Butter love!

Butter is an incredible ingredient. It’s great to bake with, cook with, pan-fry things, spread on toast, and so much more! I know that if it wasn’t going to someday clog my arteries and kill me, I would eat butter on everything all the time! So, here is my chance to celebrate butter from afar.

How is butter made?

Butter is a semi-solid food that is created by churning milk or cream.

Basic Butter Cookies

SOURCE: https://www.bakedbyanintrovert.com/basic-butter-cookies/

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Instructions

1. Beat the butter, sugar, together until creamy.
2. Mix in the salt and vanilla followed by the egg yolk. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.
4. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap each half tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, until firm.
5. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment.
6. Between 2 pieces of parchment paper, roll 1 piece of dough to 1/8-inch thickness. With floured 2 to 3-inch cookie cutters, cut the dough into as many cookies as possible. Wrap and refrigerate the leftover trimmings.
7. Place the cookies 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with turbinado sugar or colored sugar.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden around the edges.
9. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Gooey Butter Brownies

https://www.bunsinmyoven.com/gooey-butter-brownies/#wprm-recipe-container-28051

Ingredients

For the brownies:

• 1 box brownie mix
• 1 large egg
• 8 tablespoons butter melted

For the topping:

• 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 8 tablespoons butter melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 16 ounces powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. To make the brownie base, mix together the dry mix, egg, and melted butter. Spread into a greased 9×13 baking dish.
3. To make the topping, beat together the cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, butter, and powdered sugar until well combined. Spread over the brownies.
4. Bake for 40 minutes or until the center is still slightly jiggly and gooey.
5. Cool before cutting and serving.

Perfect Grilled Steak with Herb Butter

Ingredients

• 2, 1lb bone-in strip steaks cut 1-1/2″ thick (or your steak of choice)
• grapeseed or vegetable oil

For the Steak Seasoning:

• 3/4 Tablespoon rock salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/8 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

For the Herb Butter:

• Big pinch steak seasoning
• 1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup,) softened to room temperature
• 1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary
• 1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh thyme
• 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 garlic clove, pressed or minced

Instructions

1. For the Steak Seasoning: Add ingredients to a mortar and pestle then coarsely grind. Alternatively, add ingredients to a heavy-duty Ziplock bag, squeeze all the air out, then crush ingredients with a meat pounder, rolling pin, or heavy-bottomed skillet.
2. For the Herb Butter: Add ingredients to a bowl then stir with a fork to combine. Scoop herb butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap then shape into a thick log and refrigerate until firm (if time is of the essence you can freeze for 20-30 minutes.) It can be done ahead of time.
3. For the steaks: Trim steaks of any big chunks of fat to avoid flare-ups on the grill then pat dry with a paper towel. Drizzle each side lightly with oil then season generously with the steak seasoning and rub into steaks – you should use most if not all of the seasoning.
4. Light 2/3 or 1/2 of your grill burners (2 of 3 burners, or 1 of 2 burners) then heat on high for 10-15 minutes. Add steaks then sear on each side for 1-1/2 minutes (adjust accordingly if your steaks are bigger or smaller than 1lb cut 1-1/2″ thick,) keeping the lid closed when not flipping. Transfer steaks to an unlit portion of the grill then continue cooking for 7-10 minutes with the lid closed for medium, or until they’ve reached your preferred level of doneness. Remove steaks to a platter then let rest for at least 5 minutes. Top with herb butter slices then serve.