It is difficult to tell if the butter is over creamed because the dye obscures the natural color and the texture of the butter. From one angle the butter looks over creamed, from above when the thermometer is in the butter. In the photo looking straight down in the bowl, it is hard to tell. The texture looks okay, but it looks very greasy, like the butter was breaking down. The temperature is fine, but I wonder if the long beating time of 5:30 didn’t damage the butter.
There was only 113 g butter in the bowl; 5:30 is a long time to beat that little butter. The other thing is the small amount of butter just get churned at the bottom of the bowl.
The reason is the rotation of the mixer head, the shape of the paddle and the bowl are all designed to work in sync so the edges of paddle is to make a certain number of contact points against the inside of the bowl as the mixer head rotates. That force spins the ingredients into and through itself. Because the mixer bowl is rounded and narrower at the bottom, if a low volume of ingredients are in the bowl, the paddle cannot use the side of the bowl to spin the ingredients. The ingredients just sink the the bottom of the bowl. The force just grinds it into the bowl of the bowl.
Volume is also important because the planetary action generates friction; friction generates heat. If you are creaming a small amount of butter, it is better to use a hand mix instead of a stand mixer.
When you scale a recipe, you don’t change the baker’s percentages, they are a constant. This is way to use baker’s percentages to scale a recipe.
I will use the formula use posted.
Step 1: Add up total baker’s percentages
100.0% flour |
70.2% butter |
36.7% granulated sugar |
36.7% brown sugar |
21.3% golden syrup |
1.4% baking soda |
2.1% salt |
28.0% eggs |
108.8% chocolate chips |
0.7% espresso powder |
5.3% vanilla extract |
|
411.2% total baker’s percentages |
Step 2: multiply number of cookies by weight of each cookie
for example: 24 cookies, 40g each
24 x 40 = 960
total weight of dough required: 960 gram. So round up to 1000 g total dough required
Step 3: divide total weight of dough required into total baker’s percentages
1000 ÷ 411.2 = 2.421
2.431 is the multiplier to use with the baker’s percentages
Step 4: multiply baker’s percentage of each ingredient with multiplier 2.431
2.431 x 100 = 243.1 flour |
2.431 x 70.2 = 170.65 butter |
2.431 x 36.7 = 89.21 granulated sugar |
2.431 x 36.7 = 89.21 brown sugar |
2.431 x 21.3 = 51.78 golden syrup |
2.431 x 1.4 = 3.40 baking soda |
2.431 x 2.1 = 5.10 salt |
2.431 x 28.0 = 68.06 eggs |
2.431 x 108.8 = 264.49 chocolate chips |
2.431 x 0.7 = 1.70 espresso powder |
2.431 x 5.3 = 12.88 vanilla extract |
|
|
Step 5: round up/down numbers to finalize the formula
13% flour | 243g |
Butter | 171g |
granulated sugar | 89g |
light brown sugar | 89g |
golden syrup | 52mL |
baking soda | 3g |
salt | 5g |
eggs | 68mL |
choc chip | 265g |
expresso powder | 2g |
vanilla extract | 13mL |
total baker’s percentages 411.2 | |
total required dough weight | 1000 |
Whatever number of cookies you need, just multiply the number of cookies you want to bake. When you a reliable formula in baker’s percentages, you just use these steps to scale up or down. The baker’s percentages never change, so the dough will be the same batch after batch no matter how many you mix. And the baker’s percentages make it easy for you to customize your baking orders to demand.
just an aside, 21% invert sugar is too high. I don’t know if I wrote that invert sugar should not excess 15% in a cookie dough. Especially a dough with brown sugar, which also contains an invert sugar, because it adds too much moisture to the cookie dough.
This will give you a visual of planetary mixing action. As the mixer head rotates around, the edge of the paddle makes contact with the inside of the bowl. When there is a high volume of ingredients in the bowl, the action pushes against the ingredients. and the force spins the ingredients into and through itself. When there is a low volume of ingredients, the paddle does not have enough to push to against and spin through itself, so the ingredients get stuck at the bottom of the narrow bowl.
The two things you are looking for are a ligher change in color and an expansion in volume. But in doing so, you don’t want to stay close to 68° (20°C). Notice there is no greasy film in the bowl or on the butter. This is a 4.5 qt mixing bowl. I used 226g butter in the bowl. I never use less than this amount in a bowl this size. I won’t cream this amount a butter in my 6 qt mixer, it is just not enough volume. With my 6 qt, I use a 455 g butter minimum.
This is butter creamed with both light brown sugar and granulated sugar. The butter has body, fullness and texture. And it is lighter in color. Can you see at the back of the bowl that darker smudge of butter above the creamed butter? That contrast between the darker butter and lighter fluffier butter is the transition from almost creamed to creamed butter.