Make Honey Butter

Blending butter and honey results in a smooth, fluffy spread that takes pancakes, biscuits and toast to new heights. Honey butter can be as simple as that - honey and butter - or you can add spices or pureed fruit to give it extra character.

Ingredients

  • Honey Butter
    • 1 pound unsalted butter
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Spicy Honey Butter
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Strawberry Honey Butter
    • 1 pound unsalted butter
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • 1 pint strawberries
    • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • Microwave Honey Butter
    • Honey (preferably the pure one like the arabic 'Hadrami' or 'Yemeni Honey')
    • Butter (salted butter is a better choice)
    • Cinnamon (optional)

Steps

Honey Butter

  1. Start with high-quality honey and butter. Since honey butter is made with so few ingredients, make sure each one is fresh and of fine quality. You might be able to find local honey at a farmer's market. Taste the honey before you decide to use it to make honey butter, since its strong flavor will dominate the spread.
    • Raw honey is a fine alternative to pasteurized honey. It has a deep, earthy taste and is often grainier in texture.
    • Choose either salted or unsalted butter. If you decide to use salted butter, you can leave out the salt when you're mixing the honey and butter.
  2. Bring the butter to room temperature. Remove the butter from the refrigerator and set it out about an hour before you plan to mix up the honey butter. This will give it time to soften and become easier to work with.
    • Don't use melted butter to make honey butter. Be sure the butter is still stiff enough that it's spreadable. If it melts, it could separate, leaving you with a strangely-textured final spread.
    • To quickly bring butter to room temperature, set it in a warm, sunny window. You can also place it on the stove while something is baking in the oven - perhaps a batch of biscuits you plan to slather with honey butter.
  3. Beat the ingredients with a mixer. Once the butter is soft enough to work with, place it, the honey and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Beat the ingredients on high speed until the mixture becomes light, fluffy and pale yellow.
    • You can beat the ingredients with the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, or with a handheld mixer.The whisk attachment will make the honey butter fluffier. You could use a hand held wire whisk, but this will take longer.
  4. Refrigerate the honey butter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator to firm up for about an hour, or until you're ready to serve it. The honey butter will keep for about 2 weeks.
  5. Serve the honey butter in a small decorative bowl. To make it look attractive in the bowl, you can sprinkle a little cinnamon on the top of the butter. Add a butter knife for spreading.
  6. Present honey butter with your favorite bread or rolls. Honey butter goes well with muffins and scones. It is good to serve with cornbread. Some people even like to eat honey butter from a spoon.

Spicy Honey Butter

  1. Bring the butter to room temperature. Set it out on the counter for an hour or so, until it's soft enough to be easily spreadable.
  2. Add the honey, vanilla and spices. Pour in 1/4 cup of your favorite honey. Add the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to the mix, and pour in the vanilla.
  3. Beat the butter well with an electric mixer. Beat on medium to high speed until the honey butter is light and fluffy, with little specks of cinnamon visible. If you're using a handheld whisk, you'll need to beat for at least 10 minutes to achieve the right consistency.
  4. Taste the honey butter. Is it spicy enough to suit you? Add more vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger to adjust to your taste, and beat until they are well incorporated into the mixture. In addition to these spices, consider adding the following spices or flavors:
    • Ground cloves
    • Ground lavender
    • Almond flavoring
    • Pistachio flavoring.
  5. Refrigerate the honey butter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and keep the honey butter in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. This spicy honey butter is ideal with spicy baked goods, such as fruit loaf, hot cross buns, fruit buns, etc.

Strawberry Honey Butter

  1. Wash and hull the strawberries. Pick through them and discard any strawberries that are mushy or discolored.
  2. Purée the strawberries. Add the strawberries to a blender or food processor. Puree them until smooth, then push the puree through a sieve to refine it. Save the bright strawberry juice and discard the pulp. This will help the texture of the honey butter stay smooth. If you used the pulp of the strawberries, it would be lumpy.
  3. Cook the purée. Add the purée to the saucepan, and pour in the honey and lemon juice, too. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Stir the mixture constantly for 3 minutes, or until it has thickened. to the boil. Stir constantly for 3 minutes or until thickened.
  4. Remove the purée from heat. Allow it to cool completely. Taste the purée and add a pinch of salt if you're using unsalted butter in your honey butter.
  5. Cream the room strawberry purée with the butter. Place them together in a mixing bowl and beat them until the mixture is smooth. You can do this by hand or using an electric beater.
  6. Let the mixture stand for an hour. This allows the strawberry flavor to infuse through the butter.
  7. Transfer to a serving dish. If not using immediately, store refrigerated in an airtight container. Use within 3 days.

Microwave Honey Butter

This is very easy homemade honey butter.

  1. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 3 tablespoons of honey to a microwave-proof bowl.
  2. Put the bowl in the microwave. Cook for 10 to 20 seconds, long enough for the butter to melt and sizzle for a second or two.
    • Don't overheat, it will cause the butter to burn in an irreversible mess. The heating should make the butter smell a bit like it has been heated.
  3. Don't allow the honey butter mixture to cool. Use a knife and start mixing and whisking it quickly, making the honey and butter mix with each other.
    • If it is loose, add a tablespoon of honey and keep mixing well after each addition until you get a consistency like that of thick caramel.
    • Don't be hasty about adding in more honey, as it may become too sweet.
  4. Keep mixing until the color turns into a yellowy orange. The mixture should become thick and sticky.
    • You may like to season it with cinnamon. This is optional.
  5. Use the honey butter warm on toasted bread or as a topping on butter cake. Or, it can be spread on a sweet cracker style biscuit or a pancake. Enjoy it at anytime, tea time, breakfast with family or friends.
    • You can make this honey butter become more like a paste by refrigerating it.

Tips

  • You can tweak the amount of honey and other ingredients in your honey butter to fit your own taste. Some people like more honey; some people like less.
  • Small jars of honey butter make great Christmas gifts. Just put the honey butter in small decorative jars and add ribbon and a gift tag.
  • Use ingredients kept at room temperature.
  • Salted butter is a better choice than unsalted butter.
  • Try using pure honey.
  • Mix the honey and butter until the mixture is lukewarm.
  • Always use less butter and more honey because butter after melting, it becomes very liquid.

Warnings

  • Do not soften the butter in the microwave. This will ruin the texture of your honey butter.

Things You'll Need

  • Mixing bowl
  • Mixer with whisk attachment
  • Small glass jar with lid
  • Blender or food processor
  • Fine sieve
  • Saucepan
  • Microwave (where relevant)

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Sources and Citations

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