Substitute for Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is unusual among plant fats: it is firm in a cool kitchen and turns liquid in a warm one or on the tongue. Recipes use it in two ways. Some treat it like butter or shortening, creaming it with sugar or cutting it into flour. Others melt it and use it like any liquid oil. Check which one your recipe does, because the right swap is different.

Baking with solid coconut oil

In pie crust, biscuits, scones and creamed cookies, the fat must be solid. Vegetable shortening is the closest match, since it is also almost entirely fat. Butter and vegan butter work at the same amount, with a small difference: their water turns to steam in the oven, which gives flakier crusts and cookies that spread slightly more. Chill the dough if spreading is a problem.

Baking with melted coconut oil

Muffins, quick breads, brownies and granola treat coconut oil as a liquid fat. Any neutral oil or melted butter goes in at the same volume. Oil keeps the crumb softer when cold. Coconut oil would have firmed in the fridge, so oil-based versions feel moister.

Cooking

For sautéing, stir-fries and roasting, refined coconut oil is a neutral, heat-tolerant fat; neutral oil or ghee does the same job. In Thai or South Indian dishes that use unrefined coconut oil for its flavor, cook in a neutral oil and stir in a splash of coconut milk at the end.

When not to substitute

No-bake bars, raw vegan cheesecakes and chocolate shell toppings rely on coconut oil going from liquid to firm at fridge temperature and melting in the mouth. Liquid oils never set, and butter sets harder and tastes waxy when cold. Cocoa butter is the closest alternative in those recipes.

Common mistakes

• Swapping liquid oil into a recipe that creams the fat with sugar. Oil can’t hold air, so cookies come out flat and greasy.
• Measuring coconut oil in the wrong state. A cup of firm, packed oil and a cup of melted oil differ; follow the recipe’s form or weigh it.
• Adding cold eggs to melted coconut oil. It seizes into hard flecks; use room-temperature ingredients.
• Using unrefined coconut oil as a neutral fat. Its coconut flavor shows in savory dishes and plain cakes.