COMPOUND BUTTERS

Compound butters are easy to make and really jazz up muffins, pancakes, english muffins, etc. The first step in creating a compound butter is to decide what you want to do with it (do you want a sweet or savory butter?). Here are a few recipes for various butters. If you have one you use, please add it here for us to find easily.

Banana-Brown Sugar Butter

Ingredients:

1/2 banana
2 Tbsp brown sugar
8 Tbsp (1 stick) buttter (at room temperature)

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mash together gently with a fork until it is all thoroughly mixed.

Transfer to a serving container and chill until firm. Or, if you prefer, you can transfer the blended butter to a sheet of plastic wrap, cover and then form the butter into a log and chill it. Once it is firm, you can cut it into pats.

NOTE: This sweet butter goes great on bananas Foster, or hot waffles and pancakes or muffins. A sprinkle or two of cinnamon or nutmeg could be added to "spice it up" a little.

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Strawberry-Black Pepper Butter

Ingredients:

1 fresh strawberry, finely chopped
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) butter at room temperature

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mash together gently with a fork until it is all thoroughly mixed.

Transfer to a serving container and chill until firm. Or, if you prefer, you can transfer the blended butter to a sheet of plastic wrap, cover and then form the butter into a log and chill it. Once it is firm, you can cut it into pats.

NOTE: This sweet-spicy butter would be good on toast or muffins. You could even add a red pepper flake or 2 to bring up the heat a little.

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Roasted Garlic and Sun-dried Tomato Butter

Ingredients:

3 cloves of roasted garlic
3 oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves, drained and finely chopped
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) butter at room temperature

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mash together gently with a fork until it is all thoroughly mixed.

Transfer to a serving container and chill until firm. Or, if you prefer, you can transfer the blended butter to a sheet of plastic wrap, cover and then form the butter into a log and chill it. Once it is firm, you can cut it into pats.

NOTE: This sweet butter would be great on steamed veggies and really yummy on mashed potatoes. If you don't want to roast the garlic yourself, you may be able to find bottled roasted garlic at your grocery store.