Mid Week Philosophy: BUTTER

I have a confession to make.  I never wait for my butter to come to room temperature nor do I do anything to speed that process up:  like putting it into the microwave (that almost always fails because it starts to melt, that is NOT what you want) or cutting it up into tablespoon chunks.            I don’t have the patience.    I just put the butter into my KitchenAid 6 quart mixer and beat it until it’s soft or “room temperature”. (Granted, if you only have a hand mixer, this will not work for you and you will have to wait until the butter comes to room temperature.  Cutting it into tablespoon chunks does decrease the time.)

While the butter is being whipped , I use that time to measure out all my other ingredients, get my pan(s) ready and pre-heat the oven.   And by the time I’m done with that, my butter is  soft and ready for the other ingredients.  You can certainly wait until the butter is room temperature, like all the recipes say.  But one day, try it this way (maybe you do this already) and see if it works for you!

Try to use the best butter available.  Land O Lakes has been rated, on several sites as the best flavored butter.  Buy it when it’s on sale and freeze the extra for when you have a baking day.

Another confession:  I never use unsalted butter, even when it requests it in a recipe.  I taste no difference in my baking.  Why have 2 different butters in your refrigerator and/or freezer?  Seems a bit over the top to me…..

Happy baking from my kitchen to yours!