Butter: It’s just better.

There is hardly anything better than butter. Post World War II, it became expensive and short in supply, so butter consumption fell. In the 80s butter became the nutritional enemy and the travesty of margarine became popular because of the increase in low fat diets. But chefs, bakers and anyone with a palate will tell you that butter is  just better. 

The history of butter stretches back to prehistory when people had to be creative in terms of their ingredients, working around the local climate. ‘The process of developing butter has been around since the Neolithic period,’ explains food historian Dr Annie Gray, ‘It’s almost as old as cooking itself. It’s particularly something that you find in colder northern climates. So places that are Mediterranean and further south tended to be oil-based cultures – olive oils and other such things. 

So what is the best butter to use for baking? Unsalted butter at room temperature, because this is the best way to incorporate all the other flavors and ingredients. With the exception of pie crusts - but that’s another story.

Butter is a building block of flavor for cookies and is amazingly versatile in how it can change the flavors, by browning it, clarifying it, or simply salting it. However you use it, butter is just better. 

Butter is just better!