This homemade honey butter is sweet, creamy, irresistibly silky and fluffy and absolutely dreamy on warm rolls, cornbread, biscuits, and more. It’s one of my favorite things to take to potlucks- a big basket of fresh bread and a bowl of whipped honey butter. It always disappears fast, and I can’t remember the last time I brought it somewhere without someone asking for the recipe.
At first glance, honey butter seems pretty straightforward: just honey and butter, right? While those two ingredients are the foundation, a few simple tricks (and a special ingredient) transform it from good to unforgettable. Keep on reading for how to make light, fluffy honey butter with the perfect balance of sweetness and a texture that’s easy to spread and impossible to resist.
Ingredients Needed
- butter – Use quality butter. If you need to avoid dairy for dietary purposes, let me know if you’ve found success with a non-dairy substitute! It also needs to be room temperature, or slightly chilled, which means you need to plan ahead a little. Trying to soften it in the microwave will most likely result in uneven temperatures, and will affect the overall end result.
- honey
- powdered sugar
- salt
- vanilla– optional
Tips for the BEST honey butter
Both the ingredients and the method are important, so don’t just dump everything in together!This recipe incorporates science so it’s important to whip air into the butter, then stabilize and aerate the mixture with sugar crystals from a little powdered sugar, and lastly add the honey one the mixture is stable.
- Butter Temperature– Use room temperature butter, but not too soft and melty. Around 65-68°F is optimal. If you have to lean one way or another, too cold is better than too warm.
- Whip the butter by itself for 2-3 minutes to incorporate lots of air. You’ll see it change color and lighten. Scrape down sides as necessary.
- Add some powdered sugar. The sugar crystals help stabilize and create tiny air pockets in the butter. (This translates to FLUFFY!)
- Add the honey gradually at the end, beating at medium speed and scraping down sides. Once incorporated, beat on high again for a full minute for a super silky texture.
- Lastly to balance and enhance flavors, I like to add salt and a little vanilla.
Storage & Other Tips
- Plan Ahead: remember to pull your butter out in time for it to soften before preparing.
- Storage: honey butter stores well in the fridge, just bring to room temperature until serving. Put any leftovers back in the fridge, in an airtight container.
- Serving Tip: if I’m taking this to a party or gathering, I usually drizzle a little honey on top so people realize what it is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use whatever you have! Adjust the salt to taste if you feel it needs it.
Yes, of course! The base recipe is powdered sugar and honey, but feel free to add cinnamon, vanilla, or a citrus zest to add some more unique flavors.
Regular sugar will be too gritty, and using it will change how it spreads. Powdered sugar will keep the texture light and fluffy.
It freezes well, but there may be some changes to texture when thawed. However, it still is delicious, no need to shy away from trying it!
Really, you can use it anywhere you’d use butter and want a warm, sweeter, fluffy upgrade. Warm rolls, cornbread, pancakes, waffles, toast are a great starting point, but I also love to toss some on my sweet potatoes, muffins, quick breads, and crepes!
Honey Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter 2 sticks, at room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar If you want this less sweet, feel free to start with 1/2 cup.
- ⅔ cup honey
- ¼ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract) optional
Instructions
- Place butter in the mixing bowl of a stand mixture, with the whisk attachment on. Beat on medium speed to break up the butter and scrape down the sides, and then turn speed to high for 2-3 minutes until the color lightens and texture is light and fluffy.
- Add powdered sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Mixture should look incredibly fluffy and smooth. Scrape down sides.
- Add honey a little bit at a time until incorporated. Scrape sides and then beating on a high speed for 1 minute until smooth and fluffy.
- Serve at room temperature, and store longer-term in the fridge. To use again, you'll want to let it come to room temperature to be soft and spreadable.
Questions & Reviews
what do you mean by cubes? tablespoons?
in the recipe for honey butter, what do you mean by cubes?
I made this for the fourth and loved it! The powdered sugar makes it a really nice consistency.
Now I’m baking some bread so we can use up the leftovers…
I’m glad you liked it Becky- and I hope you’ll comment more now, we love to hear from you!
This is my first time commenting. I took hot rolls and this honey butter recipe to a baby shower last night. It was a hit. My mom’s honey butter recipe calls for a raw egg so I never make it. I was excited to try this recipe and it certainly didn’t disappoint. It taste just the way I wanted it too!
Would you please share your Mom’s recipe that includes the egg? I bought some Apricot Orange Pecan Honey Butter in TN and LOVE IT and would like to make it, bottle it, and sell it at the local Farmer’s Mkt in MO. I would have to find out how to make it safe for resale or canning. Might have to omit the egg, but I am curious as to the other ingredients & amounts. Thanks
You are the bomb daily biter! Great site and recipes!
oooh interesting Kate. I would never think to put marshmallow cream in honey butter! I’ll have to try that some time.
YUM! My recipe has marshmallow cream in it, which I imagine does something similar to the powdered sugar. I will make it and let you know how close our awesome honey butter recipes compare!
Mine does too. I used to manage a restaurant in Provo and our recipe was butter, honey and marshmallow cream. It is oh so good. I used to make it by the gallons. Talk about melt in your mouth. We served it with scones, the deep fried fluffy kind. YUM!!!
Yum!!
oh, yummy! I am going to make this soon!