March 11, 2013 - 1:00am
Something not right with my cookies, sugar crystals are still visible!!
Hi everyone,
I am very new to baking, and this is my first post here, I am having a problem with my cookies, after I bake them I can still see sugar crystals visible in the cookies!!
I don't know what I am doing wrong, am I using the wrong sugar, my creaming method is wrong, or is my stand mixer not doing a great job at creaming?
Yesterday I creamed my butter and sugar at high speed, and for a long duration, but still didn't bake the cookies to see how it went.
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What is the moisture content of the butter?
What kind of butter did you use? Was it cold or room temperature? What kind of sugar did you use? What kind of mixer? How long is a long duration? Seeing the recipe would allow me to give a much more informed answer to your question.
Jeff
The butter was at room temperature, softened and unsalted, used two kind of sugar, white and brown , I put all together and started mixing for around 5 minutes.
I am using a hand mixer that can be attached to a stand, and I got the recipe from the back of Nestle toll house chocolate chip pack.
Are the large sugar crystals a problem?
If you find the crystals too large, put some or all of them into a food processor or blender first to powder the sugar. I have worked with large crystal sugar before but it didn't keep the cookies from disappearing. :)
You can also try slowly adding eggs to the creamed butter & sugar (like half an egg at a time) giving the sugar a chance to dissolve before adding flour. If you have a house full of energy.... just throw everything into a big, big bowl and let the "free energy" blend the ingredients with their clean hands. It takes a little longer but is lots more fun! Use a spoon to scrape off dough from fingers.
We have a lot of threads here on Chocolate chip cookies so don't forget to check the archives in the site search box. And Welcome to TFL!
I would start with just the butter in the mixer at medium speed. Beat (mix, blend) the butter for 30 seconds or so and then increase to full speed. Beat for another 30 seconds and then add the sugar in a steady stream to the mixer while it is blending the butter. Beat this mixture for another 2 minutes and then follow Mini's advice to slowly add the eggs one at a time to the running mixer on medium high speed. Mix each egg for at least 30 seconds, or until fully incorporated, before adding more.
Jeff
is usually done until the sugar crystals disappear and the butter is fluffy. This is somewhat less important in cookies, but usually folks don't cream nearly long enough.
If you are using what is essentially a hand held mixer, you may have to cream for a very long time. 2 minutes might not be sufficient. As much as I hate to say it - watch the butter, not the clock.
But be assured, you could cream to this point with only a wooden spoon (albeit with considerable effort) and it will happen.
In general, for cookies, I will add the sugar all at once - but I have a fairly sturdy mixer and good upper body strength.
But the cookies are usually delicious anyway.
Hope this helps.
most people are saying just mix the sugar and the butter for around 2 min, but in this youtube video she had to mix for around 10 min!! is this normal?!
I would say that 2 minutes is barely adequate. 10 minutes is necessary for high quality cakes and for cookies at least 5 minutes.
Jeff