You’re just about to bake your favorite cookie recipe; when you remember that it won’t work, if the butter is still hard from the fridge. You’re here to discover:
What is a quick way to soften butter? Place wrapped stick of butter on a plate. Microwave for five seconds. Roll the stick over 1/4 turn (see infographic). Microwave for five more seconds. If it is not yet softened, do 1 – 2 more turns, microwaving only three seconds between each. Check for softening after every turn.
Ideally, we place the butter on the counter an hour before we’re going to bake; but sometimes, that’s not practical – We forget, or we decide to bake on the spur of the moment. Read on for extra tips about the microwave softening technique, plus some other hacks for softening your butter sooner.
Wrapped or Unwrapped – Which is better for softening butter?
There are a lot of advantages to keeping the wrapper on. It contains the mess, in case the butter begins to melt. Another plus is that the buttery wrapper is great for greasing a pan. If you don’t need it today, fold it in on itself, place in a Ziploc sandwich bag, and save it in the refrigerator for next time.
WARNING: make sure there is no trace of metal in, or on, your butter, when placing it into the microwave! For example, it may be helpful to soften a stick of butter in its wrapper; but that wrapper must not have any foil or metallic decoration.
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology explain why:
Metal placed inside the oven deflects [microwaves] away from the food. It sends them jumping around erratically, possibly damaging the interior of the oven.“
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Quick Way to Soften Butter Without Microwave
Here is another quick way to soften butter. Fill a long, flat, plastic container with hot tap water. Snap on the lid. Touch the lid to make sure it’s not so warm that might actually melt your butter. If it is, just place a dishtowel over it, so the heat is more gentle; and then proceed.
Set your wrapped stick of butter on top of the lid for about half a minute. Then, turn every 15 seconds, similar to how you did it in the microwave method. Once you have gently heated all four sides, remove the butter from your impromptu butter-softening device.
This is not as instant as using the microwave, but your butter should be soft enough to work with by the time you finish getting out the rest of your ingredients.
Softening Smaller Amounts of Butter
If I am going to soften 1/2 a stick or less, I cut the amount I need, and place it into a small Pyrex cup. My favorites are these, made here in the USA by Anchor Hocking (view them here). I love them, because they are heatproof, and well-made. They are thick enough that the cup does not get hot to the touch just from softening butter for a few seconds.
A Contrasting Viewpoint on Softening Butter, by Pros
Over at the Land O Lakes company, they take a dim view of softening butter in the microwave; over concerns that the inside might melt. Their #1 way to soften butter is to leave it out for a spell before you need it.
If this article was not about quickly softening butter, I would suggest the same thing. They do, however, have two strong possibilities to get the job done sooner. These methods center around getting more of the butter’s surface exposed to the ambient air temperature. Here is the first method:
Cut the butter into small chunks and let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Small chunks soften more quickly.”
Land O Lakes
I like the second one even better:
Place butter stick in resealable plastic bag or between two sheets of waxed or parchment paper and use a rolling pin or meat pounder to flatten. As the butter is being flattened, it will warm to room temperature.”
Land O Lakes
This would also be a fantastic way to prepare butter to use in a pie crust. If you broke this flat slab of butter into your pastry flour and salt, you could gently rub it in, leaving nice, little chunks of butter, which would later translate to a wonderfully flaky crust.
Bonus: how to make the most amazing (and money-saving!) whipped butter
Whipped butter costs an absolute fortune in the supermarket. If you have a Kitchenaid mixer, home-whipped butter spread is right there, at your fingertips… okay, it’s not as messy as that! No actual fingertips are involved.
Using the whisk beater, simply cream a stick of softened butter. Once it’s nice and creamy, add 1/4 cup of milk, a small splash at a time, incorporating it in as you go. If you’re using unsalted butter, you might want to add a little salt. Sea salt pairs especially well with this spread.
Savings: an 8 ounce tub of whipped butter is going for $5.59 on Instacart. The above recipe will run you about $1.00 for 10 ounces 🙂
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