Healthy alternative to butter?

Although it's conceivably just another "fad", I have started to use coconut oil instead of butter and oil in recipes. Just trying it out for now.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/coconut-oil-and-health

not all fat is bad. Your body NEEDS some good, unsaturated fats.

Best!

I just use real butter, in moderation. I don't like the taste of margarine or any of the other wannabe's.

There is nothing inherently evil about butter...it is a fat...dietary fat is an essential nutrient...use butter in moderation. I primarily cook with olive oil or avocado oil for their mono-unsaturated fats..but I use butter for things that call for butter and/or traditionally are just better with butter...I use coconut oil for certain things too. It's all fat and you need dietary fat...but a little goes a long way.

Depending on your cooking application, different oils/fats are necessary. Coconut oil and butter for example have low smoke points and are worthless for high temperature cooking but are great for baking, doing some scrambled eggs, etc.

Butter is healthy. Smart Balance is a Frankenfood. Give me butter. Real, natural butter.

Butter is healthy. Smart Balance is a Frankenfood. Margarine is 1 molecule away from plastic. Give me butter. Real butter.

And water is one molecule away from killing you. For reals. :indifferent:

ETA: I too prefer real butter. Just log the calories. It is actually very important to get enough dietary fat in your day.

There is nothing inherently evil about butter...it is a fat...dietary fat is an essential nutrient...use butter in moderation. I primarily cook with olive oil or avocado oil for their mono-unsaturated fats..but I use butter for things that call for butter and/or traditionally are just better with butter...I use coconut oil for certain things too. It's all fat and you need dietary fat...but a little goes a long way.

Depending on your cooking application, different oils/fats are necessary. Coconut oil and butter for example have low smoke points and are worthless for high temperature cooking but are great for baking, doing some scrambled eggs, etc.

Is butter considered one of the healthy fats? I know nuts, peanut butter and avocado are all healthy fats. I am just trying to cut out as much unhealthy fats as possible. I am always under my calorie goal but sometimes go over fats.

It's important to get different kinds of fats ... none of them are unhealthy per se. I get a lot of fat from olive oil, but feel its necessary to incorporate some animal fat, butter/milk fat, etc into the diet. While butter is not inherently unhealthy, consuming most of your fat in the form of butter could be considered unhealthy. Like everything else; balance and moderation are the key.

This is a good read: http://www.mayoclinic.org/fat/art-20045550

ETA: For good flavor and a higher smoke point, I'll go with a 50-50 mix of olive oil and butter for some applications

Check this out: If you use a non-stick pan and start your dish with fresh cut onion and garlic the oils from the onion and garlic pretty much are sufficient to cook just about anything. Not adding a tables spoon of an oil (120 calories) allows me to eat more of the filling things i like: Pasta! Also, Trader Joe's sells a Coconut Spray that is ZERO calories. I bought it but hadn't needed to use it since learning about the natural oils from garlic and onion.

That's a great idea. Thanks!

I love the trader joe's sprays, but they are NOT zero calorie! No spray oils are (or any oils, for that matter!) It's just rounded down. 1/4 of a second spray of oil (the serving size) is about 4 calories, which they can round down to zero due to FDA rules. Tricky! I couldn't spray that quickly if I tried. A fast spray for me is 2 seconds, which is 18 calories according to a MFP item that actually has calories listed. 2 seconds is enough to lightly cover my saute pan, and 18 calories is still a bargain! FYI, that's about 1/2 tsp of oil (which is 20 cal). So if you spray a big baking dish for 12 seconds, that's a whole tablespoon - 120 calories, not zero! just trying to help

I don't think there's anything wrong with butter, I use it sometimes, but just for convenience I like the spreadability & flavor of Brummel & Brown Yogurt Spread. Not the cleanest food, but there's no hydrogenated oils. I keep it in the fridge for toast & things I'd normally spread butter on. Only 45 calories per tbsp, and it tastes like butter to me.

Butter is not healthy. It's a saturated fat, most of the fat in our diet should come from unsaturated fats (generally from plants). Eat it in moderation but olive oil spreads and recipes that use plant and nut oils for baking are healthier. Healthy fats are an essential part of your diet so don't worry if you go over the limit.