Ever read a cookie recipe and it starts out with “cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy” and you wonder what exactly that means? I’m here to help!
It’s important to note that it doesn’t matter what equipment you use to do this. You can use the fancy stand mixer. You can use a regular hand mixer. You can use a bowl and a wooden spoon. Some methods take more effort than others, but if done correctly, they all produce the same results.
The first thing obviously is to measure both your butter and sugars out. We also want to be sure to start with softened butter. I like to add the softened butter to my mixing bowl first and mix it for a few minutes to make sure it is nice and soft, with no hard lumps. I will scrape the bowl down a couple times to make sure it’s all incorporated.
After this, I will add in my sugars. I start slow so that everything mixes in and doesn’t just poof out of the bowl, then turn up the speed a notch. I’m not going at a superspeed, we’re not trying to make whipped butter. Then I’ll let that go for a few minutes, stopping every so often to scrape down the sides and bottom to make sure there are no pockets of ingredients being missed.
And then you’re done and ready to add the next ingredients! The mixture should be a bit lighter than you started, as well as nice and fluffy.
It’s a simple process, but why exactly do we do it?
We’re creating an emulsion with the sugars and butter. I’m sure you have heard the saying that oil and water don’t mix? Well, fats are a type of oil, and we want everything to mix smoothly. Creaming the butter and sugar together helps this be prepared for the next ingredients, namely the eggs.
This process also helps give some extra rise to baked goods. We’re adding air to the mixture, which helps the leavening agent do its job better. The little crystals in the sugar are sharp (on a very tiny level), and they pierce into the fat solids of the butter to help create little air pockets. And obviously, it also helps to make sure the sugar and butter are evenly combined.
This process takes several minutes to really get the correct result, so don’t just mix them and say good enough. Try it and see what happens!