shortening
n. C / Un. a type of solid fat, like butter or lard, used in baking. It makes food like cookies or pie crusts very soft and crumbly.
n. any fat that remains solid at room temperature and is used to give pastry a crisp or crumbly texture. It functions by preventing the formation of long gluten strands in dough.
The recipe calls for half a cup of vegetable shortening.
Using shortening instead of butter results in a flakier pie crust that holds its shape better in the oven.
While traditional recipes often specify lard, modern bakers frequently substitute vegetable-based shortening to achieve a similar melt-in-the-mouth consistency without using animal products.
Uncountable when referring to the substance in general; countable when referring to specific commercial varieties.