Growing up, we didn’t keep butter in the refrigerator… we liked the spreadable texture of room temperature butter. A stick of salted butter was stored in a covered butter dish on the counter, available to anybody who wanted a smear on toast. It’s the old fashioned way, the way my grandma did it and her grandma before her.
I’d spread it on my whole grain toast each morning (the way I usually start my day), watching that gorgeous yellow butter melt into the nooks and crannies of my golden slice of toast. Heaven.
When I got to college, I noticed that my friends all kept their butter in the refrigerator. I was perplexed. Why would you want to do that?
Butter won’t spread straight from the fridge. It’s hard and cold, not soft and melty. They cited food safety as a concern– the refrigerator, they claimed, was safer for storing butter.
I tried to jump on the chilled butter bandwagon, but it didn’t work for me. It was too hard, wouldn’t melt fast enough, and more often than not left a big chunk of semi-soft butter in the middle of my toast. Blech.
While searching for an alternative I transitioned to margarine, which was spreadable and salty and fine, but not as yummy as butter. I was willing to compromise– the “spreadable” factor was most important for me.
Then I learned about the many health concerns attached to most margarines on the market. They’re heavily processed and many contain trans fat, which increases blood cholesterol and the risk of heart disease. Yuck.
While butter substitutes are good for certain things, like cooking dairy-free or serving with a kosher meat meal, I vastly prefer the flavor of natural butter. Over time I found some healthier butter substitutes, like Organic Earth Balance Buttery Spread. Trouble is most of them contain soy, which negatively effects my hormones.
I yearned to take my good old fashioned butter back to room temperature for that easy spreading texture… and really, there’s no reason not to have it that way. Butter will last for about 3 weeks in a covered butter dish at room temperature before it turns rancid.
Even after it turns rancid, the taste is bad, but it won’t make you sick (though honestly, who wants to eat anything with the adjective “rancid” attached to it?). I bought a covered butter dish from a local vintage market and returned to my roots, keeping my butter at room temperature again. Unfortunately I’m the only butter fan in my house, and sometimes the stick would go rancid before I had a chance to finish it.
My little jade-colored chicken butter dish.
The solution came in the comments section of another website (for the life of me I can’t remember which one), where people were discussing this subject of room temperature butter. A woman claimed that she made her own spreadable chilled butter by combining room temperature butter, olive oil, and salt. The resulting butter was spreadable straight from the fridge.
I loved the idea, so I gave it a try. The first batch wasn’t very successful– it tasted way too much like olive oil. I tried again with a smaller quantity of light olive oil (which is less olive-y tasting). The light olive oil was better in terms of flavor, but it’s really just processed olive oil, sometimes mixed with other vegetable oils.
Eventually I settled on avocado oil, which is a healthy oil choice (less processed than seed oils), and has a nice, neutral flavor. This mixture is perfectly textured straight from the fridge.
Nutritionally speaking, this Homemade Spreadable Butter is lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than pure butter. You can adjust the saltiness (and thereby the sodium) to taste.
Olive oil will work too, but you should try to find one that has a neutral or buttery flavor profile – and even then, it may give the spreadable butter a hint of olive flavor. That doesn’t bother me, but if you’re looking for a traditional butter flavor, stick to avocado oil!
Now my butter dish sits on my kitchen shelf, a reminder of the good old days. Homemade Spreadable Butter for the win! How do you keep your butter– in the fridge, on the countertop, or not at all?
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Homemade Spreadable Butter
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (I prefer organic)
- 3/4 cup avocado oil (you may substitute a neutral-flavored or buttery-flavored olive oil)
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
Instructions
- Let the butter slowly come to room temperature. To speed this process, cut the butter into small chunks and separate them from each other. Do not try to speed things up in the microwave, even at half power... you’ll change the texture of the butter.
- Place the room temperature butter into a food processor along with the oil and sea salt.
- Process the butter, oil and salt for 1-2 minutes, scraping the sides of the processor periodically, till all lumps have disappeared and the mixture is smooth and soft. It will be quite liquid, but don't worry, it will firm up in the fridge.
