Whipped Honey Butter

Prep time: Easy

Growing up, my family often made honey butter by mixing the two together. The result was delicious, but more like honey than butter. When I went to college I discovered whipped honey butter in a local restaurant—a product that tasted like honey, but had the creamy, light, melt-in-your-mouth texture of whipped butter. I though I had died and gone to heaven! A few years ago, Mahon and I decided to try to make our own whipped honey butter. All the recipes I found online had powdered sugar, and since we were going for a healthy product and not something that was artificially sweetened, we didn't want to add that. So we played around on our own, and perfected this sweet treat! It is delicious on bread, scones, cornbread, or just about anything else you can think of. The basic recipe—butter, honey, and a dash of vanilla—is divine, but you can also add in other flavorings. We recently did cinnamon honey butter and orange zest honey butter, and they were both amazing!

1/2 stick butter, room temperature

1/4 cup raw (hard) honey or about 1/8 cup liquid honey

1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Cinnamon, orange zest, or other flavoring (if desired)

In a bowl big enough to accomodate a hand mixer, add all ingredients together. (If using hard raw honey, don't melt it, but do be sure to use softened butter.) With a hand mixer on medium speed, blend ingredients for a few minutes until they are light and hold their shape (like soft whipped cream). If the honey butter is too runny, add a little more (room temperature) butter; if the flavor is too buttery and not strong enough, add honey a little bit at a time until desired flavor is reached. Stores well for a day or two, covered at room temperature, or for about a week in the fridge. If refrigerating, let it soften at room temperature for at least half an hour before using.