How to Avoid Egg Curdling when Creaming Butter and Sugar?

[CookieMaker]

My cookie batter is wet and muddy- does not incorporate the eggs once I cream the butter and sugar. I have tried putting it at room temp 65 degrees and colder temperatures.
Have creamed at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9 minute intervals
There seems to be major issues way before flour is added
once baked they crumble away
Any advice is welcomed
making 40-50 cookie amounts at a time for bake sales

 

[HoppyMama]

Maybe try to put just room temp butter in instead of melted even if the recipe calls for melted butter. That's about the only thing I can off hand thing of.

 

[MeLikeFood]

My cookie batter is wet and muddy- does not incorporate the eggs once I cream the butter and sugar. I have tried putting it at room temp 65 degrees and colder temperatures.
Have creamed at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9 minute intervals
There seems to be major issues way before flour is added
once baked they crumble away
Any advice is welcomed
making 40-50 cookie amounts at a time for bake sales

Well the eggs need to be at room temperature too, otherwise some curdling might occur. And I've never had an issue with the cookies being crumbly because of how I creamed the butter.... If anything they'll just be too fluffy if I overcream, or bit flatter and I won't get the pretty cracking if I under cream.

I've had cookies turn out crumbly when I've overbaked them or there's too much flour though....although you just said your recipe is wet and muddy so that's not it. If anything you're not adding enough flour if that's the case. Or maybe your eggs are bigger than the recipe intended and it's adding too much moisture into the dough? I don't think the temp or the amount of time your creaming the butter is the issue though to be honest. My best guest would be your overbaking them to compensate for the wet batter, and it's drying them out and making them crumbly.

So you're probably measuring your ingredients wrong and aren't adding enough flour, your overbakjng the cookies themselves, or the size of your eggs are adding too much moisture to the dough.... Or it's not you and it's just a shit recipe haha, I weigh everything and make sure everything's at room temp and that never steers me wrong. I don't know that's all I've got haha, hope my rambling helps.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

No, room temperature butter is completely wrong.

Your finished dough temperature should be 68°F (20°C). Beating causes friction. Friction causes heat. If you use room temperature butter, the friction will overheat the butter.

Creaming butter and sugar is mechanical leavening, it is not mixing/blending two ingredients. The sugar crystals cut through the butter and create pockets. The water in the dough from the egg creates steam; the water and acids trigger the leavening. Air bubbles from the leavening are then trapped in the pockets in the butter.

The gluten in the flour gives strength and the ability to stretch as the dough rises. Then the starch gelatinization sets the dough.

If the butter is too warm, it will lose it plasticity; it will not be able to hold its shape to trap the air bubbles in the early stages of baking.

In culinary school they teach the correct temperature to cream butter is 65°F. Stella Parks will tell you 60°F. I’ve been using colder butter. The key is getting your FINISHED dough temperature 68°F (20°C).

But if you don’t want to take my word for it, you can read Stella Parks article on the proper way to cream butter.

Cookie Science: Why Cream Butter and Sugar?

Does your cookie recipe call for creaming the butter by beating it with sugar? Just how important is that step, and how do you know if you're doing it right? We break down the science of creaming and explain exactly how to do it.

www.seriouseats.com

Here I started with butter 48.7°F

The finished dough temperature was 67.6°F

I’ve been baking for 20 yrs, and bake pretty well