Learn how tosoften butter quickly in this complete guide. We'll take that cold, hard butter and bring it to the perfect room temperature in no time at all with these fast and easy softened butter tricks.
Microwave Butter on high for 3 seconds. Rotate butter and microwave again. Repeat until soft.
With a Rolling Pin
Place butter between 2 sheets of wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out butter to 1/4 inch thickness.
Water Bath Method
Create a double broiler and put butter in dish over a pot of hot water. Use a lid to help trap heat in the bowl containing the butter.
Grated Method
Grate using a cheese shredder. It will be soft in less than 10 minutes.
Sliced Method
If you’ve just taken your stick of butter out of the fridge (not freezer) you can cut the stick into slices and leave in a sunny spot for about 30 minutes. It will soften perfectly for baking.
Warmed Glass Method
Add boiling water to a heat-safe glass, leaving it for a minute to fully warm the glass through. Dump the water, and turn the glass upside down over your stick of butter. The warmed dome affect softens your butter in just minutes.
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Notes
Alternative Methods
Counter Method - Leave out salted butter on the counter covered overnight to defrost and soften. Unsalted can also be left out for a few hours.
Butter Tips
Yes, you can leave salted butter out on the counter (covered) overnight to defrost and soften. This may surprise you, but leaving salted butter out on the counter overnight is perfectly safe.
While baking is traditionally done with unsalted butter, I tend to love a little balance of salty and sweet. We often have salted butter on hand, and use that for baking. Just be careful with additional salt so you don’t go overboard!