brownie mix and oil vs. butter

[songbird]

so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.

Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.

instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.

i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...

would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.


songbird

[ItsJoanNotJoAnn]

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.
songbird

I cannot answer your question about combining oil
and butter. But don't use olive oil; I can testify
they're AWFUL.

[Bruce]

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.
songbird

I cannot answer your question about combining oil
and butter. But don't use olive oil; I can testify
they're AWFUL.

Olive oil is awful? We do everything with olive oil and I luv it.

[Ed P]

Post by Bruce

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.
songbird

I cannot answer your question about combining oil
and butter. But don't use olive oil; I can testify
they're AWFUL.

Olive oil is awful? We do everything with olive oil and I luv it.

I do too, but I'd not want that flavor in my cookies.

Just as I've seen olives stuffed with pimento, garlic, but never
chocolate chips.

[Bruce]

Post by Ed P

Post by Bruce

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
I cannot answer your question about combining oil
and butter. But don't use olive oil; I can testify
they're AWFUL.

Olive oil is awful? We do everything with olive oil and I luv it.

I do too, but I'd not want that flavor in my cookies.
Just as I've seen olives stuffed with pimento, garlic, but never
chocolate chips.

I wouldn't use it for cookies either, but I never make cookies.

[ItsJoanNotJoAnn]

Post by Bruce

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
I cannot answer your question about combining oil
and butter. But don't use olive oil; I can testify
they're AWFUL.

Olive oil is awful? We do everything with olive oil and I luv it.

It's awful in brownies unless your taste buds are dead.
It just overpowers the brownies.

[Bruce]

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn

Post by Bruce

Post by ItsJoanNotJoAnn
I cannot answer your question about combining oil
and butter. But don't use olive oil; I can testify
they're AWFUL.

Olive oil is awful? We do everything with olive oil and I luv it.

It's awful in brownies unless your taste buds are dead.
It just overpowers the brownies.

I rarely make sweets, but if I did, I wouldn't use olive oil. I'd use
butter.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.

Probably not for brownies. Butter is 16-17% water. Without knowing
which mix your mother is using, I arbitrarily picked the instructions
for Duncan Hines, which calls for 1/4 cup of water and 1/2 cup of
oil. 16% of half a cup is about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon. You
could easily get that kind of error in using a glass measuring cup
anyway.

[f***@sdf.org]

Post by Cindy Hamilton

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.

Probably not for brownies. Butter is 16-17% water. Without knowing
which mix your mother is using, I arbitrarily picked the instructions
for Duncan Hines, which calls for 1/4 cup of water and 1/2 cup of
oil. 16% of half a cup is about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon. You
could easily get that kind of error in using a glass measuring cup
anyway.

could clarify the butter. i bet brownies made with butter would
taste better than made with oil.

[Graham]

Post by f***@sdf.org

Post by Cindy Hamilton

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.

Probably not for brownies. Butter is 16-17% water. Without knowing
which mix your mother is using, I arbitrarily picked the instructions
for Duncan Hines, which calls for 1/4 cup of water and 1/2 cup of
oil. 16% of half a cup is about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon. You
could easily get that kind of error in using a glass measuring cup
anyway.

could clarify the butter. i bet brownies made with butter would
taste better than made with oil.

Especially brown butter.

[clams casino]

Post by f***@sdf.org

Post by Cindy Hamilton

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.

Probably not for brownies. Butter is 16-17% water. Without knowing
which mix your mother is using, I arbitrarily picked the instructions
for Duncan Hines, which calls for 1/4 cup of water and 1/2 cup of
oil. 16% of half a cup is about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon. You
could easily get that kind of error in using a glass measuring cup
anyway.

could clarify the butter. i bet brownies made with butter would
taste better than made with oil.

Almost all the packaged brands would agree with that, supermarket
bakeries too.

Butter and heat oft times play poorly, whereas oi emulsifies and stays
velvety.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Post by f***@sdf.org

Post by Cindy Hamilton

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.

Probably not for brownies. Butter is 16-17% water. Without knowing
which mix your mother is using, I arbitrarily picked the instructions
for Duncan Hines, which calls for 1/4 cup of water and 1/2 cup of
oil. 16% of half a cup is about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon. You
could easily get that kind of error in using a glass measuring cup
anyway.

could clarify the butter. i bet brownies made with butter would
taste better than made with oil.

They do. Brownies are so simple to make, I don't know why anybody
buys a mix. We use the "one bowl brownie" recipe on the back of
the Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate package.

[Dave Smith]

Post by Cindy Hamilton

Post by f***@sdf.org
could clarify the butter. i bet brownies made with butter would
taste better than made with oil.

They do. Brownies are so simple to make, I don't know why anybody
buys a mix. We use the "one bowl brownie" recipe on the back of
the Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate package.

I use the recipe from JoC and I would not all it simple. It calls for
room temperature eggs, so that adds some planning and time to the
process. The butter has to be melted and then the chocolate to be melted
in a double boiler. Then stuff get folded it. Sorry, but there are
enough steps and procedures that I can't think of them as simple.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Post by Dave Smith

Post by Cindy Hamilton

Post by f***@sdf.org
could clarify the butter. i bet brownies made with butter would
taste better than made with oil.

They do. Brownies are so simple to make, I don't know why anybody
buys a mix. We use the "one bowl brownie" recipe on the back of
the Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate package.

