Using Cold vs. Room Temperature Butter in Cookie Dough

CTCookieSuper Gobbler

I know this is an old thread revisited, but regarding using cold butter vs. room temperature butter for the dough, it occurred to me that the reason bakers use cold butter in recipes for pie crusts and biscuits is that the science behind it says that tiny cold butter bits will melt quickly upon hitting the heat of the oven, will let off steam, and will then create pockets of space in the product. That's how they get flaky pie crusts and biscuits. So, I tried it with my [generations-old, family] cookie recipe, and sure enough, I got bubbles in my cookies--nothing that affected the flavor, but structurally, the uneven bubbles on the surface negated the smoothness I look for when decorating with icing. I would think that having integral air pockets in the cookies might also render them more breakable when shipping (they are not as solid or structurally sound.) So, that is something I now consider when putting together a dough...and it's why I always start with room-temperature butter for my dough (and then chill it before cutting and baking.)

Of course, YMMV [your mileage may vary] depending upon your recipe...I have only ever tried it with mine!

7/22/146:42 PM

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Julia M. UsherFounder and Host, Cookie Connection; Owner, Recipes for a Sweet Life

FYI - CT Cookie, I moved this comment from the bottom of the thread where it had been placed (about freezing cookie dough), as it's really a completely different topic. I think more people will see it, and appreciate your observation, here, in a thread of its own.

7/22/146:44 PM

WildflowerGobbler

Do you think this method, along with creaming the butter and sugar, was started just to prevent bubbles? I wonder if there are other factors to the science of cooking with different temperatures of butter? I never have bubbles, but I also always forget that I left butter out, so it is almost melted, lol. I hear that melted is bad though, and wonder why? One would think that chilling the dough in the fridge or freezer would give you the same issue, unless the butter melted to the point of being absorbed by the dry ingredients.

5/29/159:19 PM

Julia M. UsherFounder and Host, Cookie Connection; Owner, Recipes for a Sweet Life

It's small, yet visible chunks of butter in pastry that create flakiness - i.e., as CT Cookie said, when those chunks melt in the heat of the oven, they release steam that causes the dough layers to separate and become flaky. Generally, flaky is not what one wants in cakes or cookies, so the butter is creamed (beaten) to break up any small butter particles. By beating/creaming, a fluffy emulsion of fat-liquid gets created that results in a finer, yet still aerated crumb. You cannot create such an emulsion with melted butter - the same fluffy structure will not result - which is why melted butter is generally (though not always) avoided in most cake recipes.

5/30/1510:03 AM

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