- Pour the softened butter into a container that can be sealed airtight (like a Tupperware). Refrigerate for 1-2 hours until fully chilled and firm.
- This Homemade Spreadable Butter will last up to 3 months in the refrigerator. It is spreadable straight from the refrigerator. Do not leave the butter at room temperature too long or it will start to separate. If this happens, you can stir the oil back into the butter before refrigerating again.
NOTES
Nutrition
This recipe has been around for some time. But the quality of your work with the step-by-step approach is superb. I’m doing my best to bring more people onboard to your website.
I keep my butter in a butter dish on my counter, too! My sister, Val and I do that, my other 2 sisters don’t. I love having toasted bread with butter and tahini, yum!! Ever try that? My dog loves tahini, too! I also used TJ’s pumpkin butter on toasted bread. (If I have matzo crackers, butter spreads easily when soft, then I add tahini on it. Delicious and filling, too!).
Thanks for another great recipe, will have to try to make this when I get grape seed oil. 😀
Thank you for this recipe. i have been trying to do things more for myself since i stopped working 2 years ago. i have all my cleaning supplies i make homemade, and costs are dirt cheap. i wish to make my own butter someday with a churn, but for now i will try this. If it gives it a homemade twist to it, i cant wait to do this!
Sophia – making your own butter doesn’t require a churn, besides, a churn full of butter would be quite a bit!
Try making a mason jar’s worth – here’s Robert Krampf of The Happy Scientist website demonstrating the process and explaining how it works:
http://thehappyscientist.com/science-video/making-butter
I bought a special butter container made out of stoneware that has 2 pieces. You fill the bottom part with cold water and then fill the top part with butter. It keeps it cold but spreadable without it needing to go in the fridge.
Since I use unsalted butter extensively, I always keep my butter in the fridge. However, I am intrigued by your recipe Tori so will give it a try, but since I use Macadamia Nut Oil here in the islands, thought I would attempt using that oil first and see what happens. Since I do the shopping as well as the cooking (my sweet wife does the KP work), I always eagerly await your offerings and have never been disappointed. Mahalo for all you do for us.
Bob I’m guessing macadamia nut oil will be delicious! Mahalo!
Butter on the counter in my Portmeirion Butter dish. Love soft real butter! If I am worried no one will eat it in time… I only put out half a stick at a time.
My butter is on the counter in a Mama Ro covered butter dish, and its never gone bad.
Your spread reminds me of when I saw a demo for mixing butter, olive oil and lecithin, and now I wish I had the recipe, they called it “Better Butter.”
The recipe for Better Butter is from Laurel’s Kitchen by Laurel Robertson. I’m very familiar with it because I have a paperback copy from the late 1970s and it’s a favorite in my cookbook collection. It’s amazing how on-point her nutrition advice still is. She developed the Better Butter recipe as an alternative to the trans fats in margarine; having a spreadable product was a bonus. The lecithin prevents separation.
Hopefully in the last 2+ years you’ve found the recipe, but if not, another blogger has it here:
https://gracefultable.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/better-butter/
I actually store butter in the freezer, and keep one stick in the fridge since I use it so slowly — just for baking or the occasional scrambled egg. Anyway, our apartment is always so warm — if butter gets left out too long, it ends up a puddle!
The “butter bell butter crock” is also known as a “French Butter Dish”. I have a beautiful handmade pottery piece which my Mother used when I was a child. When I don’t need soft butter I discard the water and place the dish into the fridge for a later time.
I use the French butter bell. But I also make my own butter and have it down to a science of whipping it just beyond “done”. So it’s spreadable from the fridge, but not so whipped you can’t it in recipes
My solution. Make 2 slices of toast, lay some squares of cold butter on one slice and top it with the other slice, turning the slices over after about 30 seconds so that both slices of bread get melty butter on them.
Ya…your solution is way smarter!
