If your questions are not answered concerning cooking with Challenge Butter products, please call the toll-free Challenge Butter Information Line at 1-877-883-2479.

General tips:

• Use fresh Challenge butter products for constantly good quality.
• Have butter at the correct temperature for the recipe.
• Read recipe instructions and measure ingredients carefully.
• Use the size and type of pans specified in the recipe.

Caramelizing onions

Instead of sautéing onions in butter for use in soups or stews, try caramelizing the onions for a richer flavor. Melt the butter (approximately 1 tablespoon butter for 1-1½ cups sliced onion) over low heat, stir in sliced onions and cook slowly (20 to 25 minutes) until golden brown.

Clarifying butter

In a heavy pan, melt butter over low heat. Skim off froth and carefully pour the clear yellow liquid from the pan, leaving the residue behind. Discard the residue. (1 pound of butter will yield about 1½ cups clarified butter.) Clarified butter will keep about 3 times longer and will not char as easily in sautéing applications.

Brown Butter (Beurre Noisette) Cook clarified butter over low heat until it turns amber. Browning the butter gives it a "nutty" flavor. Brown butter can be used in sauces and icings.

Ghee is cooked longer than regular clarified butter and the milk solids are caramelized. Cook butter over lowest heat and keep below a simmer; cooking time maybe several hours. Pour the liquid portion from the pan and discard the browned milk solids.

Cream butter

Directions for most cakes and many cookies instruct to "cream" butter or "cream" butter and sugar together. Butter should be at room temperature. If the butter is too soft it will not incorporate the proper amount of air and the end product will be denser and less tender. Butter is beaten until it is softened and slightly creamy looking, then sugar is added gradually, beating until the mixture has a light, creamy appearance. Creaming incorporates air into the butter and gives structure to the batter; this enables the addition of other ingredients while maintaining the structure. If the sugar/butter mixture appears slightly curdled the butter was too warm or was beaten too long; if this happens, refrigerate the mixture for 5 to 10 minutes then continue to beat.

Cut in butter

Recipes such as piecrusts, biscuits and scones direct to "cut in" the butter into the flour. Butter for use in these recipes should be cool and firm. Cut the butter into approximately ½-inch cubes before adding to the flour. To get the light texture that these types of recipes require, the butter should be "cut in" with a pastry cutter, or 2 knives, or very cautiously with a food processor — just long enough so the mixture resembles a course meal. Over mixing will cause the dough to become coated with fat and it will be unable to absorb sufficient moisture, resulting in a tougher, less flaky piecrust or biscuit.

Candy making with butter

There are three main types of candies that contain butter: toffee, caramels and fudge. The following suggestions apply to all:

• Avoid making candy on a humid day. The candy will absorb the moisture from the air when cooling and not set properly. (If it is only slightly humid, cooking the candy a degree or two higher than directed may counteract this.)
• Use a heavy saucepan (anodized aluminum, cast aluminum or cast iron). Butter the sides to keep sugar crystals from forming. If the recipe calls for melting the butter first, coat the sides of the pan before adding sugar. The saucepan should be an appropriate size for the recipe and match the size of the burner or be slightly undersized to minimize heat fluctuations in the candy.
• Use a candy thermometer that you have tested for accuracy in boiling water: It should read 212°F — if the thermometer reads higher or lower, add or subtract the difference from the recipe temperature.
• Do not attempt to rush the candy making process. Keep the temperature under the pan constant - set the burner temperature at medium and leave it — temperature fluctuations can lead to problems with sugar crystallization and fat separation in Toffee.
• After the sugar has dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil, cover the pan for 2 minutes to allow the steam to wash the sides. (This is to prevent crystals from forming on the sides of the pan.) Then uncover and stir the mixture as little as possible during the final cooking stages.
• Let the finished candy cool at room temperature. Do not try to hurry the process by putting the candy in the refrigerator or freezer.

Toffee (English toffee or butter toffee) has butter as the primary ingredient. The biggest problem that occurs in making toffee is butter separating out as it cooks.

Ways to prevent separation:

• Use salted butter (or if you use unsalted butter add ¼ teaspoon of salt per stick of butter in the recipe.) Salt seems to stabilize the mixture.
• Melt the butter over medium heat and keep the temperature under the pot constant so the candy mixture is heated gradually.
• Remember to stir slowly and gently during the final stages of cooking.

