How to Cream Butter and Sugar

Name: How to Cream Butter and Sugar
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients: softened butter; sugar

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Prep Time
5 mins
Total Time
5 mins

How to Cream Butter and Sugar

Iris Warren

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Creaming butter and sugar is one of the most common steps when making baked goods like cookies and cakes, but it’s also a step that’s commonly misunderstood. Learn how to cream butter and sugar and get the answers to some frequently asked questions about this technique.

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Ingredients

softened butter amount as listed in your recipe
sugar granulated or brown; amount as listed in your recipe

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Instructions

Add softened butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer.
Beat the butter and sugar together on low speed for about 30 seconds to combine, then increase the mixer speed to medium.
Continue beating on medium speed for 3-5 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula a couple of times throughout the process.
The mixture is ready for the next step in your recipe when it has lightened in color, appears “fluffy,” and you can no longer see the sugar crystals.

Notes

The amount of time it takes to properly cream your butter and sugar can depend on your mixer. If you use a more powerful stand mixer, it may only take about 3 minutes. If you use an electric hand mixer, you may find that you need to mix for closer to 5 minutes.
Even though most bakers under-mix when creaming butter and sugar, it is possible to overmix. The butter and sugar has been overmixed when it goes past the fluffy stage and starts to look oily/soupy, grainy, or like whipped cream.
You can cream butter and sugar by hand, without a mixer. Use a wooden spoon to mix the butter and sugar together; the mixture won’t be as “fluffy” as when creamed with a mixer, but it will lighten in color and become creamy. This will probably take around 10 minutes when done by hand.