Are biscuits better made with butter or Crisco?

Biscuits are a kind of quick bread. They are small round bread rolls made from dough. Biscuits are a very popular food in many places like the United States and the United Kingdom.

Biscuits are loved as a side dish for big meals like breakfast or dinner. Biscuits can be eaten in many ways, like:

With butter, jam, honey, or gravy

Used for breakfast sandwiches with eggs, meat, and cheese
As a bread to eat with soups, stews, or chili
Split and stuffed with meats, cheeses, or other fillings

Good biscuits should have a soft and fluffy inside with a crispy golden outside. They should pull apart easily into layers.

Biscuits get their unique texture from cutting cold fat like butter or shortening into the dry dough ingredients before baking. But which fat is better – butter or Crisco shortening?

What is butter?

Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein parts of milk or cream. It is made by churning fresh cream until it becomes a solid yellow spread.

Butter is a natural, minimally processed ingredient that has been used in baking and cooking for centuries. It contains around 80% milkfat along with some milk solids and moisture.

The high fat content makes butter excellent for creating flakey, tender, and rich-tasting baked goods. The natural dairy flavors also give baked goods a nice buttery taste.

However, butter only has a shelf life of a few weeks before it can spoil or go rancid if not refrigerated.

What is Crisco?

Crisco is a brand of vegetable shortening made from hydrogenated vegetable oils like soybean and palm oils. It was first created and sold in the early 1900s.

Unlike butter which is an animal product, Crisco is completely plant-based and dairy-free. It has a higher melting point and much longer shelf life than butter, lasting up to 2 years.

Crisco contains no water so it is 100% fat, resulting in extremely tender and crispy baked goods. However, it lacks the rich, buttery flavor that real dairy butter provides.

Despite being very shelf-stable, Crisco contains unhealthy trans fats formed during the hydrogenation process that can raise bad cholesterol levels.

Flakiness and tenderness

One of the most important factors in biscuit quality is the flakiness and tenderness of the dough once baked.

Both butter and shortening can create flaky layers in biscuits, but they do so in slightly different ways:

Butter Biscuits

Butter has a lower melting point, so it creates pockets of melted butter/steam between the layers as the biscuits bake
These buttery layers help the dough separate into flakes as you pull the biscuit apart

The milk solids in butter also help tenderize the dough

Shortening Biscuits

Shortening has a much higher melting point, so it remains solid during baking

The solid shortening coats the flour, preventing gluten from forming and keeps the dough ultra-tender
With no liquid, the shortening layers help create an airy, crispy texture

So while butter biscuits have a flakier, more layered texture due to steaming, shortening biscuits may be even more tender and crisp overall.

Richness and flavor

When it comes to delicious buttery flavor, real dairy butter simply can’t be beaten by any margarine or vegetable shortening.

Butter’s rich, creamy taste comes from its natural milkfat content and baked-in dairy notes. This gives butter biscuits an incredible indulgent flavor and aroma that makes your mouth water.

In contrast, Crisco and other vegetable shortenings add no real discernible flavor to baked goods beyond a vague blandness or occasional greasiness.

So if you desire an intensely rich, buttery taste in your biscuits, using real butter is the only way to get that authentic dairy deliciousness.

Rise and spreading

The different water content of butter versus shortening affects how much rise and spread you get in the oven.

Butter contains around 15-20% water, which turns into steam in the hot oven. This steam helps butter biscuit dough rise and expand more during baking for a taller, fluffier result.

Meanwhile, 100% fat shortening like Crisco contains zero water, so less rise occurs. But this higher fat ratio also means shortening biscuits spread out more horizontally into a wider shape.

So butter gives you loftier, taller rise for big fluffy biscuits, while shortening helps dough spread out into wider, crispier layers.

Browning and crust

Another noticeable difference is in the color and crust texture of the baked biscuits.

Butter allows biscuits to brown deeply into a rich golden color during baking due to the Maillard browning reaction between the milk proteins and sugars.

This browning creates a beautifully crisp, flavorful outer crust and crunch. The browned crust also adds appealing color contrast to the soft inner layers.

However, since shortening contains no proteins or sugars, Crisco biscuits remain very pale in color with a lighter, less browned crust.

While still crispy on the outside, shortening biscuits lack the depth of color, flavor, and texture that butter’s Maillard browning provides on the crust.

Cost and accessibility

An unavoidable factor that affects many bakers’ choice of fat is cost and widespread availability.

