How to Compound Butter - homemadehome.com

You’re all going to kill me now, I just know it. That is if you hate butter – but since you’re on this little blog, you might not hate me (your jeans might, I know mine do) cause we talk butter alot. Like, an obscene amount. Totally. Sorry, the Valley Girl in me slipped out.

Well we’re talking butter again and a perfectly great use for butter that will infuse an infinite amount of flavor into your dish in one fell swoop. And, it’s fabulously easy. Compound butter is just a fancy way of saying that butter has a bunch of other crap in it spices and flavoring in it. Compound butter can range from savory, spicy to sweet – it’s wonderfully versatile. Pop a couple of compound butter coins under the skin of a chicken to moisten the bird as it bakes or slather it on a good piece of bread, my chosen vehicle of maximum butter absorption. Just being honest.

To start:

Source yourself about 1 cup of butter that has been softened, or sat at room temperature until soft.

How to Compound Butter - homemadehome.com

Place it into a bowl and grab a scraper or rubber spatula. Along with a few cloves of roasted garlic. Have you roasted your own garlic yet? Make sure you catch up on your previous How-Tuesdays with the step by step on how to roast garlic.

How to Make Compound Butter - homemadehome.com

Get a few of your favorite spices on hand and for the one cup of butter I use a total of 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoon of spice. And that’s pretty generous. It is definitely up to your taste. I really love this McCormick Tuscan seasoning blend. It’s chock full of rosemary, thyme, garlic, red pepper, and lots of fabulous things. It’s my go-to seasoning blend for just about anything savory.

How to Make Compound Butter - homemadehome.com

Spoon in your desired amount of seasoning and give it a stir until everything is all blended and evenly dispursed.

How to Make Compound Butter - homemadehome.com

Next, source some plastic wrap or parchment paper. I didn’t have any parchment on hand, so I went for the plastic – but parchment does a much better job of shaping a roll of butter.

How to Make Compound Butter - homemadehome.com

Dollop your newly compounded butter onto the plastic wrap or parchment and fold the wrap around butter shaping it with your hands into a log. If you have a spatula or bench scraper, push the butter into log form by pushing and tucking the folded and wrapped parchment around itself. I went for the “just use your hands technique” so I didn’t tear up the plastic wrap. It doesn’t look as pro or fancy as the parchment-perfect version, but it all tastes the same. And that’s what matters.

How to Make Compound Butter - homemadehome.com

Wrap the remaining plastic wrap around the butter, and if using parchment twist the ends to seal it together. Place it back in the fridge to solidify and then you’re off to the races. Compound the hell outta some butter!

Click below for 10 additional compound butters and the how-to recipe to save or print.

Previous How-To’s:

How to make Chicken Stock

How to Make Roasted Garlic

How to Make Chicken Stock

How to Make Multi Grain Bread

10 Compound Butters:

Herb Butter with Shallots – Perry’s Plate

Cranberry Butter  – Missydew via Tasty Kitchen

Blue Cheese and Chive – Chow

Moroccan Butter – Dulcet Cuisine

 Cilantro Lime Butter – Good Life Eats

 Saffron and Citrus Butter – Sunshine and Smile

Lemon Herb Compound Butter – A Spicy Perspective

Avocado Lime Butter – Guilty Kitchen

Kalamata Mint Butter  and Many More Varieties! – Cookin’ Canuck

Orange Cranberry Butter – Creative Culinary