For many home bakers, the quest for perfectly softened butter is a common kitchen hurdle. If you’re not one to keep butter at room temperature at all times, you’ve likely experimented with various methods to soften it on demand. From simply leaving it on the counter to employing kitchen tools like rolling pins or graters, the goal is always the same: to achieve that ideal consistency for baking. Microwaving butter is a popular quick fix, but it often comes with inconsistent results – sometimes too soft, sometimes partially melted, disrupting your baking plans. Rushing the process can lead to baking mishaps like dense cakes and flat cookies, underscoring the importance of properly softened butter.
For years, bakers have sought the most reliable, consistent, and ideally, speedy method to soften butter. This guide explores several common techniques – letting butter sit out in both stick and cubed forms, microwaving it whole and cubed, and using a stand mixer. Understanding why certain methods work best and how to achieve that perfect softened state is key to baking success.
Why Soften Butter?
As Stella Parks, a renowned pastry expert, explains, unless a recipe specifically calls for cold butter, like in biscuits or pie crusts, most baking recipes require softened butter. This is crucial for various baking tasks, including incorporating butter into rich doughs like brioche, creating smooth buttercreams (whether American, Italian, French, or Swiss meringue), and the fundamental technique of creaming butter and sugar together. Creaming is essential for creating air pockets in doughs, which contribute to the light and airy texture of cookies and cakes.
Softening butter isn’t just about making it pliable; precision is paramount in baking. The exact temperature of your softened butter significantly impacts how doughs and batters form, directly affecting the final outcome of your baked goods. This seemingly minor detail is often the linchpin of a recipe’s success. Properly softened butter ensures thick, chewy cookies, light and fluffy cakes, and silky, smooth buttercreams.
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Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
So, what exactly is “softened” butter in terms of temperature? Ideally, softened butter should be around 60°F (16°C). While 65°F (18°C) is often mentioned as ideal, Parks points out that butter’s ability to stretch and expand during creaming peaks at just 68°F. Combined with the warmth of kitchen sugar and the friction from mixing, butter can easily overheat, exceeding the optimal temperature. Therefore, aiming for the cooler end of the 60-65°F range is advisable.
Beyond butter temperature, “room temperature,” a term frequently used in recipes, is another critical factor. Ideally, a kitchen temperature of 70°F (21°C) is perfect – not too cold, not too warm. However, kitchen temperatures fluctuate daily and seasonally. In colder kitchens, below 65°F (like in winter), ingredients and equipment are colder, potentially lengthening the creaming process as butter takes longer to warm up from friction. Flexibility is key in such situations. Warming sugar slightly in a low oven to 70°F or using slightly warmer butter might be necessary.
Conversely, baking in warmer kitchens above 73°F (23°C) presents different challenges. Adjustments may include refrigerating ingredients and equipment beforehand or using even cooler butter. If butter is too warm, it won’t effectively trap air during creaming, leading to dense dough and flat cookies.
An instant-read thermometer is essential for accurately monitoring butter temperature. If you lack a thermometer or prefer a tactile check, softened butter should be pliable, cool, and uniformly soft. Its surface should appear waxy, not shiny, which indicates excessive warmth. When pressed, it should yield slightly, leaving an indentation.
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Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez.
Testing Ways to Soften Butter
Several common methods exist for softening butter: leaving sticks or cubes on the counter, using a microwave, or beating it in a stand mixer. These widely used techniques were evaluated for this article.
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Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
It’s worth noting that while other butter-softening “tricks” exist, some are more novelty than practical. Grating butter was excluded due to the difficulty in controlling the process and the rapid warming it causes, making temperature readings inaccurate. Pounding butter in a plastic bag or using warm water baths were dismissed as wasteful and inefficient, relying on single-use plastics. Double boilers were ruled out due to the high risk of melting butter unevenly, applying too much heat too quickly. Indirect heat methods, like warming butter under a glass or in a preheated microwave, were also rejected because temperature control becomes inconsistent.
