Why frozen butter in recipe?

1. Easier to Cut into Smaller Pieces: Frozen butter is firm and easy to grate or cut into small pieces, which is important for recipes like pie crusts, cookies, and biscuits. This helps to evenly distribute the butter throughout the dough, resulting in a flakier texture.

2. Prevents Overmixing: When making pastry, overmixing can develop gluten, which results in a tough, chewy texture. Using frozen butter helps to prevent this by keeping the butter cold and less likely to melt into the dough.

3. Creates Flaky Texture: Small pieces of cold butter melt slowly in the oven, creating steam pockets that separate the layers of dough and result in a flaky texture.

4. Adds Richness and Flavor: Cold butter helps to keep the flavor more intense and prevents it from becoming greasy.

Here are some examples of recipes where frozen butter is commonly used:

* Pie crusts: The cold butter helps to create a flaky and tender crust.

* Cookies: Frozen butter helps to prevent the cookies from spreading too much during baking.

* Biscuits: The cold butter helps to create a light and fluffy texture.

* Scones: Similar to biscuits, frozen butter helps to create a tender and flaky texture.

Tips for using frozen butter:

* Grate the butter using a box grater for a more even distribution.

* Cut the butter into small pieces with a sharp knife.

* Don't overwork the dough.

* Use cold ingredients, including the flour and water, for best results.

Remember: If you don't have frozen butter, you can chill butter in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before using it. This will give you similar results.