Cut Your Stick Of Butter Into Tablespoons Immediately And Thank Us Later
When baking, many recipes call for butter. The dairy product can add some extra rich flavor to desserts as well as enhance the texture of the bakes. Measuring the exact amount needed is essential for ensuring that the recipe turns out right.
Each stick of butter is generally about a half cup, equivalent to eight tablespoons. Those sticks are wrapped in wax paper, with a printed exterior. That print often features markings to indicate tablespoon measurements. While it may be fairly easy to slice those sticks up as needed for your recipes, you may be able to cut down on a little prep time by slicing them in advance.
When you first bring home fresh sticks of butter from the grocery store, pre-slicing them may be a great way to aid your future bakes. Simply take your knife and slice down, following the pre-printed guidelines of the wax paper. Once the butter stick is all cut up, you'll be left with pre-proportioned tablespoons of butter.
Sliced butter could soften faster
Once your butter has been sliced, you can cut up pieces of wax paper to place in between each piece and wrap it back up. Then, stack the tablespoons back in the shape of a stick for easy storage. When your butter is sliced, it may be best to store it in the fridge — especially if you're working with the unsalted variety. Smaller slices of butter allow for the room temperature air to soften the dairy spread more quickly, and storing those slices on the counter could create a melty mess.
Still, those smaller pieces could come in handy when it's time to bake cookies. When recipes call for softened butter, you may be stuck waiting around for a while if your whole stick has been refrigerated. While there are ways to use heat to quickly soften the sticks, the individual slices have an increased area of exposure, and the butter could warm up more quickly. Simply pull the tablespoon-sized pieces apart, spread them out, and allow them to soften. Then, the butter can be added into your favorite recipes.
The slices will create a visual for how much is on hand
In addition to saving time on softening butter, pre-slicing your sticks into individual tablespoon amounts can make measuring quick and easy when you're baking up a quick treat. When your recipe calls for a certain number of tablespoons, the pre-sliced portions will make it easy to see exactly how much butter you have left with only a quick glance.
Of course, the easiest way to slice your butter is simply to take a kitchen knife and cut right through those marked lines on the butter wrapper. But if you find yourself often buying and chopping up butter in bulk, there are actually kitchen tools specifically designed for quick and easy butter slicing.
The next time you buy a fresh box of butter sticks from the grocery store, grab your cutting board and slice up those tablespoon-sized chunks ahead of time. The technique could help save you some time on future baked treats by allowing the butter to soften faster.