Check out this helpful blog post from King Arthur Flour on what properly creamed butter looks like: http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2015/04/27/creaming-butter-sugar/
That is a really helpful post from KAF. I'm not a constant baker, but I have been cooking for 40+ years, and I still find that creaming butter to the right consistency is slightly stressful!
When creaming for baked goods, what's more important than an apparent melting of the sugar (no grains visible) is the action of getting air into the butter, which one typically does by beating at high speed. If doing by hand, you have to beat for a longer period, as vigorously as you can.
This lightens the baked good -- the air introduced helps give it a bit of lift -- but it also creates little pockets where the other ingredients can go, thus producing a more uniformly blended batter (the most thorough incorporation of those ingredients). At least this is how I read the explanation by one of my favorite food chemists ever, Shirley Corriher.
Don't despair. Just beat the dickens out of it.
It also helps to beat your eggs separately in a small bowl; add them gradually in what I assume is the next step. ;o)
i made muffins with the only sugar i have...turbinado. i put my frozen butter in the microwave and then added sugar to cool liquidish butter. there was a lot of liquid in that mixing bowl along with a lot of grainy sugar. i used a whisk and beat and beat and beat and it turned out great. i added the egg too, and that really seemed to help it along. i would say just keep whipping/creaming and it will turn out fine.
What makes you think they aren't creaming well? It doesn't literally turn into cream. Have you never made cookies or cakes or are you trying for that elusive perfection?
Are you using an electric mixer? If so, it should be fine, if you are doing it by hand, keep going a little bit. If eggs are the next ingredient, add them one at a time beating well after each one and the mix should become fluffy and fairly smooth.
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This lightens the baked good -- the air introduced helps give it a bit of lift -- but it also creates little pockets where the other ingredients can go, thus producing a more uniformly blended batter (the most thorough incorporation of those ingredients). At least this is how I read the explanation by one of my favorite food chemists ever, Shirley Corriher.
Don't despair. Just beat the dickens out of it.
It also helps to beat your eggs separately in a small bowl; add them gradually in what I assume is the next step. ;o)