Used to cream butter and sugar by hand for 15 minutes, now I just let my stand mixer do it while I prep other stuff

For YEARS I thought creaming by hand was the only way to get that light fluffy texture for cookies. My grandma swore by it and I just kept doing it even though my arm would be killing me. Then about 2 years ago I got a KitchenAid for Christmas and tried the paddle attachment on medium speed. Honestly the cookies come out the same, maybe even better because I don't get tired and rush the next step. Has anyone else noticed a difference between hand creaming vs mixer, or is it all in my head?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.grant20d ago

Your grandma was right. You're trading technique for convenience and convincing yourself it's the same thing. Hand creaming forces you to feel the butter soften and the sugar dissolve into it, plus you can control the temperature way better. A mixer overheats the butter faster than you think, especially if you let it run while doing other stuff. That heat changes how the cookies spread and set in the oven. Next time take your mixer batch and a hand creamed batch side by side, pay attention to the spread and the crumb. The difference is there, you just stopped looking for it.

michael_coleman1019d ago

The friction from a wooden spoon actually aerates the butter differently than a paddle attachment. I did a side by side with a kitchen scale and thermometer once. Hand creaming stayed around 64 degrees the whole time. My mixer hit 71 in under two minutes. That extra 7 degrees melts the sugar crystals into the fat before they can do their job of punching air pockets. You end up with a denser cookie that spreads flat instead of doming up right.

harper_foster19d ago

Throw a baking sheet on the rack below the mixer bowl next time to buffer some of that motor heat. @michael_coleman10 is spot on about the temp spike.