I’ve been known to do that too Kari 😉
I put my butter in a small wide mouth canning jar with a plastic lid. I leave it on the counter and only put in the amount I think I will use for the week. Each Shabbat, I start a new jar. This allows me the taste of pure butter that spreads easily and I can keep track of how much butterfat I am eating. Everyone in my family gets their own jar. (That way I always have butter available for my use!)
Great ideas Abigail! I love those canning jars, they’re so versatile.
I’ve recently started using what’s called a butter bell butter crock. All you do is add fresh, clean water and it keeps the butter fresh for up to thirty days. I also make a mixture similar to what you do, called better butter. It’s called that, because it’s healthier for you than using plain butter. I usually substitute healthy oils like walnut or safflower for the olive oil. It has a more delicate oil flavor and works great for sauteeing, as well.
I thought about a butter bell, but got discouraged when I heard you have to remember to change the water each day. I travel a lot and it seemed like one more thing on the list that I didn’t want to have to think about! I’ll have to try safflower oil sometime. 🙂
Hey, I was going to suggest a butter bell, too. You do not need to change the water daily — I discussed this with the owner at http://hearthstonearts.com/index.html (at Val Day, an SCA event in Kalamazoo), and she said that twice a week is sufficient. I intend on purchasing one from them soon — about $35, but beautiful. Actually, I just took a quick look online — that’s a good price!
Butter on the counter rules. I have a butter dish w/lid from the 50’s – mint green and off white. I could never eat it straight from the fridge. We eat it wayyy before it would ever go bad. Toast with butter, peanut butter, and homemade grape jelly. Love.
You make me so hungry. I hope you can help me with the ingredients (basic) for Jewish chicken soup. My grandmother used a fatty old hen. I remember root vegetables, a sprig of parisly and flan-ken, HELP PLEASE as prior to my death I want my sons to taste real Jewish chicken soup. I gave birth to pizza bagels. To much meatball not enough matzo-ball
Ha! That’s cute Robin. Here’s my recipe with links to different types of matzo balls: http://theshiksa.com/2012/03/25/perfect-chicken-soup/
Add some flanken in there too, like your grandmother did. Heavenly!
I’m glad I’m not alone we always kept the butter out now I am the only one who likes it that way. I love this idea especially for my husband, I don’t like buying him margarine so this is a great alternative! Thanks! PS your recipe for Falafal was perfect tasted just like in Israel!
Countertop! Just like my Mama! I found the perfect crystal butter dish at TJ Maxx. I was so excited! Unfortunately, I am like you, Tori, no one else eats butter in my house. I hated throwing away the half stick of butter. This recipe will be the perfect alternative. I will be making it this weekend and having toast all day!!! (Of course, I have toast any time of the day when I need a pick me up, just the smell makes me happy!!)
Toast is the best!!!
I keep my butter on the counter as well within a covered butter dish made of glass. I do not use plastic for storing. The butter is gone within two days so I do not worry about it spoiling. The house is always cool as well. I hate hard butter too. I keep the extra sticks in the frig and then put one in the butter dish as needed. Works for me and never spoils.
LOL Barbara, this is exactly what I do! Actually, my Grandma did this, too. (my butter dish is the one she used) Mine has set out for up to a week before being all used up. No problem except in the summer when the kitchen gets a little warmer. Then have to use it up quicker cause it wants to melt a bit!
Barbara & Sue, it’s the same at our house – same problem in the summer. This is a GREAT IDEA!!! Can’t wait to try it out 😉
I will try this, it looks like a very good idea, I keep the butter in the fridge, when company comes I take a stick out and let it come to room temp before dinner, if there is short notice, you can put the butter in the microwave for 25 seconds, and safely re-chill the butter!
Countertop!
I loathe hard butter.
Like you, that’s how we did it growing up and my sisters and I all still keep our butter on the counter.
Sadly, the top to my porcelain butter dish broke, so our new butter “dish” is one of those Glad plastic disposable containers. Perfect size, washable, sealed top.
Aww, bummer about the dish! But hey, a Glad container works just as well. As long as the butter is spreadable, it’s all good! 😉