FOOD NEWS
The Genius Tip To Revive Melted Butter Back To Its Solid Form
By David Tran
While there's an easy hack to turn cold, hard butter into a spreadable, decadent topping for toast and crackers, the warmer the butter gets, the trickier it gets to put it back to its solid state. When it comes to desserts, butter's temperature is critical, but instead of putting the liquified butter back into the fridge to make it cold again, try this time-saving trick.
Butter needs to be chilled rapidly to turn solid, so to get solid butter in under a minute, mix a few ice cubes into a bowl of melted butter and stir. The butter should turn into a soft yet solid state that's perfect for your baking needs, as you'll want your butter to be between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
America's Test Kitchen explains that butter fat is "partially crystalline and highly sensitive to temperature change," which is why the crystals are effectively destroyed when butter is melted. However, you can still add unsalvagable melted butter to cookie dough for chewier, fudgier cookies or use it to top popcorn, toasted bread, or lobster.