Should You Use Oil or Butter in Quick Breads?

The right fat matters in baking. Sponge cakes that use oil might appear more moist than those made with butter, but oil can’t do it all. You’d never be able to make a croissant with oil—that’s butter’s job. The ways that unsaturated fats (like oils) act differently than saturated fats (like butter) got us interested in how butter and neutral oil affect muffins and quick breads. Can they be swapped? If so, to what degree will the final product change? We put oil and melted butter head to head in four different recipes to see which would produce better color, flavor, heigh,t and texture. Taste testers found that oil might just take the cake (or, more accurately, the muffin).

The recipes we tested

We wanted to give each fat a fair shake, so we chose four recipes to test side by side: pumpkin muffins, banana bread, our Zucchini Bread with Orange Zest and Chocolate Chunks and our Cardamom-Spiced Pistachio and Apricot Muffins. Melted butter was called for in both the apricot muffin and banana bread recipes; oil was used in the original zucchini bread and pumpkin muffin recipes. For each recipe, we baked one batch as written and a second batch with the alternative fat substituted in equal measure.

Both batches baked side by side each time, and we put our tasters to work, identifying any noticeable differences in color, flavor, height, and texture. If they couldn’t tell the difference, that was noted, too.

The results

Oil landed a decisive victory against butter in the pumpkin muffin recipe. Tasters found that the pumpkin flavor came through more clearly, while the texture was softer and the crumb was more moist. The height was sufficient in both tests, with butter holding a slight advantage. The most common complaints with the butter batch were dryness, muted pumpkin flavor and a tough texture.

In the banana bread, the oil version won in texture and crumb. Overall, tasters felt the texture was softer and more moist. In their view, the caramel notes and spice flavors were more pronounced with the butter test, but in the end the flavors were fairly similar.

The Cardamom-Spiced Pistachio and Apricot Muffins threw a wrench in what was starting to seem like undeniable victory for Big Oil: Here, butter produced excellent results. The color was richer, the flavor was nutty and the texture was light, fluffy and tender. The oil version of this recipe, by contrast, was pale, tough and dull in flavor.

However, this butter win was short-lived. The zucchini bread results mirrored the results of the first two recipe comparisons—oil was the preferred fat. The browning on the oil loaf was more pronounced, the crumb was lighter and more tender, and the the flavor was light and clean, with more of the chocolate chunks’ flavor shining through.

Flavor and structure

There are two key differences with butter and oil. One of these is physical—i.e., the fact that butter is solid at room temperature. Even after being melted in the oven, it will return to a solid state after cooling. In practice, this leads to a sturdier crumb that can read as dryness or toughness.

Oil, meanwhile, remains liquid whether hot or room temperature, so even when those baked goods cool down, the texture remains soft and reads as moist. When a baked good I’m eating feels dry, and I know it contains butter, I’ll just pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds to bring it back to that soft and tender just-baked state.

Flavor is the other key difference here. Butter is prized for its flavor in all manners of cooking. Neutral oils, on the other hand, live up to their name: They add no flavor to the recipe, purely serving as a way to add richness and fluidity. In our tests, we found that butter’s flavor profile often masked or muddied the flavors of the other ingredients. However, sometimes it can provide a nuttiness, especially if it’s browned. Neutral oil always provides a clear pathway for the flavors of the other ingredients it’s sharing space with.

Can butter and oil be swapped for muffins?

The results of our tests were nuanced, the differences we picked up on were subtle. But one thing was clear in every recipe: They all worked. On a technical level, every single one yielded successful, tasty baked goods. In other words, we had our answer: Yes, melted butter and oil can be swapped and produce quick breads. The key things to remember are that oil will normally give you a softer, moister crumb and let more subtle ingredients, like pumpkin, spices or zucchini, shine through. Butter is more flavorful, but stronger ingredients (like chocolate or toasted nuts) can stand up to it and even complement its flavor.

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Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Allie Chantorn Reinmann is a Digital Staff Writer for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street. She’s a Thai-American chef who earned her diploma for Pastry and Baking Arts at The Institute of Culinary Education and worked professionally for over a decade honing her craft in New York City at places like Balthazar, Bien Cuit, The Chocolate Room, Billy’s Bakery and Whole Foods. Allie took her know-how from the kitchen to the internet, writing about food full-time at Lifehacker for three years and starting her own YouTube channel, ThaiNYbites. You can find her whipping up baked goods for cafés around Brooklyn, building wedding cakes and trying her hand (feet?) at marathon running. She’s working on her debut cookbook and lives in Brooklyn, NY.