How to: Soften Butter

I know that sounds SO silly, but it’s a great trick that I’ve learned! Almost all baking recipes call for butter to be room temp, right? But honestly who actually remembers to pull out their butter at least 1/2 hour before using it?  And who else besides me has nuked their butter into a melty mess? Welp, here’s trick for for perfect softened butter: (I learned this from my mom!)

Place your butter in the microwave, and microwave for 5 seconds full power. (I left mine in the wrapper because I was using the whole cube. If you’re using half, you can cut the cube through the wrapper and leave it wrapped, or unwrap and place in a microwavable bowl.)

Stop the microwave after the 5 seconds, this is important! and flip it over, so what was on the bottom, is now on top

• Now microwave again for 5 seconds, then pull it out and see how it’s doing.  You may need to throw it back in for a couple of seconds depending on how soft you want it.10 seconds usually does it for me! The trick is stopping it half way through to rotate it.  It makes it so there isn’t a melty spot right in the middle, but more of a perfect soft all the way through! Easy huh?? 

**You an also do this with frozen butter, I did it in 8 second increments for a total of around 30 seconds**