The Wax Paper Hack To Soften Butter In An Instant

When you're baking up a batch of cookies or mixing up some cake batter, recipes often call for softened butter. Butter is considered softened when it's malleable and shapeable by hand, but firm enough to retain its shape when not being handled. Often, the easiest way to achieve this is to allow the stick of butter to sit on the counter for a bit before baking.

But when it's time to bake and you've forgotten to take the butter out of the fridge ahead of time, it can be frustrating to have to wait up to 45 minutes for it to be workable at room temperature. Fortunately, there is a way to soften that butter without needing to wait so long.

To speed up the softening process, you'll want to employ two other kitchen tools: A rolling pin and a little bit of wax paper. Here's how it works. Unwrap your stick of butter and place it between two layers of wax paper. Then, using the rolling pin, begin to beat and roll out the butter between the wax paper layers. The wax paper's smooth coating will keep your butter from sticking, allowing you to easily remove it to use in your recipes.

You can use the rolling pin to first hit the butter between the wax paper layers — the force will make it easier to smash the butter down. Once it's a little thinner, it will be easier to roll it out. 

Once your butter has been worked into a flatter spread, the larger surface area will allow it to soften much more quickly. When left in a rectangle, the exterior may feel soft to the touch, but it could take more time for the center to soften. By spreading it out and expanding its surface area, the butter will more quickly warm up to room temperature.

After your butter has softened, you can simply peel off the top layer of wax paper and slide your softened butter into your mixing bowl. While this trick can be done using other items in your kitchen — like plastic bags or parchment paper — wax paper is likely your best bet for quickly removing the butter from the inside, thanks to its paraffin wax coating.

If parchment paper is used, since it lacks that waxy exterior coating, it could take a little extra effort to scrape all the butter off the paper. The same can be said for using a plastic bag. While a bag will technically work for this method, it could be slightly tricky to get the butter out afterward. You would need to turn the bag inside out and scrape the butter off, being careful not to shred the bag in the process. No one wants to bite into a piece of plastic in their chocolate chip cookies, after all.

Other methods of softening butter — like microwaving the stick or using a double boiler — could actually cause the butter to melt too much if you aren't careful. By rolling the butter out thin and letting it come to room temperature, the lack of excessive heat will prevent it from melting, and it will soften to the perfect consistency for use in cookies.

The next time you forget to take your butter out of the fridge to soften, just grab some wax paper and a rolling pin to spread it out. You're welcome.