How to Cut in Butter
Cutting in butter is a skill needed in the world of baking. Cutting in butter is essential for making pastries, crumble toppings like my Peach Crumble, Pie Doughs, and so many other aspects of baking. Below is a short tutorial on a few ways to cut butter into your pastries and desserts easily.
In this blog, you will learn how to cut in butter.
What is the Purpose of Cutting in Butter?
Cutting in butter is important for baking because it creates a flaky and tender final product. You will want to leave small, pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the dough when you are incorporating it together. During baking, this will allow the butter pieces to melt and release steam which will create small pockets of air that will make the pastry light and flaky. Perfecting this technique will give you some of the best pastries and desserts!
How Do I Cut in Butter?
There are four common ways to cut in butter. We will explore how to cut in butter with each method below.
- Using a Food Processor
- Using a Pastry Blender
- Using the 2 Knives Method
- Using your Fingertips
- Using a Cheese Grater
How to Cut in Butter with a Food Processor
Cutting in butter with a food processor is the easiest and most effective way to achieve your desired consistency. However, with the food processor, it is very easy to over-process so be careful and only use short pulses so that you do not over mix the dough. To cut in butter, add the flour and any other dry ingredients to the food processor. Scatter the cubes of cold butter throughout. Use short pulses (1-second bursts) to cut the butter into the flour. Stop to check the texture after a few pulses. Continue pulsing until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, with pea-sized bits of butter distributed throughout. If the butter softened during the process, place the mixture into the fridge to allow it to cool again before proceeding with the recipe.
How to Cut in Butter with a Pastry Blender
Cutting in butter with a pastry blender is another easy way to achieve the desired outcome. Hold your pastry blended in one hand and the bowl in another. Use the blender to cut through the butter into the flour. Repeat this until you are left with small, pea-sized bits of butter. This will evenly distribute the butter, and the mixture will resemble coarse crumbs. This is probably the best method as you have a very slim chance of over processing the dough while achieving the same results as using the food processor.
How to Cut in Butter with 2 Knives
I am not a huge fan of this method, but it does deserve a place on the list for those with the dexterity to master this skill! Cutting in butter with 2 knives can be a bit more challenging. Use either two butter knives or two dinner knives. Hold a knife in each hand and position the knives in an “X” shape over the butter and flour. With a scissor-like motion, pull the knives away from each other to cut through the butter. Continue this motion until you have the pea-sized bits of butter left in the flour mixture, and it resembles coarse crumbs.
How to Cut in Butter with Your Fingertips
Using your fingertips to cut in butter can become quite tiring, but it is a great option for cutting in butter without a pastry cutter or food processor and you dislike the two knives method. Make sure to use just your fingertips and not the palms of your hands as the fingertips are cooler for working with the cold butter. Gently rub the butter into the flour. Take the pieces of butter and lightly rub it between your fingertips to break it up into smaller pieces. Repeat this step until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized pieces of butter visible. Make sure to stop when the texture is just right as overworking can melt the butter and give a denser result.
How to Cut in Butter with a Cheese Grater
Now to cut in butter with a cheese grater, you will need frozen butter. Put your butter into the freezer overnight so that it is hard and frozen in the morning. Grating the frozen butter using a cheese grater will give you frozen chunks of shredded butter that are incredibly easy to add into your flour. Add the frozen, shredded butter to the flour recipe and mix it in. Place the mixture into the freezer to get it cold again, then proceed with the recipe that you are making. This method is nice because there is not a lot of clean up involved.
Cutting in Butter Essentials
- Start with Cold Butter: use very cold butter. It should be straight from the fridge. Cold butter creates pockets of fat in the dough which melts during baking which results in a tender and flaky texture. If you are noticing that the butter is getting warm, place it back into the fridge. Once it is cold again, continue to work with it.
- Cube the Butter: cut the cold butter into small cubes about 1/2 an inch in size. Because the pieces are smaller, it will be easier to incorporate them into the dry ingredients.
- Unsalted Butter: using unsalted butter allows you to control the exact amount of salt in your recipe. It tends to be fresher in taste so it gives a better flavour. I have used salted butter in pastry recipes instead of unsalted butter and the taste was very salty. It was edible but not enjoyable so it is best to use unsalted butter, especially in Puff Pastry.
How to Cut in Butter
Ingredients
- Bowl of flour for your pastry
- Unsalted Butter, cold and cubed
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the flour and other dry ingredients.
- Remove the unsalted butter from the fridge, cut the correct amount that you need and cube the butter until it is all in 1/2 inch cubes.
- Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture and cut in the butter by whichever method you decide. The mixture is done when there are only pea-sized bits of butter left in the mixture.
- Once the butter is cut in, proceed with your recipe that you are making
In this blog post, you learned how to cut in butter.