I stopped creaming butter and sugar first and my cookies got way better

Everyone always says you HAVE to cream the butter and sugar for like 5 minutes to get fluffy cookies. I kept doing it exactly like that for years, even set a timer once. But last month I accidentally forgot to soften my butter, so I just melted it in the microwave instead. Threw everything together in one bowl, no creaming step at all. The cookies came out chewier and actually spread right instead of staying in a puffy lump. I tried it again a few days later on purpose and got the same result. Has anyone else ditched the creaming step and found it works better for certain cookie recipes?

2 comments

2 Comments

rosel834d agoTop Commenter

Same thing happened with my banana bread. Everyone swears you gotta cream the butter and sugar but I just mash the butter into the bananas and it comes out way more moist. Its like we get stuck on these rules and forget the actual food we're making. Reminds me of how I used to always double check my tire pressure before a road trip until one time I forgot and the car drove totally fine. Sometimes the little steps we think are critical just dont matter as much as we think.

miawalker5d ago

Oh man, the "melted butter instead of creaming" thing changed my whole cookie game too. I started doing it after reading some blog post about how melted butter gives you that chewy, almost toffee-like texture because you're not incorporating as much air. For chocolate chip cookies especially, I'll melt the butter, let it cool a bit so it doesn't cook the eggs, then mix everything by hand with a spatula. The dough looks a little greasy at first but they spread perfectly and stay soft for days. If you're into thinner, crispy edged cookies with a soft center, it's the way to go.