Making Cookies: What can you substitute shortening for?!

I'm surprising my dad with oatmeal raisin cookies for his birthday tonight and the recipe has shortening in it but I don't think I have any! What I can I substitute it for?

What other types of oil do you have? Butter? Veggie oil? I've never actually heard of oatmeal raisin cookies that had shortening in them.

I have Mazola vegetable oil, butter, and margarine. There's already 1/2 a cup of margarine in it.

All butter is perfectly ok.
I would not used liquid cooking oil for cookies.
Coconut oil is lovely incookies, but few people have it.

It's asking for 1/2 a cup of shortening, so should I put another 1/2 cup of butter in?

I couldn't put coconut oil in my chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter cookies. Yuk.

Use all butter or half butter and half-margarine.

The difference is that all butter cookies will spread more and be crispier whereas half butter-half margarine (or shortening) cookies will have a softer texture and spread less.

Shortening, butter and margarine are all equally interchangeable in *most* recipes, the texture will just be different as noted above.

Thanks guys, I just put more margarine in it and it takes okay, so we'll see how the baking goes

... they're expanding by the seconds

Pet cooking peeve: Margarine

Change the oil in the truck with it but don't eat it.......yuck! I won't allow it in my house.

But yes, you can substitute butter for shortening or lard.