In most places, butter is almost always more expensive than highly processed vegetable shortenings or margarines. This makes butter less budget-friendly for regular biscuit baking.

However, butter is a common refrigerator staple found in grocery stores everywhere. So it remains very accessible for most people.

Shortening is usually cheaper than butter, sometimes significantly so. And shelf-stable Crisco can stay fresh for years in the pantry without refrigeration.

So for frequent bulk baking on a budget or anytime fresh butter is unavailable, shelf-stable shortening provides a lower cost, longer-lasting option that’s still effective for biscuits.

Health considerations

For health-conscious bakers, the nutritional differences between butter and shortening are very significant.

Butter is a natural, minimally processed fat with some vitamins and nutrients. But it is also high in saturated fats and cholesterol, which can negatively impact heart health if over-consumed.

Vegetable shortening like Crisco contains no cholesterol. Originally marketed as a healthier butter alternative, modern shortenings are now known to be high in unhealthy artificial trans fats.

Trans fats raise bad LDL cholesterol and lower good HDL, greatly increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

So while butter biscuits may not be the most heart-healthy, they are still preferable from a nutritional standpoint compared to highly processed, trans fat laden shortenings.

Health risks of artificial trans fats

Keeping dough together

One practical advantage shortening has over butter is how well it holds biscuit dough together before and during baking.

Butter can leach out and cause dough to become crumbly, dry, or fall apart more easily, especially at room temperature. This makes handling and shaping the dough trickier.

In contrast, Crisco and other solid vegetable shortenings never get as soft or melty at room temp. This helps doughs stay cohesive, moister, and easier to manage from mixing to shaping to baking.

The drier dough issue can mostly be resolved by keeping butter chilled and working quickly. But if you struggle with crumbly butter doughs, shortening provides a simpler solution that holds together better.

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Versatility in recipes

Both butter and shortening can be used successfully in various types of biscuit recipes beyond just standard buttermilk or cream biscuits.

Butter Biscuit Versatility

The rich flavor of butter makes it ideal for sweet biscuits and scones containing ingredients like:

Fruit (blueberries, strawberries, etc.)
Nuts
Spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.)

Chocolate chips or chunks
Glazes or sweet toppings

Butter also pairs perfectly with savory add-ins for savory biscuits like:

Shredded cheese
Herbs
Crumbled bacon or sausage

Jalapenos or diced chiles

Shortening Biscuit Versatility

The pure fat content of shortening allows it to create extremely crisp, delicate, and flaky biscuit and pastry doughs, such as:

Pie crusts
Puff pastry
Biscuits for strawberry shortcake

Cream puffs

Shortening also shines in sturdy, no-spread recipes like:

Refrigerator/frozen biscuits

Crunchy biscuits for topping cobblers or casseroles
Long-lasting shipped biscuits or biscuit mixes

So both fats offer unique versatilities across a range of sweet and savory biscuit applications based on their distinct melting properties and flavors.

Food sensitivities and dietary needs

For people with certain food allergies, sensitivities, or dietary restrictions, the choice between butter and shortening may be an easy one.

Those who need to avoid dairy due to lactose intolerance or milk allergies must stick to non-dairy shortenings like Crisco instead of butter.

Similarly, vegans and anyone following a purely plant-based diet can only use vegan-friendly vegetable shortenings, never animal-derived butter.

On the other hand, those keeping kosher or halal would need to use only butter or certified kosher/halal vegetable shortenings that contain no animal products.

So depending on one’s personal dietary needs and restrictions, only one of these fat options may be appropriate for biscuit baking.

Combining the best of both

Since butter and shortening each have pros and cons, some bakers actually use a combination of both in their biscuit recipes.

By creaming together some butter for great flavor along with some shortening for supreme tenderness, you get biscuits with the best qualities of both fats.

A popular ratio is using 3/4 cup of butter combined with 1/2 cup of shortening. This provides ample buttery taste balanced with shortening’s crispy texture.

You can also try an “inside-outside” method, using butter in the dough for flavor but coating the outside with shortening for ultra crunchy tops and bottoms.

Blending the fats allows home bakers to custom tailor the flavor and texture to achieve their perfect ideal

Freezing and make-ahead tips

When making biscuits from scratch, it’s very handy to be able to bake some fresh but also have dough ready for later.

Both butter and shortening biscuit doughs can be made ahead and frozen for future fresh-baked convenience:

Freezing Butter Biscuit Dough

Form dough into rounds and arrange on a baking sheet to freeze solid
Once frozen, transfer to an airtight bag and store for up to 2 months

Bake biscuits straight from frozen, adding a few extra minutes to the bake time

Freezing Shortening Biscuit Dough

Shortening doughs freeze exceptionally well due to their high fat content

Shape into rounds, logs, or patties before freezing up to 6 months
Thaw in the fridge overnight before baking as usual

Having frozen dough on hand makes it easy to bake up fresh hot batches of biscuits anytime! The frozen dough keeps for longer with shortening versus butter.

Regional and cultural preferences

In certain parts of the world, the choice between butter or shortening biscuits often comes down to regional food culture and tradition.

In the American South where biscuits are deeply ingrained in the cuisine, using real butter is strongly preferred for its richer flavor that locals grew up on. Butter biscuits are a long-standing regional comfort food staple.

Meanwhile in the North and other areas without that Southern biscuit tradition, cooks may be more open to using shortening for its convenience without prioritizing a pronounced buttery taste.

Cooks following traditional British or Irish baking methods also favor butter overwhelmingly for authentic scones and other buttery baked goods.

So while both butter and shortening can make delicious biscuits, cultural legacy and food heritage heavily influence personal and regional preferences.

Special occasions vs everyday ease

Another consideration is whether the biscuits are being made for a special occasion or just everyday eating.

For holiday meals, weekend brunches, dinner parties and other special events, butter is usually the fat of choice. Real dairy butter gives biscuits a luxurious richness suited for celebratory foods.

Those extra buttery notes and crisp browning make for a more impressive looking and tasting baked good to serve guests.

However, for quick weeknight dinners or routine meals, the ease and convenience of shelf-stable shortening is very appealing. It’s ready to use straight from the pantry with zero last-minute trips for perishable butter.

Shortening biscuits won’t be as decadent, but get the job done reliably with less fuss.

So for fancy celebratory baking, butter wins out. But for frequent effortless everyday biscuits, shortening provides practical simplicity.

Flavor pairings and toppings

Since biscuits are often eaten with various toppings, gravies, and fillings, it’s worth considering which fat pairs best with other flavors.

Butter’s rich dairy notes make it the preferred fat for:

Biscuits topped with creamy gravies, sauces or mushroom ragouts
Biscuits stuffed or topped with savory breakfast meats like sausage or bacon

Biscuits meant to be drizzled with sweet toppings like honey or fruit compotes
Biscuits filled with creamy chicken, tuna or egg salad mixtures

The buttery taste simply melds better with dairy-based, meaty and sweet accompaniments.

On the other hand, shortening has a more neutral blank canvas flavor. This can be preferable for biscuits served with:

Very bold flavored toppings like chili, spicy sausage gravy or heavily seasoned stews
Toppings with delicate flavors that could be overpowered by butter (lemon curd, light herbs, etc.)

The neutral shortening backdrop allows the topping flavors to really shine through without competition.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is no definitive answer to whether butter or Crisco shortening makes definitively “better” biscuits overall. Each fat has its own unique pros, cons, and situational advantages that make it superior in certain contexts.

Butter excels at providing unbeatable rich flavor, indulgent mouthfeel, and beautiful browning that shortening simply cannot match. For special occasions, holiday gatherings, and nostalgic recreations of grandma’s buttermilk biscuits, butter is the way to go.

However, Crisco shortening should not be discounted. Its 100% fat content yields incredibly tender, crisp, and long-lasting biscuits that stay freshly intact. Shortening is also dairy-free, vegan-friendly, and ideal for those on tighter budgets who need maximum baking value.

For frequent everyday baking without fuss, the convenience and longevity of shelf-stable shortening provide practical benefits over perishable butter that some may prefer.

Ultimately, the “best” fat for biscuits depends on your personal priorities – whether you want peak indulgent flavor, absolute maximum tenderness and flakiness, dietary needs, cost considerations, or a balanced middle ground combining both fats.

The beauty is that you can easily adjust butter and shortening ratios in biscuit recipes to customize the ideal flavor and texture you crave, be it nostalgic childhood tastes or innovative modern interpretations.

No matter which fat you choose, kneading butter or Crisco into those biscuit doughs will surely yield heavenly, piping hot results fresh from the oven. An equally delicious debate to relish for all the biscuit bakers out there!