Easy Sweet and Savory Compound Butter 4 Ways

Level up your holiday rolls and butter game with this recipe for Easy Sweet and Savory Compound Butter 4 Ways. Rum Raisin, Spiced Orange Cranberry, Garlic Herb and Lemon Dill are the four delicious and easy compound butter ideas shared here, but once you have the basics down, you can easily experiment with other flavor combinations.

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So what is compound butter exactly? At its core, compound butter is simply butter to which other ingredients have been added. They can be sweet or savory, and are used to enhance the flavor of other foods. Grilled fish and steak are instantly elevated by a pat of herb compound butter, just as a dinner roll topped with a smear of sweet butter can double as a dessert.

In this post, I’ll share four easy compound butter ideas – two sweet and two savory – that you can whip up in less than 10 minutes and serve throughout the holidays and beyond.

Butter better

Before diving into the four flavors for homemade compound butter highlighted here, let’s talk first about the different types of butter found in most stores today. Not all butters are the same, nor are they interchangeable.

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• Salted vs. Unsalted Butter. While unsalted butter is exactly what its name implies (no salt added), salted butter contains on average 1 to 2 percent salt. In general (and especially for baking), I prefer to use unsalted butter. It gives me greater control over the food’s flavor.
• European-Style vs. American-Style Butter. European butter has less water and a higher fat content than its American counterpart. European-style butter also has a richer flavor as many of them are made from cultured milk. European-style butter is my favorite butter for most bakes and buttercreams – like my recipe for Easy 10-Minute Chai Latte Buttercream.
• Sweet Cream vs. Cultured Butter. Cultured butters are made from fermented cream with live cultures, so they often have a more tangy, robust flavor like yogurt or sour cream. The flavor of these butters can vary significantly from one brand to another. Cultured butter can add a nice layer of flavor and complexity to a dish, but if you want to keep the flavor more neutral, choose a sweet cream variety instead. Sweet cream butter uses milk that has not been fermented.
• Clarified Butter. Butter that has been heated until the fat has separated from the milk solids and water, which are discarded. Clarified butter can withstand higher cooking temperatures without burning.
• Brown Butter. Brown butter is unsalted butter that has been cooked until the milk solids brown and any water has cooked off. What you are left with is something similar to clarified butter. However, brown butter takes on a rich, nutty flavor in the cooking process.
• Whips and Spreads. Nitrogen gas is injected into churned butter, giving it a light, fluffy texture. Butter spreads are blends of butter and other oils such as olive oil, and the ratio of butter to oil can vary considerably from one brand to another. Whips and spreads should never be substituted in recipes that call for regular butter as they differ in volume and have different properties that will negatively impact the recipe – especially when baking.
• Compound Butter. Butter to which other ingredients have been added. Compound butters can be sweet or savory and are used to enhance the flavor of other foods.

For butter lovers with a penchant for homesteading, you can also make your own butter at home. If this seems like something you’d like to try, check out this instructional post with video from Homesteading Family on how to make butter at home.

So now that we’ve covered how to “butter better”, let’s go over the four variations of this easy homemade compound butter recipe.

Easy Sweet and Savory Compound Butter 4 Ways

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In this recipe for Easy Sweet and Savory Compound Butter 4 Ways, I provide four variations – two sweet and two savory – that you can use to level up your rolls and butter game. I think it’s time we give rolls and butter the spotlight they deserve at the holiday dinner table. No more boring, hard sticks of butter on a plate like it’s some obligatory afterthought! Let’s make the last roll and smear of butter the thing everyone fights for. So go ahead and proudly volunteer to be on roll and butter duty this holiday.

Butter boards emerged fall of 2022 as the next big food thing in charcuterie, so why not a flight of compound butters? On this flight, we feature a Rum Raisin, Spiced Orange Cranberry, a Lemon Dill butter with a touch of paprika and a Garlic and Fresh Herb butter. The process for each takes about 10 minutes from start to finish.

All four variations start out by whipping one stick (four ounces) of unsalted, European-style butter until it is light and fluffy.

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In both the Rum Raisin and Spiced Orange Cranberry versions, the fruit is soaked in liquid and heated in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften. Once the fruit has cooled back down to room temperature, it is added to the whipped butter, along with the spices and whipped again to incorporate.

For the savory versions, an assortment of fresh herbs and spices are incorporated into the butter after the first whip. The second whip simply brings together all the ingredients.

Compound butter can be stored in the refrigerator, covered for one week. You can also store your covered butter in the freezer for up to 3 months. I like to keep the savory versions rolled up in a piece of parchment paper and shaped into a log. I can then slice off a circle of compound butter any time I need a little flavor boost on top of grilled fish or steaks, for instance. The sweet versions are lovely on top of pancakes – just sayin’.

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Easy Sweet and Savory Compound Butter 4 Ways

Recipe by Maria Ostrander Course: SidesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Each compound butter version yields approximately 10 servings.

Ingredients

• Rum Raisin

• 1 stick (4 ounces) European-style butter, room temperature

• 1/3 cup golden raisins, roughly chopped

• 2 Tbsp. spiced rum (Captain Morgan or Trader Vic’s)

• 1 Tbsp. honey

• 1-2 dashes ground cinnamon

• 1-2 pinches salt to taste

• Spiced Orange Cranberry

• 1 stick (4 ounces) European-style butter, room temperature

• 1/3 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped

• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

• 1Tbsp. orange juice

• 1/2 tsp. fresh orange zest

• 1-2 pinches each or ground cinnamon, ground cloves and salt to taste

• Lemon Dill

• 1 stick (4 ounces) European-style butter, room temperature

• 1 Tbsp. fresh dill, minced

• 1 tsp. fresh chives, minced

• 1/4 tsp. fresh lemon zest

• 1/4 tsp. sweet Hungarian paprika

• 1-2 pinches salt to taste

• Garlic Herb

• 1 stick (4 ounces) European-style butter, room temperature

• 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced

• 1 Tbsp. fresh chives, minced

• 1 Tbsp. grated parmesan

• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

• 1/8 tsp. grated fresh garlic

• 1/8 tsp. fresh lemon zest
  1-2 pinches salt to taste

Directions

• For the Rum Raisin
• In a microwave safe container, combine the raisins and the rum. Microwave on low in 10 second intervals for a total of 30 seconds. Stir between intervals to ensure the mixture does not burn. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• While the raisins are cooling, use a hand mixer to whip the butter until light and fluffy – approximately 2 minutes.
• Add the raisins, rum, honey and cinnamon and salt and whip on medium speed until incorporated.
• For the Spiced Orange Cranberry
• In a microwave safe container, combine the cranberries and orange juice. Microwave on low in 10 second intervals for a total of 30 seconds. Stir between intervals to ensure the mixture does not burn. Stir in the brown sugar to dissolve and set aside to cool to room temperature.
• While the cranberry mixture is cooling, use a hand mixer to whip the butter until light and fluffy – approximately 2 minutes.
• Add the cranberry mixture, orange zest, cinnamon, cloves and salt and whip on medium speed until incorporated.
• For the Lemon Dill
• Use a hand mixer to whip the butter until light and fluffy – approximately 2 minutes.
• Add the dill, chives, lemon zest, paprika and salt and whip on medium speed until incorporated.
• For the Garlic Herb
• Use a hand mixer to whip the butter until light and fluffy – approximately 2 minutes.
• Add the parsley, chives, parmesan, garlic, lemon zest, pepper and salt and whip on medium speed until incorporated.

Notes

• Do I need to worry about alcohol in the Rum Raisin butter? No. The time in the microwave will cook off the alcohol in the rum.