Butter in cookies
I make a lot of cookies at Christmas, and I use good grocery store butter. Would anything change if I upgraded to European butter (which supposedly has more fat and less water) or cultured butter? These are american recipes, so I’m assuming they were tested with regular butter. Is the difference in fat and water enough to make a difference?
Best Answer
I make a lot of cookies and baked goods, and have never seen a problem with substituting European style butter into a recipe designed for American butter. I have seen a problem with the reverse - certain puff pastry and laminated dough truly are better with European butter, and switching to American butter has a negative impact on their texture.
I think you could probably safely swap European butter into any American cookie recipe.
That said, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for all your Christmas baking. Like I said, I do a lot of baking, and European butter (at least where I live) is significantly more expensive. Any cookie where butter isn't the main flavor - chocolate crinkles, gingersnaps, nut-based cookies, etc. - isn't going to see as much benefit from European butter. I save my fancy butter for laminated doughs where texture is important and cookies like shortbreads where butter is the main flavor. I have to say, European butter makes absolutely the best shortbreads and sablés.
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What does butter do in cookies?
The job of butter in baking (besides being delicious) is to give richness, tenderness and structure to cookies, cakes, pies and pastries. We alter the way butter works in a recipe by changing its temperature and choosing when to combine it with the other ingredients.What happens if you add more butter to cookies?
Too much butter causes cookies to spread a lot and ultimately crisp out on the outside being able to completely cook. Extremely chewy cookies (when the recipe isn't meant to make chewy cookies). This is because of the liquid content in the butter. Moisture helps develop gluten and gluten helps make chewy cookies.Is butter necessary for cookies?
Although butter is often considered one of the most essential ingredients for making rich and delicious chocolate chip cookies, you can actually make tasty cookies without butter. Instead, there are several things that you can substitute for butter in chocolate chip cookies.Does butter make cookies softer?
Butter contributes milk solids and water to a cookie, both of which soften it. Brown sugar contributes molasses \u2013 again, a softener. Using lower-moisture sugar (granulated) and fat (vegetable shortening), plus a longer, slower bake than normal, produces light, crunchy cookies.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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