Baking
How to rub butter into flour
Rub cold butter (or citrus zest) into flour or sugar with your fingertips.
Step by step
- Add cold butter cubes to the flour.
- Pick up a little butter and flour and rub it between your fingertips and thumbs, letting it fall back into the bowl.
- Lift your hands as you go to keep things cool and airy.
- Work quickly; warm palms melt butter, so use only your fingertips.
How you know it's done
It looks like coarse breadcrumbs with a few flat flakes of butter. For zest and sugar, the sugar smells strongly of citrus and looks damp.
Common mistakes
- Using the palms of your hands, which are warm.
- Working it too long.
Simmerbee recipes that use it (0)
None of our recipes names it in the steps yet; it's here because it comes up in cooking all the time.
In those recipes the word is underlined in the steps; tap it for the short version. In hands-free cook mode, ask “How do I rub in?”
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