Berry butter is a delightfully berry-licious topping for toast, waffles, pancakes, and more! It's creamy, filled with berry flavor, and has just the right amount of subtle sweetness. You can make this upgraded breakfast topping in only 10 minutes.
If you're a breakfast lover whose never had berry butter before, you need to give this creamy and sweet topping a go! Whipped butter is combined with fresh raspberries (and/or blackberries), powdered sugar for a hint of sweetness, and a bit of salt to bring out the flavors even more.
This berry butter elevates even the most basic breakfast fare into a truly special treat. Try it on French toast, waffles, pancakes, vanilla muffins, or even plain toast!
You only need four basic ingredients and about 10 minutes to make this delicious recipe. And, don't worry if you've forgotten to take the butter out to soften! The recipe card includes quick and easy instructions for softening the butter in the microwave.
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Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Butter: go with unsalted butter, so you can add just the right amount of salt to suit your tastes.
- Berries: I used a combination of raspberries and blackberries, but you can use one or the other. Or, you can use any other type of similar aggregate berry such as marionberry or loganberry!
Step by step photos
Here's a brief breakdown on how to make the recipe, step by step!
- Step 1: On medium speed, whip the room temperature butter in a large bowl for 1 - 2 minutes, until the butter is smooth and has slightly lightened in color.
- Step 2: Add the berries, powdered sugar, and salt to the butter.
Top Tip
Before using the berries, be sure to give them a rinse with water. Then, dry them very thoroughly with paper towels. You want to avoid adding any excess moisture into the butter.
- Step 3: On low speed, whip the butter just until the berries have broken into small pieces and have evenly incorporated throughout the butter. This should take about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Step 4: Half-way through whipping the butter, be sure to scrape down the bowl.
- Step 5: Once finished, store the butter in a glass jar or food storage container. Or, for easy slicing, roll the butter up into a log inside a piece of parchment paper.
- Step 6: Be sure to twist the ends of your parchment paper roll to keep the butter fresh! Use the berry butter right away, or store it in the fridge for 1 - 2 hours to firm up.
Tips and tricks
- After the berries have been incorporated into the butter, resist the urge to continue whipping the butter. If you keep whipping the butter after this stage, the berries will continue to break down, releasing excess moisture into the butter. This will lead to a grainy texture, rather than a smooth and creamy one!
- If the berries you are using are a little bitter or out of season, or you just like things on the sweeter side, feel free to increase the amount of powdered sugar in the recipe to your liking.
Storage instructions
- Store the berry butter either in the fridge or freezer, tightly covered.
- When stored in the fridge, the butter will keep for up to 1 week.
- When stored in the freezer, it will keep for 3 - 4 months. If you are storing the butter in the parchment paper log, wrap it in an extra layer of aluminum foil or plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn.
Recipe FAQs
While I prefer to use fresh berries, you can use frozen berries for this recipe. The frozen berries just tend to release more liquid into the butter, making the final result a little less creamy.
But, if you want to use frozen berries, just be sure to thaw them all the way and pat off as much excess moisture as possible. And, be sure not to overwhip once the berries have been added.
Paradoxically, while I prefer to use fresh berries as opposed to frozen when making the butter, the berry butter itself freezes quite well! I like to store it in the parchment roll, wrapped in an additional layer of aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
Then, when you want to use some, it's fairly easy to slice off chunks from the log as needed. It only takes 15 minutes or so to thaw a small amount at room temperature. Or, you can place a pat of the frozen butter right on a hot slice of toast to thaw the butter even faster!
This recipe calls for either raspberries, blackberries, or a combination of both. Any similarly-structured aggregate fruit would also work well, such as wineberries, tayberries, marionberries, boysenberries, or loganberries.
While strawberries and/or blueberries would add a wonderful flavor to butter, they won't work quite as well in this recipe. Here we are adding the whole berries to the butter, relying on the action of the hand mixer to break them up into their small individual bits of juicy pulp (these are called drupelets).
Because strawberries and blueberries don't have this same drupelet structure, they would not incorporate as well into the butter. However, if you don't mind this and would like to use strawberries and/or blueberries in your berry butter, just be sure to cut them into small pieces before adding them to the butter.
What to serve with berry butter
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Print📖 Recipe
Berry Butter
This berry-flavored butter is so creamy and delicious, with a bit of tartness from the berries and a hint of sweetness from powdered sugar. Berry butter is just the thing to add a special touch to French toast, pancakes, or even a piece of plain toast!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 servings 1x
- Category: breakfast, spreads
- Method: whip
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup/227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature (note 1)
- ⅓ cup (40 g) powdered sugar
- ¾ cup (85 g) fresh raspberries or blackberries (or a combination)
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or salt to taste
Instructions
- Rinse the berries in water and pat them dry very well with paper towels. Set aside.
- Add the softened butter to a large bowl. Beat the butter with a hand mixer on medium power for 1 - 2 minutes, or until the butter is smooth and has lightened slightly in color.
- Add the powdered sugar, rinsed and dried berries, and salt to the bowl. Beat the butter on low power just until the berries have broken down into small pieces and have incorporated throughout the butter, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do not overmix the butter or it can become grainy, rather than creamy. Scrape the bowl down once in between beating the butter.
- Store the butter in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for 3 - 4 months. (See note 2 for instructions on shaping the butter into a log for easy slicing.)
Notes
(1) If you forgot to let the butter come to room temperature, you can use the microwave to soften it quickly. Place both sticks on a microwave-safe plate and microwave them at 50% power for 15 seconds. Flip over the butter sticks and microwave again for 10 seconds on 50% power. Continue flipping the sticks and microwaving at 10 second intervals at 50% power until the butter is soft but not melted.
(2) Instead of placing the butter in an airtight container, you can also shape the butter into a log using a sheet of parchment paper. This is a great way to store the butter because you can easily slice off pats of butter for serving. To form the butter log, place the butter into the middle of a large rectangle sheet of parchment paper in a rough log shape. Fold one long side of the parchment paper over the butter so it's encased in the parchment. While holding down the bottom sheet of parchment, slide the top piece of parchment tight against the butter to shape the log and remove as much air as possible. Then roll up the log in the rest of the parchment and twist the ends of paper closed to seal in the butter.
(3) If storing the berry butter in the freezer in the parchment log, cover it with an additional layer of aluminum foil or plastic wrap to help prevent freezer burn.
The nutrition information below is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator; the nutrition counts of your dish will vary based on the brand and exact amounts of ingredients used. This nutrition estimate should not be considered a substitute for professional medical, health, or nutritional advice. See our full disclosure policy.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/16 recipe
- Calories: 118
- Sugar: 2.9 g
- Sodium: 35 mg
- Fat: 11.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 4.3 g
- Fiber: 1.2 g
- Protein: 0.2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg
Annie says
How will I ever eat butter any other way!? This is so delicious! Absolute game changer for pancakes and french toast!
Kate says
That's wonderful! I really like this berry butter recipe as well, I'm so glad you're enjoying it!