• Keep stirring and the candy may come back together on its own.
• Add hot water (a tablespoon at a time) — do not add more than a total ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) to recipe calling for 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter. Add water slowly and carefully as the water can cause the hot candy mixture to splatter. Stir and heat candy to the finished temperature.

Espresso Toffee is a butter toffee variation included in the Challenge Recipe Collection.

Caramels are the butter candy most sensitive to humidity. Most Caramel recipes require a long cook time, typically 2 - 2 ½ hours, because of the amount of liquid that must be evaporated. Buttery Caramels, a recipe found on the Challenge website, reduces the cooking time to 30 - 45 minutes by using sweetened condensed milk.

Fudge — Butter is added in the final stages to add flavor and smoothness and inhibit large crystal formation. Use unsalted butter so you can add a small amount of salt (¼ teaspoon per stick of butter) to the sugar / liquid mixture. Salt tends to stabilize the mixture and keep it from foaming as much.

Graininess is the most common problem that occurs when making traditional fudge, but preparing traditional fudge is not difficult if you understand what needs to happen to create "melt-on-your-tongue" smooth candy. In making fudge, large uneven crystals of granulated sugar are dissolved and heated, then re-crystallized. The goal is to make sure the crystals that form are extremely small. Smaller crystals result in a smoother, creamier consistency in the finished fudge. Coarse grainy fudge results when large crystals are allowed to form. Stir as little as possible from the time the sugar is completely dissolved through cooking and cooling stages. Stirring and jarring of the sugar mixture particularly during the cooling phase can trigger sugar crystal formulation and result in coarse, grainy candy. Do not try to hasten the cooling process; sudden temperature changes can also lead to larger crystal formation. The Pumpkin Pecan Fudge recipe on the Challenge web site is prepared in the manner of traditional fudge.

Decorative individual butter servings

Butter curls

To make butter curls, start with a stick of butter that has been at room temperature a few minutes but is still firm. The butter needs to be soft enough to peel without falling apart but cold enough to hold its shape. Heat butter curler in very hot water, then pull firmly over the stick of butter to form curls. If the curls break the butter is too cold. Reheat the butter curler as needed.

Butter pats

To make neat looking pats of butter, cut a firm stick of butter with a hot knife.

Light Butter

Challenge Light Butter is not recommended for frying or baking.

Light butter contains half the fat level of regular butter and it contains a higher moisture level. It was designed to provide a dairy product alternative to spreads and diet margarine for those who desire a lower fat product. It will not give the same results in a recipe as regular butter.

Pie pastry

• Challenge European Style Butter adds an extra richness and flakier texture to pastry.
• Use cold firm butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes. "Cut" butter in to flour being careful not to over-blend.
• Cover the pie dough with plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes before rolling it out. This lets the liquid absorb into the dough, firms the fat and allows the gluten to relax.
• Butter the bottom, sides and rim of the pie plate before positioning the pastry in it.
• Chill shaped pie pastry in the freezer for about 10 minutes or for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. This firms the pastry and helps keep its shape.

Recipe for Butter Pastry for Double Crust 9-inch Pie is included on the Challenge website.

Softening butter

There are several ways to soften butter for use as a spread or to use in a recipe:

• Take the butter out of the refrigerator and leave at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes before you plan to use it.
• Cut the butter into small pieces. If you are using the butter in a recipe, measure it out and cut in pieces to soften it quicker. You could also beat the butter with an electric mixer or place the butter between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper and pound with a mallet or rolling pin.
• Microwave 1 stick of butter for about 30 seconds on High or 60-90 seconds on Low. Check the butter every 10 to 15 seconds, as it is easy to inadvertently melt the butter. If you melt the butter it will not be suitable for a number of baking applications — use it for other cooking and sautéing applications that call for melted butter.
• Place butter on a plate and set the plate over a bowl of hot water.

Substituting Unsalted butter for Salted

Add ¼ teaspoon of salt for every ½ cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter.

Thickening Soups or Sauces

Softened butter can be combined with an equal amount of flour and kneaded with a fork or by hand. The resulting mixture (Beurre Manié) may be added in small amounts as needed to a simmering liquid to give additional thickness without lumping.

Whipped butter