It was an informative article, thanks for sharing with us. At our Thanksgiving get together, a family member roll their eyes when I mentioned selection and care of butter calling me a food snob because I couldn't support my statement.

Great article and every bit of it is very true. Having just taken a pastry class from a Master Chef, I learned to appreciate when the butter should be chilled, and how to cream it correctly. Chef Z. said there were 3 reasons for the correct creaming of butter:

1. To combine all ingredients into a smooth, uniform batter.
2. To form and incorporate air cells into the batter.
3. To develop the proper texture in the finished product.

Cathy - Is being a food snob a bad thing?

Pat, Well with DH's family (lovely people though) perhaps it is. At the family Christmas Eve party, they scarf up the pigs in a blanket and grape jelly meatballs and don't touch the Brie En Croute and think something is wrong with the pink salt.

Sounds like they're related to my family.....

Good article, thanks for posting the link.

What a great article! I love it when the science of baking is put across concisely and so clearly that a home baker is compelled to read the whole thing through, and can easily grasp the concept. Alton Brown does this really well, too.

DS & his fiancee are chemists and they are also both great cooks and bakers. I don't think it's a coincidence. My sister (jokingly) swears I am "holding out" on ingredients in the cookie recipes she's asked me for (something I would NEVER do)as her results are never as good. She's a lot like Rachael Ray, who BTW always mentions that she is a far better cook than baker, and her goal is to get things done quick, quick, quick. I would bet that she's never fully creamed the butter for her cookies or returned the batter to the fridge to cool before baking.

I'm sure this is the missing ingredient she's been looking for. Thanks for the article - I'll pass it on!

I think the only exception is Snickerdoodles, which really need Crisco to puff up. I grew up with butter, and never really thought about using anything else.

I read that article also and wanted to save the butter cookie recipe which was listed. I can't find the newspaper. Momj, did you get the cookie recipe?

Jane

There's three recipes. Here they are

Buttery French TV Snacks (Croq-Té)

Adapted from "Field Guide to Cookies" by Anita Chu (Quirk Books, 2008)

Time: 45 minutes

3/4 cup blanched almonds or hazelnuts, lightly toasted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher or flaky sea salt (if using fine or table salt, use 3/8 teaspoon)
1 cup all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

1. Position 2 oven racks in top third and bottom third of oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor, grind nuts, sugar and salt to a fine meal. In a mixer, beat flour and butter together on low speed until texture is sandy. Add nut mixture and mix on low until dough starts to form small lumps; keep mixing until dough just holds together when pinched between fingers. Do not use wet fingers: the cookies will collapse.

3. Pinch off about a teaspoon of dough and place in palm of your hand. With tips of fingers, pinch and press dough together until cookie has a flat bottom and pointed top, like a rough pyramid. Cookies need not be perfectly smooth or equal size. Place on parchment about 1 inch apart.

4. Bake about 15 minutes, rotating cookie sheets halfway through. Cookies should be turning golden brown on edges. Cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks and cool completely before storing in airtight containers up to 1 week.

Yield: About 2 dozen cookies.

Orange Butter Cookies

Adapted from "The Sweeter Side of AmyÂs Bread" by Amy Scherber and Toy Kim Dupree (Wiley, 2008)

Time: 1 hour

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups cake flour or more all-purpose flour (cake flour gives a finer texture)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
2 packed teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

FOR THE ICING (SEE NOTE):
1 orange
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons whole milk
2 drops almond or vanilla extract
Pinch fine salt.

1. Position two oven racks in top and bottom third of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, whisk flours, baking soda and salt together. In a mixer, cream together the sugar, butter and orange zest at medium speed until light and smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of bowl frequently. Add egg and mix. Add one egg yolk and mix. Add remaining egg yolk and mix. Stir in dry ingredients just until combined.

3. Scoop tablespoons of dough onto parchment, leaving more than 1 inch between cookies. Press each one down lightly with 2 fingers to flatten to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Leave any ridges and valleys on top of cookie intact, but smooth the edges.

4. Bake about 15 minutes, rotating cookie sheets halfway through. Cookies should be pale but baked all the way through. Cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool before storing in airtight containers up to 1 week.

5. When ready to serve, make icing: Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Peel orange, being careful to remove only outer orange zest, and cut into thin strips. Blanch in boiling water 1 minute; drain. Sift confectioners sugar into a bowl. Whisk in 2 tablespoons milk. Whisk in more milk if needed to make mixture thin enough to spread. Add extract, salt and zest, and whisk to combine.

6. Place cookies on a rack and drizzle icing over each one (make sure there is some orange zest in each spoonful). Icing will settle into cookie crevices; let harden.

Yield: About 4 dozen cookies.

Note: Instead of icing, cookies can be sprinkled with coarse crystal sugar before baking.

Currant-Ginger Shortbread

Adapted from "The China Moon Cookbook" by Barbara Tropp (Workman, 1992)

Time: About 45 minutes, plus 1 hourÂs refrigeration

4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, more for flouring paper
Pinch of fine salt
1/3 cup dried currants (see note)
1 packed tablespoon finely diced crystallized ginger.

1. In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar at medium speed until light and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add flour, salt, currants and ginger, and mix until well blended, about 3 minutes. Gather dough into a ball and flatten slightly.

2. Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper (or use nonstick baking mat). Place dough on paper or mat and roll out into a 10-inch square, an even 1/4-inch thick. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

3. Position an oven rack in center of oven. Heat to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 10 1-inch-wide strips (if using mat, remove dough to a cutting surface first). Cut each strip into 1 1/2-inch-long rectangles. Gather and roll out scraps and cut out more cookies. (Triangles or cookie cutter shapes can be made as an alternative to rectangles.)

4. One sheet at a time, bake until edges are lightly golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool completely before storing in airtight containers up to 1 week.

Yield: About 4 dozen cookies.

Note: If currants are very dry, steam for 10 minutes.

Thanks for the article. I too love reading and learning about the science behind baking and cooking.

I know I break some of the rules they suggested about handling butter. For one thing, when I find it on sale, I'll buy a bunch and freeze it. They don't mention whether freezing damages it or not.

Most recently, I bought Land O Lakes butter on sale. I used it along side another brand, maybe Organic Valley or maybe a house brand, I don't remember since I have around 3 or 4 brands right now - anyway, I noticed differences in color and texture between the different butters. I also noticed that the Land O Lakes didn't cream as easily as the others. It seemed to take a lot longer, staying sort of stiff, and this after being out for at least an hour to warm up to room temperature. Maybe it's one of those waxy kinds mentioned in the article.

Another difference I noticed in the butters is that all but one brand I have there are "natural flavors" added. I have one package of Kerrygold in the freezer waiting for a special occasion to be used. It has no added flavors, but all the others, including Organic Valley and Land O Lakes, have the added flavors. I wonder what they are.

I'm the type of person that splurges on something, then I'm afraid to use it because it cost so much I don't want to waste it. That's probably what's happening with that Kerrygold butter. I guess Christmas would be a good occasion to use it, wouldn't it?

Sally

Interesting article, I learned a thing or two. I always use butter when baking, except for pie crusts which I do 3/4 Crisco and 1/4 butter. I never use margarine. I can tell the taste difference.
Clare

I will never use margarine due to all the chemicals they use to try and make it taste like butter. Why not use the real thing to being with? Thanks for the article.

Here is a link that might be useful: cooking with grandpa

Kerrygold is wasted by using it for baking. Put it on bread, baked potatoes, saltines, etc. Use it for table butter.

Sounds like good advice, Ideefixe.

Sally