Creaming butter is an essential part of baking. Unfortunately, many people are doing it incorrectly. Are you one of those people? See below and find out. If you are, and you follow these instructions to properly cream your butter & sugar, then your baked treats are about to all improve 1o fold!
Here are a few questions to find out if you are not properly creaming your butter & sugar.
- Do you often have flat cookies?
- Do you often have cookies that spread out too much?
- Do you often have greasy cookies?
- Do you often have dense & flat brownies or bars?
- Do you often have dense cake that doesn’t rise well?
If you answered yes to one or more of those questions, then creaming your butter properly could be the problem!
Why do you need to cream butter?
Creaming butter traps tiny air bubbles in the butter and sugar mixture. Those tiny air bubbles will expand in the heat of your oven, resulting in a fluffy, airy masterpiece. If you skip this step and do not incorporate tiny air bubbles into your dough or batter, then you are often left with a flat, greasy mess of a treat.
When should you cream butter & sugar?
I would say in the majority of cookie recipes you cream your butter and sugar. You would also want to cream your butter and sugar in almost all other cake, bar and brownie recipes that have both butter & sugar in them. A big trick to know for sure is if your butter & sugar are next to each other in your ingredient list. That is a sure sign that they should be creamed.
How to cream your butter & sugar
First, combine your butter & sugar in a standing mixer. Then, turn the mixer on high for 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl every 30 seconds. When the mixture is creamed it will be lighter in color and texture. Here is a visual example of how the ingredients look when just combined vs. creamed:


Creaming your butter is easy and only takes a couple extra minutes. The results are unbeatable. You will never regret creaming your butter & sugar properly. Try it out and let me know the great transformations you see in your baked treats!
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Mari Foster
This was one of the best tips I learned from Madi. My cookies turn out amazing everytime!
Madison Reid
I am so glad!! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.