I use the recipe from JoC and I would not all it simple. It calls for
room temperature eggs, so that adds some planning and time to the
process. The butter has to be melted and then the chocolate to be melted
in a double boiler. Then stuff get folded it. Sorry, but there are
enough steps and procedures that I can't think of them as simple.

The one-bowl brownie recipe melts the butter and chocolate in the
microwave.

Four 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 13x9 pan.

Microwave chocolate and butter in a large bowl on highfor 2 minutes
or until butter is melted. Alternatively use a double boiler.

Remove bowl from microwave and stir until chocolate is melted.
Stir in sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts.

Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes (do not
overbake).


That's it. Very nearly as easy as a box mix and without wheat
starch, dextrose, salt, artificial flavor, carrageenan, or baking
soda.

I don't think my husband bothers to chop the chocolate.

[Michael Trew]

Post by Dave Smith

Post by f***@sdf.org
could clarify the butter. i bet brownies made with butter would
taste better than made with oil.

They do.  Brownies are so simple to make, I don't know why anybody
buys a mix.  We use the "one bowl brownie" recipe on the back of
the Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate package.

I use the recipe from JoC and I would not all it simple. It calls for
room temperature eggs, so that adds some planning and time to the
process. The butter has to be melted and then the chocolate to be melted
in a double boiler. Then stuff get folded it.  Sorry, but there are
enough steps and procedures that I can't think of them as simple.

Personally, I find some of the JoC recipes to be overly complicated. I
have the 2006 and a 1970's version. My favorite cookbook is grandma's
1962 Betty Crocker book. Either way, I don't buy boxed mixes, not even
if on sale for $1. I keep all of the ingredient needed at home.

[songbird]

Cindy Hamilton wrote:
...

Post by Cindy Hamilton
They do. Brownies are so simple to make, I don't know why anybody
buys a mix. We use the "one bowl brownie" recipe on the back of
the Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate package.

it's not something i would have done, but that is the
recipe that Mom wanted to use to make some brownie
cupcakes so that is what she did.

normally she makes her usual recipe from scratch with
cocoa powder in it and those are good.


songbird

[dsi1]

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.
songbird

It's not going to make much difference. I know about these things. You
could also just try it yourself. It is only through exploration can we
learn about the world - that's always been true.

[Carol]

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.

Grin, I had one for Parsnip ideas just a bit before thisand got a few
goodies from Graham. Parsnip soups or stews.

Post by songbird
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.

Too late now but the main thing was 'how short'? Any type of
flavorless oil will do so making up a shortage of corn oil with cannola
would be fine. If small difference (1-2 TB), a bit of melted but not
hot crisco might be a fit.

Post by songbird
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.

Well, just in the interests of discussion, your idea has some merit but
watch for water content. I got 2 values but 15-20% seems most common.
(be exact, butter not margarine. Margarine has a lot more water).
That means just a TB or so butter and short the water a bit.


https://eatmorebutter.com/how-much-water-in-butter/

Post by songbird
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...

I don't think it will work right if it's near 1/2 the oil as you seem
to lead. You might get hard chocolate rocks....

Post by songbird
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.

Depends on the amount of oil short. Not enough info to tell. The
tastes aren't incompatible sounding meaning it may 'taste' different,
but not bad. Olive oil would not taste right, nor would avocado.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Post by Carol

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.

Grin, I had one for Parsnip ideas just a bit before thisand got a few
goodies from Graham. Parsnip soups or stews.

Post by songbird
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.

Too late now but the main thing was 'how short'? Any type of
flavorless oil will do so making up a shortage of corn oil with cannola
would be fine. If small difference (1-2 TB), a bit of melted but not
hot crisco might be a fit.

Post by songbird
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.

Well, just in the interests of discussion, your idea has some merit but
watch for water content. I got 2 values but 15-20% seems most common.
(be exact, butter not margarine. Margarine has a lot more water).
That means just a TB or so butter and short the water a bit.
https://eatmorebutter.com/how-much-water-in-butter/

Post by songbird
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...

I don't think it will work right if it's near 1/2 the oil as you seem
to lead. You might get hard chocolate rocks....

Post by songbird
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.

Depends on the amount of oil short. Not enough info to tell. The
tastes aren't incompatible sounding meaning it may 'taste' different,
but not bad. Olive oil would not taste right, nor would avocado.

Brownies just aren't that fussy. I wouldn't stress the excess water.

It's a box mix, for God's sake. They know people are going to screw
things up. That's why they add the science experiment ingredients.

[jmcquown]

Post by songbird
so we've come down to an actual cooking question for a change.
Mom was going to make brownies tonight using a boxed mix. it
calls for X amount of oil. we don't have enough oil to make all
the brownies that she wanted to make so i suggested melting some
butter and mixing it with the oil that she does have to get the
amount needed.
instead of doing that she decided to make them tomorrow after
she goes to the store to get more oil.
i think it would not make that much of a difference, fat is
fat and fat is oil - plus the amount percent wise in total of
butter might be less than half of the total required so...
would it make a noticeable difference or not? me thinketh not.
songbird

If you don't want the brownies to turn out like crap yes, yes, follow
the package directions. It's been tested using oil. Presumeably a very
neutral oil such as corn or vegetable oil. Adding melted butter will
result in a different consistency.

Jill