If you are like me, you probably don’t plan out the exact time you will be cooking or baking something. Usually when I decide to bake, it’s a spur of the moment, “Oh, I feel like some cake…”, kind of thing. Several baking recipes call for room temperature butter, or softened butter. The only time this happens for me is when I go grocery shopping and forget to put the butter away..which probably more appropriately would be called, “spoiled butter.” Like many people, I just don’t have time to let my butter sit out on the counter for an hour to soften! Usually I just toss it in the microwave, and we all know how that ends up…totally melted. I usually just use it like this, but in my experience I have noticed it changes the outcome of the recipe a bit….
Have no fear, I have the best tip to share with you! You can soften butter in the time it takes you to get all your other ingredients out! Actually, that’s not true…It will take you a much longer time to get the rest of your ingredients ready. Softening butter will take you 16 seconds…that’s it!
Maybe you have heard of this tip before, but I hadn’t, and I am here to share it with you!
What you do….
1. Leave butter in wrapper. It must NOT be a foil wrapper. It should be some type of paper wrapper. Place your butter stick on a microwave safe dish.
2. Heat for 4 seconds on high. Flip it to the next side and heat for 4 more seconds. Do this for each side for a total of 16 seconds*.
*The time may vary ever slightly depending on your microwave power, but I have tried this on a couple microwaves and it works well.
That’s it! Now you won’t have to bake with messy melted butter, or clumpy too cold butter!
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i just leave the stick on the stove while I heat up the oven. It usually gets soft enough from the heat of the oven!
….you know, for those of us without a microwave 😉
If you don’t have a microwave that is a good tip! Otherwise, how long does it take sitting on the oven?
This must depend on the kind of oven you have. My mom’s will do it, but when I set butter on my stove, it takes just as long as letting it sit at room temp does. =/
longer than 16 seconds, that’s for sure. sometimes i just put it IN the oven for a minute or two.
I’m so glad to hear I’m not the only one who NEVER has room temperature butter ready at the exact moment it’s needed. LOVE this trick!! Now I need some cake… just to try the trick… not to eat or anything…
It’s bery scientific…cake and pie are the perfect test subjects 😉 Thanks for coming by, Kelly!
We needed this information! My poor husband tried to soften butter a few weeks ago, put it in for at least 30 seconds, and melted half the stick away. He’ll be reading this post! 🙂
Thanks! I always forget to set my butter out (and then there are those irksome middle-of-the-night baking urges), but I could never quite get the time right for softening rather than melting. Very helpful!
I hope it works out well for you, too! I know totally where you are coming from!
I wrap it in a warm dishrag. Takes maybe 5 mins? I do have to reheat the rag once or twice (with hot water)
Good tip too! Thanks for sharing Kati!