I'll tell you the dirty secret of a good pie crust, IMHO, although others may disagree. My Oma used 100% pure leaf lard and her pies were out of this world. Good lard is hard to find, but I find that if I use 1/2 butter and 1/2 lard, I get good results. Keep in mind, I don't eat pie (or other desserts) every day, otherwise I'd be big as a house and my arteries would be screaming (although, I must say, both my Omas lived to be 93).
I'm also a big believer in butter for baking. If you're going to bake something, use butter; don't waste all your time and other good ingredients by using margarine. It's an inferior product and you can tell when you eat it. Again, I don't eat cookies every day, but when I bake, I want it to taste good.
"I'm also a big believer in butter for baking. If you're going to bake something, use butter; don't waste all your time and other good ingredients by using margarine. It's an inferior product and you can tell when you eat it. Again, I don't eat cookies every day, but when I bake, I want it to taste good."
My wife won't use any thing but butter in the 50 to 60 dozen cookies she bakes every week for our customers at our business. She does use margerine in one recipe for some reason. She NEVER taste any of the cookies she bakes. (but I do)
One of the secrets of a competent cook is to have every thing done at the right time.