How to Make the Best Butter Board from a Baker

Hosting a party, a bridal shower, a rehearsal dinner, a football party? Wow your guests with a beautiful butter board and they’ll never stop talking about your party!

Many people see the word Butter Board and either think of the viral social media trend, or are just confused… A whole serving board just of butter? Technically, yes. But the most crucial part of having a delicious Butter Board is having some amazing vessels for your butter. Maybe that is fresh bread, your favorite bread from the store, a crumbly scone, a cheddar biscuit, or something as simple as fruit or chocolate. Butter Boards are not just for butter lovers, but anyone who loves delicious pairings of flavor and decadence!

What is a Butter Board?

A Butter Board is what many would describe as the next charcuterie board trend, a new charcuterie board, or just the perfect appetizer. Most people see it simply as an easy appetizer, but it is so much more than that. I have fallen in love with this trend because it is the perfect way for us bakers to show off our skills! Most of my favorite things to bake are best served with a little butter on top:  crusty bread, brioche bread, cream scones, Buttermilk Biscuits, cheddar garlic scones, etc. I think of Butter Boards as the ideal way to share and display some of your favorite baked goods, whether you are baking them yourself, buying them from your favorite baker, or picking them up from your local grocery. 

The few simple steps to make your own butter board include picking out a serving board (this can be a wooden cutting board, a classic charcuterie board, or any platter you like to use), picking out the kind of butter you want, and spreading it decoratively on the board. In this article I will give you plenty of examples of butter combinations as well as different ways to spread them. 

How do I choose what kind of butter board to make?

When choosing what kind of butter board to make I consider a few things…

• What do I want to serve my butter with?
  • Did you just bake a loaf of sourdough bread, or maybe bought a box of biscuits, or have strawberries in the fridge about to go bad? 
• Do you have a favorite topping in mind?
  • Maybe you have some go-to favorite combinations in mind. Or some ingredients that you can’t wait to try with butter:  hot honey, fresh herbs, homemade jam or jelly, fresh figs, chili flakes, fresh lemon zest. Everyone’s mind works differently so you may have to consider your butter and then decide what you want with it. Usually, I consider the thing I want to slather in butter and go from there. 
• How complex do I want it to be?
  • Do you want an easy butter board or something more gourmet? Below I will list various levels of boards and that will help get your creative juices flowing.

Examples of Butter Boards

Fruit Filled Butter Board

This is my top board because it is so simple and uses such yummy ingredients. It will be the star of the show at your next gathering. You simply mix your favorite fruit jams with butter! For this board I used a Strawberry Freezer jam mixed with butter, Blackberry Compote mixed with butter as well as a Lemon Curd mixed with cream cheese. Yes I know I said cream cheese, but anything goes when it comes to your creativity and your butter board. 

I personally like to just toss soft butter in my stand mixer and whip it first to get it to an easy-to-work-with consistency. Then I separate out my whipped butter into bowls and mix in my jams. I do the same process with my cream cheese. I could just toss in the jam while it’s mixing, but if you are doing more than one flavor you will have to wash your mixer bowl before whipping the next one. Stirring in the jams just seems to simplify things. 

Pairs well with: fresh sourdough bread, baguettes, cream scones, buttermilk biscuits and fruit.

Cinnamon Honey Board

The inspiration for this board came from an appetizer I had recently at a delicious restaurant in our area, Kitchen Social. They serve cheddar garlic biscuits in a cast iron and top them with honey cinnamon butter. So, I thought why not turn this deliciousness into a butter board? I was excited because my mom has an amazing Cheddar Garlic Biscuit Recipe as well as a Cheddar Garlic Scone Recipe. 

For this recipe I simply mixed cinnamon with room temperature butter and topped it with honey once spread on the wooden board. The reason I only added cinnamon to this butter is because I was pairing it with a savory biscuit and I didn’t want it to be too dessert-like. If I wanted a more dessert-like cinnamon butter I would’ve added a little sugar to the butter as well. It is not super sweet with just the honey. 

Pairs well with: Cheddar Garlic Biscuits, Cheddar Garlic Scones

Whipped Feta and Roasted Strawberries

This was the most requested recipe from the class, so here it is! 

Pairs well with: Garlic Naan, Naan, Sourdough Bread, Bagel Chips

Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese

This was such a simple, yet elegant board. I simply spread plain cream cheese on the board. Then I topped it with slices of smoked salmon, green onion and everything bagel seasoning. So easy, but a great option for a savory board. You can also add red onions and some black pepper. I think this would be such a fun option for dinner parties, a way to show off how up-to-date you are with food trends… It also would be a wonderful brunch offering with some bagels to pair with it. 

Pairs well with: Naan, Sourdough Bread, Bagel Chips, everything Bagel Chips, Bagels

Peanut Butter Board

We’ve done a sweet butter board, a savory butter board, a cream cheese board, so of coarse we have to do a Peanut Butter Board. This was the easiest board by far. Peanut butter is already such an easy consistency to work with so making a board with it was a breeze. It also pairs well with so many different things. I simply used a creamy peanut butter and a crunchy peanut butter and mixed them on the board and topped it with a little honey. You could add chocolate chips, bananas, jam or whatever you want! 

Pairs well with: Banana Chips, Apple Slices, Berries, Chocolate

Buttercream butter Board

I felt like I had to include this one for all my sweet lovers. For me this was very simple because at the bakery I always have a huge amount of buttercream at my disposal. Here is the vanilla buttercream recipe I use. I topped it with some sprinkles and then paired it with some of my favorite sweets.

Pairs well with: Vanilla Wafers, Graham Crackers, Biscoff Cookies, Chocolate

How to decorate your butter board

The most basic way to make a butter board is with the back of a spoon and softened butter.  Its a great way and takes no time at all.

Another simple way to design a butter board is to take clumps of butter and use a butter knife to ice it on. I just simply smooth it over the board. 

The most intricate way to decorate a board of butter is really not that hard. 

I start by taking a cookie scoop and scooping a few balls of butter in row. I did four, but the number of scoops depends on the size of your board. 

Then you can use butter knives or an angled spatula. Push down in the middle of the scoop and pull down.

Then add another row of scoops midway through the swish of the last butter.

Butter Board Care

Most people use a wood board, which works great. Just make sure your board isn’t housing any unwanted smells, as they can transfer to your butter. To clean the board simply scrape the butter off and run under hot water to make sure it all melts out of your board. Then wash as normal, with soap and water. 

Butter Get Started!

I hope you enjoy making and sharing these boards as much as I did. Whether it is to show off your baking skills, or just a simple and creative way to impress your guests, butter boards are great for everyone. What are some other combos you think would be delicious? Have you tried your hand at a butter board? Let me know in the comments below!