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A half cup shortening is a half cup margarine. They are practically the same except in taste.
One stick of butter = 1/2 cup.
1cup
1 cup is 8 oz. -So about 1/2 pound of shortening in a cup.
One tablespoon of solid shortening weighs 13 grams (from label). There are 16 tablespoons in one cup, so 13 x 16 = 208 grams. One-half cup of shortening weighs 104 grams. One-third cup of shortening weighs 69 grams. One-fourth cup of shortening weighs 52 grams. This is the easiest way to weigh shortening. Just be sure to zero out the scale before adding shortening to the cup or bowl.
1/2 a cup of butter is equal to one whole stick of butter
shortening is like butter 1 cup of shortening is equal to 1 cup of butter
1 cup is one cup
If it is 1/4 cup or less, however, you can replace 1/2 the amount of shortening with a nut or seed butter. It will alter the taste & may have a strong tahini flavor. Almond butter or raw cashew butter may be more favorable. Some recipies do well with 1/4 cup tahini and no shortening, but replacing half the amount of remaining shortening with applesauce.
Just melt your shortening until you have one cup. Let it cool before using. It's the same thing.
It really depends on what you are cooking/baking, but often you can substitute a cup of butter for the shortening. Don't use margarine though, because it has some water content and would possibly affect the results. You could also try half butter and half lard, which should work well, also.
You can safely substitute liquid oil for solid shortening in baking ONLY if the recipe calls for the shortening to be melted first. You can substitute butter or margarine for shortening ( 1 cup + 2 Tbsp for each cup of shortening). You can also substitute 1/2 cup applesauce or prune puree for each cup of shortening.