Ingredient: Butter


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imageWe are always excited to see more Amish Roll Butter in the share box!  You may be wondering what makes Amish Roll Butter different from the butter in a grocery store?My obvious answer is taste, one taste of this butter and you will never go back, trust me.  My second answer involves the process of making the butter.  Amish Roll Butter is rolled and packaged by hand.  Rolling the butter is what lets the fat spread out and keep its flavor.  Grocery store butter is formed into sticks using machines so the butter fat is squeezed and not aloud to naturally spread out.  The butter is put into tubes for molding and shaping and this alters the natural flavors of the butter.  So, once the Amish roll butter is churned (they do this part with a machine), it is not put through equipment. Instead, the butter is hand rolled and packaged so the fat stays put and the flavor is amazing.

Here are some tricks to keep it safe and sound until you are ready for use.  

If you love the spreadability of this creamy butter, but can’t wait for it to come to temp, then a butter bell/crock is for you!  We first learned about this lovely little invention from fellow Springdellian Marian Harwood.  (Thanks, Marian!)  When used properly, it will keep butter safely at room temperature for up to 30 days!

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Simply smush the butter into the “bell” part of the butter bell. (You need to start with slightly softened butter for this step.)
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Add just enough water to seal the bell (an inch is plenty for this bell).
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Invert your butter “bell” into the crock
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and….
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…there you have it- delicious and spreadable butter at a moment’s notice!

If you live in a warm house, we suggest keeping your crock in a cooler area.  If the butter gets too warm, it may melt and drop out of the bell and into the water.  Start with just a smidge of butter, (whatever you might use in a sitting or two) and see what amount is going to work best for you, your butter storage area, and the capacity of your inverted crock. We can’t guarantee that you’ll not begin devouring more butter with one of these around, in fact, we can pretty much guarantee the opposite.  

If you’d like to extend your butter for even longer than the date on the package, then freezing it is a great option.  

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Start with the entire roll of butter, which is 2 pounds, the equivalent of 2 boxes of market butter. Cut it in half.
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From there, cut it into fourths.
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Then cut the fourths in half to make eight discs.
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Each disk will be roughly the equivalent of one stick of butter.
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Separate each disc with a small square of parchment paper.
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Stack the discs into a large freezer bag, removing as much air as possible. Be sure to fold and save your butter wrapper. Store the wrapper in the fridge until ready for use in greasing a baking pan or cookie sheet.

Check out our recipe for Herb Butter, it’s a wonderful way to preserve herbs for winter use!

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Recipes Using Butter

Apple and Caramelized Onion Mini Tarts

This one is a great one on “make your own pizza” night as if you already have some pizza dough thawed and handy, you can whip these up as appetizers. Be sure to save time to caramelize some onions though, that part can be done ahead of time.