We share our tips and tricks for How to Soften Butter quickly when you are in a hurry and forgot to take the butter out of the refrigerator.

It’s Saturday.  You had planned to make cookies after lunch but you forgot to take the butter out of the refrigerator in the morning.  We’ve all been there.  Now what?  Do you really need to use softened butter? How long is it going to take to get the butter to room temperature?  Are there any shortcuts you can use?  We’ve got you covered in our How to Soften Butter tutorial!  You’re welcome!

What does “butter softened to room temperature” really mean?

Most of our cookie and frosting recipes say that the butter needs to be “softened” or “softened to room temperature.”  What does that mean exactly?  A stick of butter that is properly softened is not melty, dripping or super shiny.  It might still be cool to the touch, but if you press your finger into the stick it should leave a dent. (See the picture below.) The butter needs to be softened so that it can be properly creamed together with the sugars in the recipe. Air gets trapped in the butter during the creaming process and that is an important part of the puzzle to getting a light and fluffy finished baked good or a light and creamy frosting.

How long does it take to Soften Butter?

The most effective way to soften butter is set it on the counter and let it come up to room temperature naturally. How long does that take though?  Well, that depends on where you live, what season it is and how hot your kitchen is. It could take an hour … it could take all day.  Not a helpful answer, we know. 

That is why you need a couple of butter softening tricks up your sleeve.  Here are some of our favorite ways of speeding up the process of softening butter.

Cube the Butter

This is an easy one … cut the stick of butter into small cubes.  We cut the butter in half lengthwise and then flip the stick over and cut lengthwise again.  As you slice the butter, you will have cubes.  Easy peasy.  The butter will soften so much more quickly this way.

Grate the Butter

A little messier, but you can grate the butter with a cheese grater. This is a great method for softening frozen butter too. When you grate the butter, it is basically ready to use as soon as it has been grated.

Roll out the Butter

Need to work out some frustration? Place the stick of butter between two pieces of parchment paper or waxed paper and pound it out with a rolling pin.  Once you get it a little bit flattened, you can use the rolling pin to roll it out into a sheet.  The flattened sheet of butter should be ready to use with your recipe. 

How to Soften Butter in the Microwave

This is the fastest way to soften butter but it is the trickiest and the easiest way to end up with butter that is too melted to bake a fluffy cookie or cake.  When softened in the microwave the butter might look perfectly softened on the outside but it could actually be melty on the inside.

But we have to be honest, we’ve softened butter this way in a pinch. 

Here is our trick:  we stick the butter in the microwave for 3 seconds.  Flip the stick of butter over and microwave for another 3 seconds.  Then we flip the stick of butter vertically and microwave another 3 seconds. 

All microwaves heat a little differently and for us, 9 seconds usually does the trick but it might be a little less or a little more time for you.  You need to test it out and figure out your microwave butter softening sweet spot.  And the good news is, if the stick of butter is a little too melty just put it back in the refrigerator to harden back up and try it again with a new stick.  

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