Why would you want to make your own shortening?

The United States is one of the only places in the world where shortening can be found. Most of the shortening available in the US is derived from palm oil, which, as of this writing, is associated with environmental destruction in Sumatra. Much of the shortening commercially available has additives that you might want to choose to avoid. Making your own shortening allows you to unlock more creativity with your baked items. For example, if you want to add a layer of white chocolate or hazelnut flavor to your dessert, you could swap out some or all of the refined cocoa butter for unrefined cocoa butter and some or all of the canola oil with hazelnut oil. How about a hazelnut shortening that doesn’t resort to hazelnut extract for flavoring? Making your own Vegan Butter or Shortening and using hazelnut oil allows this to be possible! Toasted sesame oil in a vegetable pot pie crust? Why not?