Cooking With Coconut Oil
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Coconut oil roasted sweet potatoes; the oil enhances their caramelized flavor.

Whether coconut oil is good or bad for you remains a topic of debate in the nutrition community. But as Melissa Clark reports on Wednesday in the Dining section, coconut oil is winning some fans.

Two groups have helped give coconut oil its sparkly new makeover. One is made up of scientists, many of whom are backtracking on the worst accusations against coconut oil. And the other is the growing number of vegans, who rely on it as a sweet vegetable fat that is solid at room temperature and can create flaky pie crusts, crumbly scones and fluffy cupcake icings, all without butter.

One reason there is so much confusion about coconut oil is that it contains saturated fat. Federal dietary guidelines recommend that consumers limit saturated fat to less than 10 percent of daily calories. But nutritionists note that not all saturated fats are the same.

Marisa Moore, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, a nonprofit association of nutritionists, said, “Different types of saturated fats behave differently.”

The main saturated fat in coconut oil is lauric acid, a medium-chain fatty acid. Lauric acid increases levels of good HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, and bad LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, in the blood, but is not thought to negatively affect the overall ratio of the two. She went on to say that while it is still uncertain whether coconut oil is actively beneficial the way olive oil is, small amounts probably are not harmful.

But the best reason to use coconut oil is the taste it adds to food. “Virgin coconut oil has a deep coconut flavor that persists even after cooking,” writes Ms. Clark.

Read the full article, “Once a Villain, Coconut Oil Charms the Health Food World,” to learn more about coconut oil. And then check out these four new ways Ms. Clark suggests to cook with coconut oil.

Coconut Oil Roasted Sweet Potatoes: Coconut oil enhances the caramelized flavor while adding a delicate coconut essence to the dish.

Coconut Oil Poundcake With Almonds and Lime Zest: Virgin coconut oil works beautifully as a substitute for olive oil in this poundcake, yielding a loaf with a tight, golden crumb and gentle coconut fragrance.

Sautéed Shrimp With Coconut Oil, Ginger and Coriander: Scallions sauteed in coconut oil absorb the sweetness of the oil and pass on that lovely nuance to the whole dish.

Chocolate Shell Ice-Cream Topping: The chocolate will harden into a shell within a few seconds when spooned over ice cream.