Better Butter

This recipe is from my friend Anne. She thinks she got it from Mollie Katzen, but I haven't seen it the cookbooks of hers that I've read. CORRECTION (4/09): Anne remembers now that the recipe was from Laurel Robertson, of Laurel's Kitchen cookbook fame.

Butter is about 80% fat. The rest is water, salt, and some milk solids. "Better Butter" is spreadable, like margarine. It has the same 80% fat, but half of it is from canola oil, which is unsaturated and cholesterol free. So this natural spread doesn't have added trans fats either.

A few of my children don't like "Better Butter" plain on bread (they'd rather eat margarine!), but even they have no problem when I use it for grilled sandwiches, cooking, or topping vegetables. This is a VERY SOFT spread (no trans, remember?), so it stays in the fridge until the last minute; it can get soupy if left out for more than 15 minutes.

Better Butter

1 pound butter, softened

2 cups canola oil

1/4 cup dry milk powder

1/4 cup (scant) water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp liquid lecithin (from a health food store)

Mix in food processor until creamy and thoroughly mixed. Pour into container(s) and refrigerate. It liquefies at room temperature, but resolidifies in the fridge. Yield: about 6 cups

Notes:

• I could not find liquid lecithin, so ended up with granules. I combine the lecithin, salt, water, and milk powder in a little dish and let it sit (usually in the fridge) while the butter is softening. Stir to make sure lecithin and salt are dissolved before adding to the food processor.
• I find it easiest to put the butter in the food processor to soften--one less dish to clean!
• I use salted butter. The additional salt in the recipe, along with the water and milk powder, is there to mimic the composition of butter.
• I used to pour the BB into one or two plastic containers, but it's a lot to keep together. At WalMart I found a set of three Anchor Hocking glass containers (2 cups each) with plastic lids that hold one batch perfectly, and now there's no need to label, either. Everyone knows these hold the BB. A small touch, but it makes life nicer here. :-)
• This might sound like a lot of project just to make spreadable butter, but there is hardly any active time involved. And as far as hunting for the lecithin (it's an emulsifier, keeping the oil and water blended together), we're still using the first little container Len got more than a year ago.
  

Best-Ever Hot Chocolate

February is a great time to think about (and to drink) hot chocolate, and I've got a delicious version. It's better and easier than those recipes that call for cocoa powder with powdered milk or coffee creamer. Please don't even mention the bags of "hot cocoa mix"...

The house with the big trampoline might have more kid visitors most of the time, but we definitely draw the apres-sledding crowd.

Hot Chocolate
1 quart milk
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
vanilla, to taste

Heat milk almost to a boil. Add chocolate. Pause. Whisk until chocolate is melted, then add vanilla to taste. Enjoy; we like ours topped with whipped cream or mini marshmallows.

Notes:

• I just splash the vanilla in. I'd guess 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons for this batch.
• To make an individual serving, use 1 cup milk, 3 Tbsp chocolate, and a smaller splash of vanilla.
• We usually use skim milk, but the creamier milks are more luxurious.
• Speaking of luxury, for a more sophisticated drink (dessert?) use whole milk, or milk with part cream, and add bittersweet chocolate. If you don't have bittersweet, make some by substituting unsweetened baking chocolate (chopped or shaved) for part of the chocolate chips (1:3 ratio).
• I usually heat the milk (4-6 cups) in an 8 cup glass pyrex measuring cup in the microwave. After whisking the chocolate and vanilla, it's easy to pour into mugs. For larger batches I use the stovetop and serve with a ladle.

Comments

Oops! My other blog is set up to email me when someone comments on a post. I thought this blog was also set up to email, so I never looked back at old posts. Anne let me know that I've missed several of her comments, and I see some others that I've passed by.

So I am sorry to have missed your thoughts. You've not been neglected on purpose!

I haven't posted in a while, but I have a lot of ideas... and recipes... I'm planning on some new features, too--tools of the trade and favorite ingredients are some categories I want to explore.

I know we all have crazy busy lives, but this one seems crazier lately. And one of my Lenten disciplines is a 10:00 p.m. bedtime, which doesn't leave much room for posting. As you can see, I'm already late tonight!

Crisp Topping

This is a versatile topping for fruit crisp. For apple crisp, we put a standard apple pie filling (like Betty Crocker's recipe for a 9" or 10" pie) into a 9" glass square pan, then sprinkle this on top. I've adapted the recipe from one in Some Like it South! by the Junior League of Pensacola, Florida.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour

Combine and crumble over fruit. Bake at 350 degrees until fruit is tender and topping is brown; check at about 35 minutes.

Notes:

• Even if you love crisp topping, do NOT increase the amounts! I've already done it! I gave this recipe to my sister years ago, and she automatically increased everything, forgetting that great minds think alike. She wondered why the fruit/topping ratio was so low. ;-)
• This is a good give-away dessert. When I'm taking a meal to a family, I avoid giving them dishes that need returning. I put the pie filling in a plastic freezer bag, and the topping in another bag, along with instructions. The family can dump them into the pan and enjoy the smell of a warm dessert, too.