Baking terminology ? (cream together)

[elektra]

I want to try and make the chocolate chip cookie recipe posted by elephantmeg last week. :)
The first direction calls to "cream together" some ingredients. ("In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.")

What does that mean exactly?
I feel like my cookies never turn out well and I feel like it's because I under-mix or over-mix things sometimes.

Also, I thought you weren't supposed to melt butter when making cookies??

[elliput]

When creaming butter and sugar, the purpose is to get a silky texture. The sugar crystals should all dissolve into the butter. Usually, the butter is suggested to be room temp, but I have seen recipes which call for the butter to be melted then cooled so that it is still liquid when mixed.

[jenny]

I read a NYT article recently about butter and how the best results when baking are when the butter is at room temperature. Melting the butter can change the consistency of the baked good and you don't get as good of a flaky/crispy buttery cookie.

If you have a kitchen aid mixer, it's MUCH easier to cream the sugar and eggs, but you can achieve it with a hand mixer.

[pastrygirl]

With a Kitchenaid, you'd use the paddle attachment (not the whisk) to cream ingredients together. For butter/sugar, it should get pretty light yellow and look silky and uniform, not chunky. It will be gritty, though -- that's OK.

With a handmixer, you'd just use the whisk attachments since that's all they come with.

I'm pretty sure that you can't overmix things during the creaming stage. It's once you add the fat (eggs) and flour that you can easily overmix. After adding flour, you should only mix until the streaks are JUST gone.

[JTsMom]

Cream together just means mixing together, usually butter and sugar. Fancy word for mix- that's all. :) Sometimes it will say "until light and fluffy" too.

[elektra]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I especially appreciate the specifics here:

With a Kitchenaid, you'd use the paddle attachment (not the whisk) to cream ingredients together. For butter/sugar, it should get pretty light yellow and look silky and uniform, not chunky. It will be gritty, though -- that's OK.

With a handmixer, you'd just use the whisk attachments since that's all they come with.

I'm pretty sure that you can't overmix things during the creaming stage. It's once you add the fat (eggs) and flour that you can easily overmix. After adding flour, you should only mix until the streaks are JUST gone.

I always use the whisk attachment. I thought the paddle one was only for dough. Doh!

My mom is even more clueless in the kitchen than I am, so a lot of this sort of common sense stuff I just don't know. My grandmother even called that the pillsbury roll of cookie dough "homemade". :47:

[tylersmama]

Actually, the dough hook is for dough. ;)

I only use the whisk for things like whipping cream or egg whites and making frosting. I use the paddle for almost everything else...cookie dough, cake batter, general mixing. And of course the dough hook for bread and pizza dough.

Kinda o/t, but about the pillsbury cookies...you know the ones that are seasonal that have a shape in the middle of them (pumpkin, christmas tree, etc)? My playgroup had a party last Christmas, and one of the moms actually asked the hostess how she got the picture in the cookies! :D

[elektra]

Actually, the dough hook is for dough. ;)

LOL! Double Doh! ;) That would make sense wouldn't it? Glad I had my disclaimer about being a clueless baker in there!


Kinda o/t, but about the pillsbury cookies...you know the ones that are seasonal that have a shape in the middle of them (pumpkin, christmas tree, etc)? My playgroup had a party last Christmas, and one of the moms actually asked the hostess how she got the picture in the cookies! :D

Ok this is one mistake I would never make because I am a pro at pillsbury. It's the kind of cookies that my grandma and I baked together "from scratch". ;)