Quick way to soften Hard Butter?

[lyndalou]

I had planned to get some cookie baking done this am while DH is out getting the car serviced. I forgot to soften the butter! Does anyone know a quick way to do this? Thanks for any help/suggestions.

 

[pdswife]

microwave for five seconds at a time until soft.

 

[jabbur]

ditto the microwave. Don't know if you have it on yours or not but my microwave can have the power level adjusted is what I do. I set it for half power and then the butter just softens and you are less likely to end up accidentally melting it.

 

[lulu]

I leave it next the hob if cooking something on top of the stove.

 

[GB]

Cutting it into smaller pieces will also speed things up, but I probably would not combine that with microwaving as that would probably result in liquid.

 

[GotGarlic]

I just had this problem when I was making scones, only the butter was in the freezer! When I've tried microwaving to fix this, I usually end up with butter that's soft on the outside but still firm on the inside.

I googled and came up with this solution, which worked great: Cut the butter into very small pieces. As you expose more surface area, it softens easily. HTH.

 

[lyndalou]

Thanks everyone.