With under 5 MINUTES of hands-on time these compound butters are the perfect way to keep the flavors of summer going all year long. Slather the sweet fruit flavors on waffles, pancakes, or English muffins. Use the savory flavors to add a bright pop to chicken, steak, or bread. Every flavor is equally delicious!
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Compound butters are the fancy way of saying butter that has been flavored. We all know the top two flavored butters...savory garlic butter and sweet honey butter. A slather of either one on bread and the whole experience has changed. Those are a good start, but today we're giving you a whole list of other flavor options.
🥇 Why they're great!
- Compound butters make boring food exciting! Whole wheat toast is instantly delicious and your steak has never been better.
- These carry the fresh flavors of summer all year long. Plus it can use up odds and ends that are wasting away in the fridge, like little bits of berries, or the fresh herbs in your garden.
- These only take 5 minutes, a stick of butter, and any flavorings you can grab from the fridge. So easy!
🧈 Ingredients
Butter: Ok folks, so only real butter will work here. I use salted but feel free to use unsalted and add a pinch of salt yourself.
Powdered sugar: Sweetens the berry ones without being overly sweet or leaving behind a granular texture.
Berries: All the predictable culprits will work. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries. Choose ones that are perfectly ripe and have a deep flavor. Bland berries don’t work out so well. Fresh is preferred but if you don’t have any you may use frozen. Just thaw and drain them first.
Citrus: Something about citrus in the butter is the perfect marriage. Fresh, non-bottled citrus is sooo worth it.
Garlic: The savory butters feel like they are lacking something without a hint of garlic. I use pre-minced garlic in the jar, but please feel free to mince your own.
Herbs: Fresh herbs!! Step out to the garden and pick some off the bush, or maybe you have a little bit left in the fridge from the store. Either will work, but dried just isn’t the same.
🔪 How to make compound butter
- Soften butter.
- Whip until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds on medium).
- Beat in flavorings for another 30 seconds on medium.
- Wrap into a log and refrigerate or freeze until firm.
🥩 How to use flavored butter
It's really impossible to make an exhaustive list of ways to use compound butters. Here are some ideas to get you started, but feel free to leave us a note below with any ideas we missed.
Savory:
- Corn on the cob
- Salmon
- Steak
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Fish
- Pasta
Sweet:
- Pancakes
- Waffles
- French toast
- Toast
- English muffins
- Bagels
👨🏼🍳 Tips & Tricks
- Be careful to soften and not melt the butter.
- Use real butter as well as fresh herbs and citrus. It makes all the difference.
- For the best flavor make sure your herbs, berries, citrus, etc. are ripe and flavorful.
🙋 Questions & Answers
These butters stay fresh in the freezer for up to a year as long as they are wrapped really tightly in a double layer of wrap and then stored in a ziptop freezer bag. Be sure to get all the air out of the freezer bag. This will extend the life of the butter.
Compound butters can be prepped ahead and will stay fresh in the fridge for 5-7 days. If you think it’s getting close and you won’t be able to use it all just pop it in the freezer as directed above.
These are a great way to add a special element to any get together. Since they can be made ahead they are perfect for serving a crowd. Just be sure to make enough, it’s sure to go fast.
📖 Try them with these recipes
- These Famous Farm Pancakes are delicious on their own and sublime with a layer of berry flavored butter. Saturday can’t get here soon enough!
- Try the Lemon, Garlic, Thyme compound butter on these Green Beans Almandine for an added burst of flavor. Just replace the butter in the recipe with equal amounts of the flavored butter.
- Melt the Herb Butter over these Buttery Dinner Rolls for a twist on the classic. Soft, pillowy dinner rolls layered in herby goodness coming your way!
👋 Connect with us!
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below to let us know how it is! We’d also love to connect with you on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Tag @borrowedbites or hashtag #borrowedbites to show us your food!
📋 Recipe
Sweet & Savory Compound Butters
Ingredients
Mixed Berry Butter
- ¼ cup mixed berries strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries all work well
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 8 tbsp butter softened
Lemon Blueberry Butter
- ¼ cup blueberries
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 8 tbsp butter softened
Raspberry Orange Butter
- ¼ cup raspberries
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 8 tbsp butter softened
Herb Butter
- 1 tsp sage minced
- 1 tsp rosemary minced
- 1 tsp thyme minced
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 8 tbsp butter softened
Lemon Garlic Thyme Butter
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1½ tsp thyme minced
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 8 tbsp butter softened
Jalapeno Cilantro Butter
- 1½ tsp jalapeno minced
- 1½ tsp cilantro minced
- ¼ tsp garlic minced
- 8 tbsp butter softened
Instructions
- Whip softened butter in a bowl for 30 seconds on medium speed.
- Add the rest of the ingredients. Whip again for another 30 seconds on medium.
- Place on plastic wrap, parchment paper, wax paper, or freezer paper. Wrap into a log form and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes
- Be careful to soften and not melt the butter.
- Use real butter as well as fresh herbs and citrus. It makes all the difference.
- For the best flavor make sure your herbs, berries, citrus, etc. are ripe and flavorful.
Nutrition
All nutrition information is provided by a third party and is an estimate only. Use your own nutritional calculator for more specific measurements.
Rachel says
Butter by itself is good, but add some extra punch of flavor and it makes a world of a difference. Also great for themed events!
Misty says
Using it at themed events is a great idea! Glad you're trying the different flavors 🙂
tk says
I used the berry butter as a hostess gift! Unique! Quick! Tasty!
Great idea,
TK
Danielle says
What a fantastic idea!
Delani Denton says
These look so simple, fresh and yummy! I love butter lol...
Danielle says
Butter is so easy to love.😉