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Testing them out in chocolate chip cookies, blueberry galette, and flaky biscuits.

Both Becel Plant-Based Bricks and Sticks and Flora Plant Butter both worked very well in biscuits, behaving very much like butter. At fridge temperature (and at room temperature, in the case of Flora), they were firm enough to grate on the coarse side of a box grater, or cut into pieces to work into the dry ingredients with a fork or your fingers. The resulting biscuits were flaky and light, similar in texture to a butter-based biscuit, though flavour-wise they reminded me of biscuits or crescent rolls from a tube—undoubtedly it was the flavour of the palm oils I recognized.—Julie Van Rosendaal

I’ve always defaulted to an all-butter pastry crust, though occasionally I use half butter and half lard or shortening, as those less-saturated fats are softer, a bit easier to work with, and produce a finer crumb. Lard and shortening blend more easily, coating the particles of flour, which inhibits gluten formation. Butter, on the other hand, is firmer and has some moisture in it, and provides both flavour and flaky layers. Both the Flora Plant Butter and Becel bricks and sticks were easy to work into the flour, much like blending in butter, and with the Becel bricks and sticks, which are slightly softer, I found I didn’t need quite as much water to bring the pastry together. Once baked, the pastry itself was flaky and light, with a texture more like a butter pastry than one made only with lard or shortening. Again, I did miss the flavour of butter—and the pastry was slightly tougher, didn’t brown quite as well, and was more flat-tasting, even compared to a shortening or lard-based dough (which would also lack butter flavour).—Julie Van Rosendaal

A classic chocolate chip cookie seemed like an important test run—a good way to assess the texture and flavour that the Becel butter alternative provides. I didn’t test them with Flora, as the bricks and sticks were easier to beat, even straight from the fridge, and even more so at room temperature. They made a soft dough that spread well, but not too much, retained some thickness in the middle, and had a crisp edge. The only downside: butter is an important flavour component in chocolate chip cookies and these had a noticeable flavour some tasters instantly described as coconutty. They tasted more like packaged cookies, likely because palm fats are common in processed foods, and lacked the buttery flavour you may not realize is an essential component of a chocolate chip cookie until it’s not there.—Julie Van Rosendaal

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