make your own: compound butter.

Compound butter sounds fancier than it really is. It’s butter, softened, with herbs or fruit or other bits of tastiness stirred in. You can shape it into a log, chill it, and serve it in rounds on bread and butter plates. Or, you fill up a jar and tie on a ribbon it becomes a homespun gift for a host.

Last week, we made two different kinds—one with cranberries and one with shallots and thyme—to serve with slabs of already buttery brioche at a Pre-K breakfast. (‘Tis the season for indulgence, and I’ve yet to met a preschooler who doesn’t clamor for pink.) Since then, we’ve been putting it on the breakfast table every morning. If you’ve got leftover herbs or a container of cranberry sauce destined to be forgotten, consider this an opportunity to put them to good use. 

A full recipe seems like overkill here, but here are a few guidelines in case they’re helpful:

Cranberry Butter

1.5 sticks (12 tablespoons butter)

1/3 cup cranberry sauce

Allow the butter to soften at room temp until quite smushable (the technical term). Spoon cranberry sauce into a bowl with softened butter and beat with the back of a wooden spoon or, as we did, a potato masher, until very well incorporated. Once well-mixed, you can reshape your butter into a log with a bit of wax paper, or simply spoon it into individual bowls or jars. 

Shallot and Thyme Butter

1.5 sticks (12 tablespoons butter)

~ 2 tablespoons thyme leaves, removed from their stems and roughly chopped

~ 1 small shallot, diced

Once again, allow the butter to soften at room temp until very smushy. Combine butter, herbs, and shallot into a small bowl. As above, beat with the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher, until very well incorporated. Here too, you can reshape your butter into a log with a bit of wax paper, or spoon into individual bowls or jars. 
If you convince your toddler to wash his hands thoroughly first, compound butter is a very excellent thing to make with an eager kitchen helper. A food processor will make quick work of the task, but not having one is no reason to skip the project. Consider swirling together the softened butter and herbs a meditative act. Skip the mindfullness app, and spend a few minutes methodically scraping down the sides of your buttery bowl until the herbs or fruit are incorporated. Reward yourself with a slice of toast and smear of more-delicous-than-usual butter.

For optimal spreadability, store the butter in the refrigerator, but allow it to come back to room temp before serving. (Any extra can be stored easily in the freezer and used any old time you’d like!)

For the curious:

Silas’s beautiful mise-en-place is courtesy of East Fork Pottery Bitty Bowls, which we’ve found to be handy and lovely for all manner of tiny things. If you’re looking for very sweet gifts for yourself loved ones, you’re in luck. Use the code TEALEAVES for 20% off Bitty Bowls. Offer expires December 26, 2018.

Silas’s apron was a gift from Rough Linen.

More on the great usefulness of Bonne Maman jars.

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