Is any baking snafu as frustrating as when you're about to whip up some delicious treats and realize belatedly that a recipe calls for softened butter? While some folks challenge food science ...

Softening butter is an important step for many baked goods. Using butter while it's cold, softened, and melted all achieve drastically different results when baking. Softened, or room temperature, ...

If you've ever decided to bake a batch of cookies at the last minute, you know that bringing a stick or two of butter to room temperature safely and quickly is important—but it's also tricky business.

Use a warm glass or glass bowl to gently soften butter without melting it. Cut cold butter into cubes to speed up softening at room temperature. Avoid direct heat or high microwave power to prevent ...