Learn how to make your own whipped honey butter spread at home in just 10 minutes with 3 simple ingredients: softened butter, honey and vanilla. You can use salted butter or unsalted butter, depending on if you like a little salt with your sweetness. This extra-easy flavored butter recipe can be whipped using a hand mixer, or with the help of a stand mixer.
This is about as easy a recipe as they come and only takes minutes to whip up. But it’s impressive and will give an extra oomph to your dinner table.
I happened upon the idea of honey butter one year around Thanksgiving. I was bringing a bunch of my gluten free cornbread to the family dinner and kept seeing it pop up online when I was looking up info for some other recipes. It sounded like a good idea, so I threw together some butter, honey, and vanilla in a bowl and it. was. MAGIC.
At the Thankgiving table, my family raved about the whipped honey butter. They couldn’t get enough. Now they request it for every holiday.
While it’s typically on our holiday tables, it works for any time of year. My family loves to have it with muffins, like some gluten free apple cinnamon muffins or gluten free banana chocolate chip muffins. But you can also use it for more savory dishes, like these honey butter roasted carrots.
What is honey butter?
Honey butter is literally just honey and butter combined into a spread. It’s common to add vanilla extract to it to enhance the flavor. Other add-ins could include cinnamon, orange extract, or even cranberries.
Why you’ll love this homemade honey butter
- It’s super simple to make with just one bowl and 3 ingredients
- There’s no processed sugar, only honey as the sweetener
- It stores really well in the refrigerator or freezer, so you can make it several days (or even months) ahead of time.
Ingredients
This is a super simple recipe that just requires 3 ingredients:
- Butter – you can use salted butter or unsalted butter, depending on if you like a little salt with your sweetness.
- Honey – any type of honey will work, just make sure it’s in a thin liquid form. You may need to warm it slightly.
- Vanilla extract – pure vanilla extract will work better than imitation, but use what you have.
How to make honey butter
I’m telling you, this recipe is SO easy. I’m going to show you how easy in these simple steps.
Step 1. Soften the butter in the microwave.
Stick it in a large microwavable bowl and nuke it for 10 seconds. Check to make sure it’s soft – if not, try another 5 minutes. Be careful it doesn’t start to melt! Butter melts from the middle first so poke at it in places to see if there are any melty spots.
If you start with room-temperature butter, you don’t need to microwave it.
Step 2. Put the honey and vanilla in the bowl with the butter.
If you’re starting with already softened butter, make sure the bowl isn’t cold otherwise the butter will harden as you start to whip it, making it more difficult for the ingredients to combine.
Step 3. Whip the butter with a hand mixer on medium speed until it starts to get fluffy.
It may look grainy at first, but keep whipping it until it appears smooth.
Place the butter in a dish to serve and you’re done. See? Super easy.
What to eat with honey butter spread
You can eat this flavored butter with pretty much anything you would put regular butter on – toast, pancakes or waffles, rolls, gluten free zucchini muffins (like shown below), but also in dinner foods like a roasted sweet potato or butternut squash. Lots of different options to try!
FAQ
You may have some questions about honey butter – let’s get to those now.
Does honey butter need to be refrigerated?
Yes, you need to refrigerate honey butter if you want it to keep for longer than a couple of days. This Kitchn article discusses pros and cons of refrigerating butter or leaving it out.
Can honey butter be frozen?
Yes, honey butter can be frozen. It needs to be stored in a sealed container or wrapped several times in plastic wrap, but it will keep for several months that way (up to 6 months).
Can honey butter go bad?
Yes, honey butter can go bad. If you leave it out on the counter it will likely take only a couple of days for it to go bad. It’s less likely to go bad in the refrigerator and even less likely in the freezer. To tell if your butter has gone bad, see if there’s any sour smell or taste (a little taste shouldn’t hurt you). For more information, see this Spoon University article.
Recipe tips
- You can use a stand mixer to whip the ingredients together, just make sure the bowl isn’t cold as it will harden the butter.
- Add a little ground cinnamon to give a warm, cozy flavor to the butter – no more than 1 teaspoon.
- Try adding a different type of extract like almond, orange, or even eggnog to switch up the flavor!
If this homemade Whipped Honey Butter recipe has you wanting more easy breakfast recipes, check these out to add more goodness to your mornings:
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How to Make Whipped Honey Butter Spread
Equipment
- A hand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter (½ cup)
- ⅓ cup honey
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Take the stick of butter out of the wrapper and place it in a large microwaveable bowl.
- Soften the butter by microwaving it. Start with 10 seconds then touch the butter to see if it's soft. If it's still pretty hard, try 5 more seconds. You shouldn't need more than 20 seconds to soften it as you don't want it to start melting. Make sure to check all sides of the butter as the middle is usually what starts to melt first! If you start with room temperature butter, you shouldn't need to microwave it.
- Take the bowl out of the microwave, then measure out the honey and vanilla extract with the measuring cup, and spoon, respectively. Add both into the bowl with the butter.
- Whip the ingredients until very well combined using the hand mixer on medium speed. This should take less than 5 minutes as the ingredients will come together quickly.
- Place the honey butter in a small dish and serve.
Notes
- You can use a stand mixer to whip the ingredients together, just make sure the bowl isn’t cold as it will harden the butter.
- If you’re starting with already softened butter, also make sure the bowl isn’t cold otherwise the butter will harden as you start to whip it, making it more difficult for the ingredients to combine.
- Store the butter in the refrigerator for a couple weeks, or wrap it in plastic and freeze it for up to 6 months.
- Add a little ground cinnamon to give a warm, cozy flavor to the butter – no more than 1 teaspoon.
- Try adding a different type of extract like almond, orange, or even eggnog to switch up the flavor!
Wyndie
Which is better. Margarine or Butter salted or unsalted??
Taryn Solie
Thanks for asking Wyndie! I wouldn’t use margarine, but you could use either salted or unsalted butter, depending on if you like a little saltiness with your sweetness.