Do you ever read through a recipe and get stumped by certain terms? You have all the ingredients, and before you know it you find yourself at a road block wondering what the heck the directions mean.
“Cut in” butter was one of the stumpers for me. Here’s the scoop:
You’ll often see the term when baking. If a recipe says to “cut in” butter, you’ll want to take the butter out of the fridge about a half hour before you need it (you want it soft but NOT melted). When it comes time to use it, cut the butter into approximately 1/4 inch pieces or small chunks. When you add the butter to the mixture, you’ll want to use a pastry cutter (pictured left), two knifes, a fork or even your hands to mix the butter in. (Use your hands as a last result because it may melt the butter which you do not want). Mix until it turns into small crumbs and almost resembles oatmeal. The butter added to a pie crust yields a nice flaky crust.
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