Using melted butter vs rubbing it into flour?
Let's say I'm making a crumble topping or some biscuits. What, if any, differences would it make to the finished product if melted butter was used instead of rubbing it in to the flour? Thanks.
Best Answer
Melting the butter would create a more homogeneous mixture of butter and flour. This may sound like a good idea, but actually preserving little clumps of butter and flour in the final mixture for your crumble (or streusel, or pie crust, or US biscuit) is what gives the finished product its flaky texture. If you try using melting butter you will a lower-volume, denser, harder results which is undesirable in the applications you are describing.
You can even inadvertently get this result if you warm the butter up too much with your hands while creating the mixture; in such cases it can be helpful to return the dough to the fridge for a few minutes and letting the butter re-solidify before crumbling any large clumps apart again.
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Quick Answer about "Using melted butter vs rubbing it into flour?"
Melting the butter would create a more homogeneous mixture of butter and flour. This may sound like a good idea, but actually preserving little clumps of butter and flour in the final mixture for your crumble (or streusel, or pie crust, or US biscuit) is what gives the finished product its flaky texture.Does melted butter make a difference in baking?
Adding melted butter to your recipe will change your cookies' and cakes' structure, density, and texture: Adding melted butter instead of the traditional softened butter will result in a chewier cookie. Softened butter in cookie dough will give you a more cake-like cookie.Why do you rub butter into flour?
Why? When cold butter is rubbed into the flour, it creates flaky pockets of flavour (which soft, room temperature butter can't do). Once the cold butter and liquid (e.g milk) hits the oven, the water in the butter and cold liquid begins evaporating.What is the best way to cut butter into flour?
As mentioned earlier, butter creates steam as it melts in a hot oven, and in pastries where cold butter is used, the steam from the melting butter expands between the layers of dough. This creates pockets of air, yielding a flaky end product.How to Rub Butter into Flour | Baking Mad
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