What's the difference if I use cold butter or room-temp. butter?!
Answers: I'm baking sugar cookies.....will the consistency of the butter affect the overall consistency of the cookie? (i.e. dense vs. light and fluffy, etc)
I was just reading about that, wondering the same thing! I read that room temperature butter (or butter melted in the microwave) will make puffier cookies, whereas refrigerated butter makes flatter cookies. The answer at this website
(http://en.allexperts.com/q/Desserts-747/...
explains it well - they said that melted butter prevents too much air being whipped into the dough. If there is too much air in the dough (which can also happen from over-mixing), it spreads more. I just made FLAT chocolate chip cookies the other day, and I used cold butter and really whipped the butter & sugar when creaming (just got a kitchenaid mixer so thought I'd follow the recipe on the nestle tollhouse bag!!).. and they were like pancakes! I used to make very fluffy puffy cookies! But, I always used to melt the butter and only cream until mixed. So, if you want fluffy cookies, use melted butter and don't overmix! :)
It has to be soft enough to blend with the sugar.
Yes, the temperature of the butter does affect the end result. Ideally when you're making cookies you want everything to be at room temperature.
By the time you get around to actually baking, it should be up to room temperature anyway, so it won't affect the batter. But stirring cold butter will *KILL* your arm! Ow, it hurts just to think about!
If you are only creaming the butter, (combining it with sugar) then it really doesn't matter too much.....infact, since it is room temp it should be better. But if you are making pastry of any kind like pie crust dough, it is DEFINITELY better to use as cold of temp. butter as possible for a more flaky dough! GOOD LUCK & BON APETIT!
it's just easier to work into your mixture. if you want to make it warm faster put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds
Yes it will effect the consistency. As a rule of thumb if you are creaming the butter then you should use butter at room temperature as it will provide you with a fluffier smoother batter and cookie. If the recipe calls for you to cut in the butter as in pastry dough then it is always better to use cold butter. To make your cookies more like a cake cookie substitute half of the butter for cooking oil such as olive or canola and cream the oil and butter together. The cookies will come out more light and fluffy and less stiff.
If the butter is room-temp, it will be a lot easier to cream into the mixture.