- Use a warm glass or glass bowl to gently soften butter without melting it.
- Cut cold butter into cubes to speed up softening at room temperature.
- Avoid direct heat or high microwave power to prevent uneven melting.
The holiday season brings many special things, from lighted Christmas trees to nostalgic holiday music. But the most popular holiday tradition just may be pulling out those cherished family cookie and cake recipes and doing a bit of seasonal baking. Whether you’re a fan of shortbread cookies, peppermint-sprinkled brownies or gingerbread cake (or all three!), there’s one thing that can really slow down a holiday baking day: forgetting to soften the butter.
Picture this: you’ve gathered ingredients like chocolate chips, all-purpose flour, red and green sprinkles and vegetable oil when you realize the butter you need for your favorite holiday recipes is still sitting in the refrigerator. Should you toss it into the microwave and melt it down? Set it on the countertop and reschedule baking day for tomorrow? Throw in the towel and opt for store-bought confections?
We talked to baking pros to get the scoop on the best way to soften butter quickly. The good news is, they say this snafu has happened to everyone, including them. And there’s an easy way to soften that chilled butter quickly without altering the temperature too much.
The Best Way To Soften Chilled Butter Quickly
Chef Jujhar Mann, who has appeared on baking shows including Is It Cake and Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking, says an effective way to soften chilled butter when you’re in a rush is to use a heated glass or glass bowl to expedite the process. “I’ll warm a glass or bowl with hot water, dry it, then place it over cubed butter to gently trap warmth without melting it,” explained Mann.
Katherine Sprung, a pastry chef who competed on Chopped Sweets, said she uses the same method to soften butter. “Take a glass bowl and fill it with hot water,” Sprung explained, “Let the water sit in the bowl for a couple minutes. Pour the water out, and flip the bowl upside down so that it forms a dome over the butter. This should take around 10 minutes, but you can check it intermittently.”
Why does this method work so well for baking? Joanne Gallagher, who shares baking recipes on her blog, Inspired Taste, said this method produces “gentle heat that softens the butter without melting it.”
More Ways To Soften Butter
Mann has another tried-and-true method of softening butter but says it takes a bit longer than the glass bowl method. “My go-to method is to cut cold butter into small cubes and spread them out on a plate at room temperature,” he explained. “Smaller pieces soften evenly and much faster, usually within 10 to 15 minutes.”
Susan Gravatt, a baker and blogger who just wrapped filming for Hallmark’s Baked With Love: Holiday, says the microwave can be used, too, but warns that the kitchen appliance can be, “your best friend or biggest foe,” depending on how you use it.
“My go-to method is to microwave a stick of butter in very short bursts,” said Gravatt, “no more than five seconds at a time on a low power setting. Rotate it between intervals until it’s softened. A little heat goes a long way, and stopping early is key. You want the butter soft and pliable, not melted.”
Avoid This Butter-Softening Method
Permission to use the microwave to soften butter does come with some rules, though. “The biggest mistake is putting butter in the microwave on high power, then setting it and forgetting it,” Gravatt added. “That almost always leads to uneven heating and an increased chance of overdoing and melting it.”
And, if you’ve ever had the idea to rest sticks of butter near your cooking surface to soften it, Gravatt recommends skipping that, too. “I’d avoid placing butter near a hot oven or stovetop,” she said. “Too much direct heat can partially melt it, and once butter melts, you can’t undo that.”
But, is using melted butter instead of softened butter really that big of a deal? Our bakers say yes. “Melted butter changes the structure of baked goods and can affect texture, especially for cookies, cakes and buttercreams,” said Mann. “And, any long microwave bursts often cause uneven heating, leaving parts melted and parts still cold.”
“Blasting butter in the microwave or putting it over direct heat tends to melt the edges while the center stays hard, which throws off creaming and can make cookies spread too much,” added Gallagher. “Fully melted butter also won’t hold air the way softened butter does, so cakes and cookies can turn out dense or greasy instead of light and tender.”
But what happens if you’ve mistakenly melted your butter just a bit in the microwave while trying to soften it? “The good news is,” said Sprung, “if you slightly melt your butter a little bit from the microwave method, you can pop it into the fridge for a minute or two, until the melted portion firms up a bit. If it gets too firm, try one of the other methods.”
More Pro-Baker Tips for Handling Butter
While we had these professional bakers lending their expertise, we asked them for additional tips for handling butter during holiday baking sessions. Here’s what they had to say.
- “If I know I have lots of holiday to-dos, I’ll sometimes set an alarm on my phone to remind myself to set out butter a few hours ahead of time,” offered Gravatt. “Not only is it helpful, but a butter alarm is pretty fun in and of itself.”
- “Set your butter out the night before in the dish you’ll use it in,” said Gallagher. “For example, cut it right into the mixing bowl for cookies, or the bowl you’ll use for frosting, then cover it lightly. That way, when you’re ready to bake, the butter is already softened, measured and waiting for you, which makes it much less likely you’ll forget it in the rush of holiday cooking.”
- “Just know the results you get from cold, room temperature and melted butter, and how they’re incorporated into your recipe, are going to be different,” explained Sprung, “so it’s important to follow the instructions of your recipe to see what it calls for.”
- “I also recommend using unsalted butter,” said Mann, “so you can control the salt level in your baking.
The Bottom Line
Using the correct temperature butter in your holiday recipes can mean the difference between a delightful dessert and a kitchen disaster. The best way to soften butter is not the microwave, but something our baking pros described as the glass bowl method. To do it, fill a glass or a glass bowl with hot water and let it sit for a few minutes. Then, empty the glass container and place the warm glass over the butter for 10 to 15 minutes. This should soften your butter without melting it.
Other ways to soften butter without melting it include cutting the butter into smaller pieces (cubes) and allowing it to rest on a plate at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. You can also try microwaving butter in a pinch, but for only about 5 seconds at a time on a low power setting until it’s soft, but not melted. And if you do accidentally melt your butter in the microwave, it’s totally OK to stick it back in the refrigerator for a few moments and allow it to harden up a bit.
