The quick way to soften butter for baking, with some parchment paper and a rolling pin.
Many baking recipes call for “soft” or room temperature butter.
The reason for using softened butter is that you want to whip (also called “butter butter”) the butter, either with or without the sugar, and it’s very hard to whip a cold stick of butter.
To soften your butter, it’s best to leave it on the kitchen counter for half an hour before you need to use it. But sometimes we don’t think that far ahead.
A popular solution is to microwave the cold butter for 10-20 seconds. The problem with microwave butter is that the microwave can heat the butter unevenly and tends to over-soften or even melt the butter in places.
A New York Times article on butter in baking states: “Never use a microwave: it will melt it even if it looks solid. When the butter is still cold, but has the impression of a finger when gently pressed, it’s ready to whip.”
You want smooth butter for whipping, not almost-melting butter.
Here are a few tricks to quickly soften butter:
Below is a quick way to soften butter using some wax paper and a rolling pin. I was taught this trick a few years ago by my neighbor, pastry chef Evie Lieb, who told me she learned about it from a collective of Bay Area bakers called Baker’s Dozen.
CONTINUE READING:
Tip: soften the butter quickly
method
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Place the butter stick between two large pieces of wax paper
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Press down the butter with a rolling pin
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Roll out like you would roll out a pie crust
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When the butter is about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, lift off the wax paper and peel the butter
(before it gets too soft to peel).
Voila! Softened butter, ready for whipping.
