Oatmeal Cookie Ingredient Substitution Question

The rule of thumb is that if you use salted butter, reduce the salt in the recipe by 1/4 tsp per stick. So you would use 1/2 tsp of salt instead of the whole tsp for one cup of butter.

The reason that recipes say to use unsalted butter is that there is no standard for how much salt a manufacturer may add to their salted butter. Some butters will be quite salty, others very minimally so. By using unsalted butter and then adding a specific amount of salt, the cook is able to control exactly how much salt is in the recipe.

It's getting kind of popular for recipe developers to say "kosher salt" in baked goods. There's kind of a trend towards salty/sweet things like salted caramel, salted butterscotch, etc.

But the problem with using kosher salt in baked goods is this: kosher salt is not actually kosher. It's used "to kosher", or to render meat acceptable for kosher use. And that means that kosher salt crystals are larger and have jagged edges so the crystals cling to the meat being koshered.

These jagged edges and larger crystals mean that it's more difficult to evenly distribute the salt throughout the recipe and you may end up with some cookies being quite salty and others not so much.

I would recommend not using kosher salt in cookies, and instead either using salted butter plus about a half teaspoon of salt, or unsalted butter plus about 3/4 teaspoon of regular salt.

And keep in mind that one teaspoon of kosher salt will not equal one teaspoon of regular salt. That's because of the size of the crystals. One teaspoon of regular salt would be way saltier than one teaspoon of kosher salt.

Kosher or coarser salt is better for sprinkling on the surface of whatever you're baking or making. Fine salt is better for mixing in.

And kosher, sea and table salt are all refined, processed and cooked and have no health benefits. Unrefined salt (like Redmonds RealSalt and Celtic Sea Salt) have dozens of minerals. Redmonds RealSalt's website is really informative.

I'm a home economist. It's been many years since I've worked but I still remember much about foods.

Yes, use salted butter and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I don't understand why they call for kosher salt. It's crystals are large and harder to integrate in the batter. Elena B. explained this well.

I use salted butter in all the recipes that call for unsalted butter. The little bit of extra salt doesn't change the taste or the chemical reaction of the ingredients. Salt is not a leavening agent.

Here are the uses of salt in baking.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_use_salt_in_baking#ixzz2CRd...

Salt slows down fermentation so that yeast-leavened products have more uniform texture.
Salt makes dough a little tighter.
Salt brings out flavors of flour and butter. Without salt, cookies have sweetness but little flavor.

Another site said to use half the amount of salt given for kosher salt. It also suggested that kosher salt should only be used in recipes with a large amount of liquid so that it will more completely dissolve.

I only use salted butter. To me cookies don't taste right if you use unsalted (especially shortbread!)

Yes use what you have, but add a bit of salt anyway.
I hardly ever use Unsalted butter and have never had a problem.. And I do catering..

In my experience, you cannot substitute it, because the salt is a leavening agent. I've tried, and ruined several batches of cookies.

Here is my heirloom oatmeal cookie recipe.

My Grandmother started the tradition by taking a traditional plain oatmeal cookie recipe, and added Blondie raisins instead of regular raisins(some say it's a take on Ranger cookies, but the taste is decidedly different), and several family members added ingredients over the years, so it no longer resembles the normal oatmeal cookie. They are very rich. My Mother added Butterscotch chips, my brother changed it to be pecans instead of walnuts, my sister added Peanut Butter Chips, I added Molasses, I think one of my Uncles added the Chocolate, and one of my Aunt's added the Coconut...

Heirloom Oatmeal cookies

Ingredients

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
4 tablespoons Blackstrap Molasses
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups oats, uncooked(I use Quaker Old-fashioned)
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup (6 ounces) butterscotch chips
1 cup (6 ounces) peanut butter chips
1 cup Baker's Coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup Blondie raisins

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, milk, vanilla, and molasses; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Add oats, chips, coconut, raisins, and pecans; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 9 to 13 . Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Makes 5-7 dozen(depending on spoon size used to drop them).

If you use salted butter, you can eliminate half of the salt from the recipe. :-)

You can make the cookies with the salted butter. I can tell no difference but a very few people claim they can. I would be wary of reducing the salt because it's part of the chemical reaction in baking that makes them rise. That's quite a bit of salt though and you might reduce it by half if your felt led.

I have used salted butter for years - and I use table salt for the cookies. They are always delicious