SPREADABLE AVOCADO OIL BUTTER

Health and nutrition aside, there’s something about a good slice of bread slathered in butter; it’s one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Especially if the butter is of the grass-fed salted variety and the bread is a good French or Italian variety.

Of course, if you don’t take your butter out of the fridge in time to soften it up, then you’re left with cold, hard butter that is a pain to spread. Especially on soft bread. Manufacturers realized this and came up with a product that is supposed to solve that problem: spreadable butter. It does solve the problem in that the butter is spreadable straight out of the fridge, but it fails dramatically in that it doesn’t taste quite right. If you look at the label, you can see why — most are made of a mixture of butter whipped with canola oil. You can find olive oil varieties, but even those fall flat on taste.

So, I set out to make my own, but instead of olive oil, I used my extra-virgin avocado oil. I’ll admit, I was skeptical at first, starting with the fact that I thought those tubs at the store must have some kind of extra ingredient in it to make it so soft, but also because I wasn’t sure I wanted to mix something else with my buttery flavor, even something as delicious and decadent as avocado oil. But I tried, and was pleasantly surprised.

First, the taste — It’s still buttery, but with a hint of grassiness and floral aroma from the oil. It’s also got a luscious texture that has the perfect mouthfeel.

On to the spreadability — Right after making this, it’s a little thin, so I was unsure how it would work, but after being in the fridge for several hours, it firms up nicely, but — and this is the key — it still spreads right out of the fridge. No waiting, no shaving a cold slab of butter.

It’s super easy to make, and requires butter, avocado oil, and salt. You could add some fresh chopped herbs or other seasonings if you want, but if you use good quality butter, it really doesn’t need it. Besides spreading it on bread, I used it on a baked sweet potato, drizzled some over roasted vegetables (although you don’t want to roast your vegetables with this mixture — the butter will burn), and on a homemade blueberry muffin. It was delicious in every way. Best part? I’ve had it in my fridge for days, and it’s just as easy to spread. It’s full of healthy fats, and is gluten-free and Paleo-friendly.