While we might keep busy in the kitchen year round whipping up treats for friends and family, there’s no time quite like holiday baking season when the kitchen is working double-time and there’s always a delicious smell wafting through the house. Between making confections for neighbors and cookie swaps, festive cakes for parties, and holiday feasts around the table, our holiday baking lists are longer than Santa’s “nice” list. And with all that extra action, there’s one ingredient that always seems to disappear quicker than others: butter.
My number one holiday prep secret—buy double the butter you think you’ll need.
Credit:
Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell
Why Buy Extra Butter?
Butter is truly the backbone of the holidays—both in cooking and baking. Whether two sticks or two tablespoons, just about every recipe calls for it, and there’s nothing worse than running out of an ingredient mid-recipe. The best way to avoid a short supply and keep stress out of your kitchen? Stock up with reserves ahead of time and you’ll never find yourself in a pinch trying to substitute your way through a recipe or attempt that last-minute run to the store amidst the chaos of the season with a half-made recipe waiting.
Whether you’re baking dozens of Christmas cookies, making a silky buttercream for a decadent chocolate cake, whipping up a fresh batch of biscuits…or fixing a cozy savory winter dish that calls for butter, it’s inevitable you’ll need an extra stick or knob. It’s always better to be over prepared than under—especially when you don’t have to worry about the ingredients spoiling quickly and being wasted.
Even if you somehow end up with leftover butter after all your holiday baking is said and done, you’ll quickly find a use for it later.
Credit: Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Kathleen Varner
The Best Butter For Holiday Baking
While I love a rich butter like Kerrygold to slather on toast—and for just about anything else where butter is called for—our Southern Living Test Kitchen recommends Land O’Lakes when it comes to baking.
When stocking up on butter for cookies, cakes, pies, and frostings, they note the brand is best for its consistency in quality and availability in the grocery stores across the South. The pros explain that since fat content can vary from brand to brand—which affects how a recipe might turn out—Land O’Lakes is ideal for its mild taste and paler color, making it particularly helpful for light-colored frostings and cakes.
Dining and Cooking