I love to give food gifts, little decadent treats for friends and neighbors. One of my favorites to make and give is compound butter. This is butter flavored with a sweet or savory element which makes a great topper for bread, sometimes vegetables and even meat. These are easy and fun recipes which kids can assist in making for gift giving to grandparents or aunts and uncles or other special people. Who wouldn’t want to add an extra special touch to Valentine’s Day meals? Making compound butters is easy, and I have included some ideas and recipes below. For a quick visual tutorial and how to form logs, check this out.
Honey Cinnamon Butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Combine butter, confectioners' sugar, honey and cinnamon in a bowl until it is light and fluffy. Store in a small bowl, or spoon mixture onto wax paper and form into a log. Store in refrigerator. For Valentine’s Day gift giving, gently shape your log into a heart shape, so when slices of butter are cut, they look like hearts. This compound butter would be great on pancakes, sweet potato scones or waffles.
Garlicky Herb Butter
1 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced garlic cloves
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Combine all ingredients in a bowl until mixture is light and fluffy. Store in a small bowl in refrigerator, or spoon mixture onto wax paper and form into a log. Store in refrigerator. This compound butter would taste great melted on biscuit sticks, topping garlic green beans or tucked into grilled Italian chicken packets.
Need more ideas?
Try substituting flavors like raspberry, peach, blue cheese and bacon, black olive, sundried tomato, orange zest and dried cherry, or chives.