy. How do I figure this out?

Honey does contain some water but I don't worry about that. If I
replace sugar with honey I use about half the volume to get about the
same amount of sweetness.

If you're curious about moisture content of foods you might enjoy
browsing the USDA nutritional database:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

The instructions for a batch require 5 tablespoons oil (!), one egg,
and 2 tablespoons of water.
The first batch of dough seemed too runny, but the cookies tasted fine
to the untrained palate. To me, however, I think I could taste the oil
because I knew there was so much in there. They were too "cakey" and
rose too much in the oven. I bought fresh oil because I think part of
my aversion was the fact that the oil had been in my kitchen for
who-knows-how-long. So I guess I'm *hoping* to unbalance the
liquid-solid proportions to some extent on account of the imbalance
that exists when following directions.

You and Sarag have have put a few variations into my mind that I will
be working with over the next few weeks: butter alone, oil/butter,
oil/butter/crisco, oil/crisco.... So far I tried oil alone and wasn't
impressed. It should only go uphill from here!

>From this and other comments, it sounds like I can't mess this up too
badly.
Cuz my goodness, it's a mix! ; - )

Thanks all -- I'll let you know how it goes.

~Jen

My real email address is micro - bio - jen @ gmail . com but you will
have to remove the dashes so that I can see your email. I don't check
my "other" email account.

In article >,
Dave Smith > wrote:

> wrote:
>
> > Duncan Hines cookie mix calls for addition of vegetable oil, egg, and
> > water to their dehydrated chocolate-chip mix. I am planning to
> > experiment with substituting some (or all) of the oil with Crisco
> > shortening to get a better texture to the cookie. Is there any
> > experience or wisdom in this forum that might be able to guide me in
> > this experiment?
>
> If you melt the Crisco it will be vegetable oil.
>
> Why do you use a cookie mix that requires the addition of egg and vegetable
> oil? You are paying a premium price for the cheapest ingredients, flour,
> salt, sugar, baking powder, all of which are kitchen staples. You would be
> better off to just make regular cookies, and lots of cookie recipes call
> for Crisco.
>
>
>

Uh, the OP said it was a GIFT. She did not buy it.

You snipped that part. ;-)
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson