Why replacing butter (a saturated fat) with extra virgin olive oil (an unsaturated fat) will support a healthy diet, help prevent heart disease and tastes great at the same time.
Updated January 26th 2023
Summary
- Extra virgin olive oil is a healthy substitute for butter in baking
- It replaces a saturated (bad) fat with a monounsaturated (good) fat
- There are many health benefits associated with extra virgin olive oil
- Using extra virgin olive oil adds wonderful flavour to your baking
Contents
- Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil As A Substitute For Butter This National Chocolate Cake Day Extra
- Why Substitute Extra Virgin Olive Oil For Butter?
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil vs Butter: Why Choose Monounsaturated Fats
- Health Benefits Of Using Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Europastry And Baking With Olive Oil
- So How Can You Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil As A Substitute For Butter?
- Recipes
Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil As A Substitute For Butter This National Chocolate Cake Day
National Chocolate Cake Day is a nonofficial holiday celebrated on January 27 each year to commemorate this favourite treat that’s been a part of American tradition for over 200 years.
Many chocolate cake recipes feature the “Death By Chocolate” layer upon layer of chocolate for the ultimate dessert, reportedly invented by Marcel Desaulniers at The Trellis in Williamsburg back in the 1980s. Death by chocolate even featured in the Agatha Christie novel, A Murder is Announced, in which the housekeeper Mitzi bakes a murderously rich chocolate cake for her employees birthday.
Butter is a common ingredient in many recipes, but it can be expensive and unhealthy. Luckily, there are several substitutes that can be used in its place, including extra virgin olive oil.
Extra virgin olive oil is a healthy alternative to butter that can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. When substituting extra virgin olive oil for butter, it is important to keep the following tips in mind. First, extra virgin olive oil has a lower smoke point than butter, so it is best to use it in recipes that call for low or moderate heat. Second, extra virgin olive oil is more delicate than butter, so it is best to use it in recipes that do not require a lot of stirring or mixing. Finally, some extra virgin olive oils have a distinct flavor so it’s a good idea to pick the flavor that suits you before using it as a substitute for butter.
Why Substitute Extra Virgin Olive Oil For Butter?
Making the choice to substitute extra virgin olive oil for butter is one of the healthiest choices you can make. Although many of us are dependent on butter and saturated fat in our daily food preparation, it is easy to swap to extra virgin olive oil and still achieve great flavour without the strain on your heart and daily calorie intake. We bake with good extra virgin olive oil because it adds a wonderful, nuanced flavour to cakes, tortes, brownies, and bread. Moreover, baking with olive oil – instead of butter – is a good way to cut saturated fat. Plus, olive oil is loaded with monounsaturated fat, which promotes “good cholesterol.”
Extra Virgin Olive Oil vs Butter: Why Choose Monounsaturated Fats
Studies have linked monounsaturated fat to lower levels of bad cholesterol and a reduced risk of heart disease. In addition, olive oil contains antioxidants that can help protect against cell damage and reduce the risk of some chronic diseases. Olive oil is also very versatile; it can be used for cooking, baking, dressing salads, and more. And because it is a healthy alternative to other oils, you can feel good about using it in your cooking. So next time you reach for the cooking oil, make extra virgin olive oil your first choice.
Health Benefits Of Using Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Best olive oil has a number of health benefits that make it a better choice than butter for baking. First, best olive oil is a good source of monounsaturated fats, which have been shown to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. Additionally, olive oil is rich in antioxidants, which can protect against cell damage and help to improve blood sugar control.
Finally, best olive oil contains anti-inflammatory compounds that can help to reduce inflammation throughout the body. When choosing an olive oil for baking, it is important to choose one that is labelled “extra virgin,” as this indicates that it has been made from the first cold pressing of the olives and has not been exposed to high temperatures or chemicals during processing. This results in a higher quality olive oil that retains more of its nutrients.
Baking with extra virgin olive oil can bring a new and wonderful twist to any of your favourite baked goods. Using extra virgin olive oil instead of butter is also a great way to cut saturated fats out of your favourite treats. Baking using extra virgin olive oil also adds a wonderful, nuanced flavour to your favourite cakes.
Europastry And Baking With Olive Oil
Now, a Spanish baker has gone one step further. Europastry brands itself as an industrial baking company “with a start-up mindset,” trying to change the norms of traditional baking. In conjunction with Verdeo, a company dedicated to creating new ways to use olive oil in food products, Europastry has launched a range of pastries in Spain known as ‘Olive.’
“This range brings together innovation, health and flavour, and opens a range of possibilities for the future.”
Iris Roldán, communication manager, Europastry
Including croissants, donuts and muffins, these pastries are made with 100-percent olive oil instead of butter and palm oil. The new pastries are healthier and more sustainable while maintaining traditional flavours.
The final product contains monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats, antioxidants and polyphenols and maintains a good crumble, appearance and flavour.
They also have less sugar and cholesterol, making them attractive to the consumers as a healthier indulgence that provides the pleasure of eating a pastry with fewer downsides.
“This range of pastries is revolutionary because it uses olive oil as vegetable fat,” Roldán said. “Thanks to the innovative Verdeo process, we managed to solidify the olive oil using sustainable best practices, thus replacing saturated animal fats and hydrogenated vegetable fats.”
According to Europastry, ‘Olive’ pastries contain more than 84 percent unsaturated fats. Extra virgin olive oil, for example, contains the smallest proportion of saturated fat, about 15 percent. Meanwhile, palm oil contains 50 percent saturated fat, margarine and lard around 40 percent and sunflower oil about 15 percent.
So How Can You Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil As A Substitute For Butter?
Olive oil can replace butter and margarine in almost all baked goods. Here are some Q’s & A’s from Chef Sarah House of Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods, the Oregon provider of high-quality flours and other natural foods.
How much extra virgin olive oil should I use for a healthy diet?
“I use a 3:4 ratio – 3 parts olive oil is equal to 4 parts butter.” In other words: If a baking recipe calls for a stick of butter (8 tablespoons), for example, use 6 tablespoons of olive oil.
Are there times when I should avoid using extra virgin olive oil in a baking recipe that calls for butter?
Yes. “The only time olive oil is not an acceptable substitute for solid fats is in recipes that require a lot of creaming of the butter and sugar (super light and fluffy cakes), or when the fat needs to stay solid, as in a frosting,” House says.
Can I substitute extra virgin olive oil in a baking recipe that calls for a different oil, like canola or vegetable oils?
Yes! Extra virgin olive oil tastes better than “neutral oils” like canola and vegetable oil. “Any dessert that’s already made with some kind of vegetable oil is a candidate for trying,” award-winning cookbook author and dessert chef Alice Medrich says.
We’ve found you can substitute olive oil for other oils on a one-for-one basis. If a recipe, say, calls for half a cup of vegetable oil, use the same amount of extra virgin olive oil. We’ve done this with carrot cake, pound cake, and chocolate cake.
Can I use any type of olive oil in baking?
Not if you want to improve the flavour of your baked good. Use a quality olive oil that tastes good. “Only use an olive oil that you enjoy eating on salads, as a bread dip etc.,” Matthew Kadey, a registered dietitian, recipe developer, and magazine writer whose work has appeared in EatingWell and Men’s Health, says. “If you don’t particularly like the taste of a highly processed olive oil, why sully your baking with it. As the old saying goes: ‘Never cook with a wine you wouldn’t want to drink.’”
What’s so bad about using any olive oil off the grocery shelf?
Ask House, of Bob’s Red Mill. She initially tried using an “inexpensive, off-the-shelf extra virgin olive oil” while developing a recipe for olive oil spelt cake with caramelized apples.
“Wow, was it obvious that I had used low-quality oil. The flavour of the oil overpowered the rest of the cake and left a noticeable aftertaste,” House explains. “When I baked the cake a second time using a high quality extra virgin olive oil the final product was so much better. There was a lighter, more fragrant olive oil flavour that melded nicely with the nuttiness of the spelt and the warmth of cinnamon and the texture was lighter, almost velvety.”
Stick to using a great extra virgin olive oil, and you’ll be on your way to making a delicious treat!