The Testing
Tests were conducted in a kitchen with a consistent ambient temperature of 70°F, using widely available Land O’Lakes unsalted butter. The refrigerator temperature and initial butter temperature were noted at a chilly 37°F. The primary testing objectives were to measure preparation and softening time to 60°F, assess the final consistency, evaluate cleanup, and consider overall convenience.
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Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Stick of Butter Left Out on Counter: This simplest method involved unwrapping a stick of butter, placing it on a plate, and monitoring its temperature with a probe thermometer. Setup was instant, cleanup minimal, and hands stayed clean. It took one hour to reach 60°F, resulting in creamy, uniformly softened butter, consistently between 60°F and 61°F across different points.
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Cubed Butter Left Out on Counter: Cubing a stick of butter into quarter-inch pieces took three minutes and raised the initial temperature to 48°F. This method required cleaning a knife and cutting board and left hands slightly greasy. Cubed butter softened to 60°F in just 6 minutes, achieving a pliable, cool consistency with minimal temperature variation.
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Stick of Butter Microwaved: Microwaving butter is known for speed, but achieving even softening without melting is tricky due to microwave variations and settings. Tests were conducted on a 1000-watt microwave using “soften/melt,” 100%, 70%, 50%, and 30% power levels. The “soften/melt” preset (55 seconds) resulted in unevenly softened, almost melted butter, indicating presets aren’t ideal. Regardless of power level, roughly 20 seconds in five-second bursts was needed to reach 60°F. However, the butter remained somewhat shiny, unevenly softened, and temperature varied from 58°F to 64°F. Rotating the butter or changing its orientation didn’t significantly improve results – the butter remained tacky with soft and slick spots.
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Cubed Butter Microwaved: Starting with cubed butter, similar microwave power level tests were performed, omitting the “soften/melt” preset. Approximately 10 seconds in two five-second bursts at any power level softened the cubed butter to 60°F. This method yielded more consistently softened butter, likely due to increased surface area, with temperatures ranging narrowly from 60°F to 62°F across different pieces.
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Stick of Butter in a Stand Mixer: An intact butter stick was placed in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and beaten, starting on low, increasing to medium-low, then medium speed as it softened. The entire process took 2.5 minutes to reach 60°F. This method is efficient only when recipes already require creaming butter and sugar in a stand mixer, otherwise, it’s messier and requires more cleanup.
The Results: What’s the Best Way to Soften Butter?
The most effective method for softening butter is simply leaving whole sticks out on the counter. This low-effort approach yields consistently softened butter with minimal cleanup. For precise temperature monitoring, a probe thermometer can be used, set to alert at 60°F. The main drawback is the longer softening time, but this time can be utilized for other recipe preparations, gathering equipment, or preheating the oven – especially beneficial in colder kitchens.
For quicker softening, cubing butter and leaving it on the counter is recommended. It requires slightly more hands-on time and dishwashing but provides consistent results faster.
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Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
In urgent situations, using a stand mixer or microwaving cubed butter are viable options. While both provide good results, each has downsides. Stand mixers are practical only when already needed for creaming, otherwise, extra cleanup is involved. Microwaving requires careful attention due to varying microwave performances. While 10 seconds (in two five-second bursts) worked for cubed butter in the tested microwave, your microwave might differ. These times serve as estimates; experimentation with your microwave settings is necessary to find the optimal power and time combination.
Although microwaving whole butter sticks proved less successful in tests, the method isn’t entirely dismissed. Its advantages—no prep, minimal cleanup, and speed—are significant. If you can determine effective settings for your microwave, it could be a useful technique.
Can You Save Over-Softened Butter?
Accidentally over-softening butter is possible, especially when using stovetop methods or butter warmers. Attempts to reverse over-softening using ice baths or freezing on baking sheets were less effective. Adding ice cubes directly to over-softened butter was the most efficient method, but it introduces water, which, while mostly separable, can slightly alter the texture of baked goods. Instead of trying to salvage overly soft butter for baking, it’s best to use it for toast and start fresh with a cold stick from the refrigerator for your recipe.
