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Melted Butter for Cookies

post #1 of 11
2/19/05 at 12:26pm
Thread Starter 
I read that store bought butter has alot of water that can make cookies spread when baking. Someone wrote they melt their butter so it mixes into the sugar better. It made me wonder if you melt your butter down to the point that the water Evaporates out then cool it into a solid and use it in the cookie recipes would this be the best way to go? Also with the water evaporated out would this reduce the volume of butter you have left that you would need to melt several bars and then combine them to get the right amount the recipe calls for, exp 1/2 cup?
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post #2 of 11
2/22/05 at 12:02am
there are 4 or 5 ways to manipulate spread. water content is only one reason. Spread can be a good thing.


what type of cookie do you want to make with this butter? Nearly every recipe uses store bought butter. You dont have to modify the water content of the butter.
melting the butter will increase spread. I dont know what will happen if you use resolidified butter.


need more information.
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post #3 of 11
2/22/05 at 6:08pm
You could buy a better brand of butter with a lower water content like Plugra "European Style" butter available at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, etc.

Jock
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post #4 of 11
2/26/05 at 7:00am
Sounds like a lot more work than necessary, but may be a fun experiment to do side by side. Too much fat can also cause spread. Maybe just reducing the amt. of butter will do the trick.
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post #5 of 11
2/27/05 at 5:01am
I like to use colder butter, than advertised in the recipe, to control spread.
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post #6 of 11
12/18/07 at 5:55pm
Butter use good butter how would you cream butter with liquid butter .plugra sells clarfied butter also .plugra spends a lot of money and time to churn there butter evenly and there product is great .that is why is works well in laminated doughs . keller creamery has a good product too all mrg . by the same company just diffrent specks . the fat % is about + 2 in plugra witch gives around i think 39%to 40 % butterfat i have the specks there melting point is diffrent than cheep butter ie spread we bought some butter from sysco and they said it was the same thing last time for that trick it can hardly be the same if it was you would pay for it ..''it is what it is '' grade AA AAA what do you want to spend ???
TOMMY
T
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post #7 of 11
12/20/07 at 2:25pm

What type?

I agree,
I all depends on the type of cookies you are making. Sounds like a fun experiment

Alexis
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post #8 of 11
12/20/07 at 2:35pm
Hmm...I'm not sure what type of cookies you're making, but I would never use melted butter in the cookies I make with heavy butter bases (butter, sugar, peanut-butter, or choc-chip, for instance). The butter needs to be mostly firm to get a good consistency when you cream it with the sugar. (I don't even soften it in the microwave.)

Melted butter will result in an extremely flat cookie (think paper flat) --after you deal with the runny dough and trying to get that laid out on the cookie sheet properly...When I'm baking, usually I'll cube my butter (and it has to be full-on 100% butter -- margarine or blends just aren't the same) right out of the fridge first and throw it into the Kitchen-Aid while I prep the rest of my ingredients. By the time I'm ready to cream the butter with the sugar and vanilla, it's usually perfect -- not rock hard, but not soft either.

As for cookie-spread --and this goes along with the idea of not using melted-butter in your recipe -- the colder the dough, the less spread you'll have. Throwing the dough in the fridge (in the stainless Kitchen-Aid bowl) in between batches, and even for about 10 minutes before the first batch will help with getting firmer, less flat cookies.
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post #9 of 11
12/20/07 at 8:15pm
if you're worried about cookies spreading, work with colder dough...or do what I do, I roll, cut and freeze my cookies...then I bake.

They usually keep their shape
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post #10 of 11
2/9/08 at 1:33am

melted butter for cookies

I have a whole lot of clarified butter left over - can I use it to make cookies? lemon butter cookies to be specific....
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post #11 of 11
2/10/08 at 12:22pm
A while back I posted a question regarding the spreading problem that I was having with my chocolate chip cookies. Panini told me to chill my cookies on the pan after they had been shaped and then bake them. It worked like a charm.
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