Best Salted Butter for Baking

In this guide to the best salted butter for baking, I compare four different salted butters with varying fat percentages and test how each one performs across classic bakes like cookies, shortbread, cakes, frosting, and pie crust, plus the ultimate everyday test: buttered toast. If you’ve ever wondered why one cookie spreads more, a shortbread crumbles differently, or a frosting tastes richer, this side-by-side breakdown shows exactly how butter fat content and butter type impact real-world results — so you can choose the right butter for every bake.

If you want more baking tips, be sure to check out some of my other posts like How to Make Vanilla Sea Salt, How to Make the Best Streusel Topping, How to Make Brown Butter, or The Best Homemade Graham Cracker Crust.

In This Baking Guide

• Best Salted Butter for Baking
• Testing 4 different organic butters against 6 different bakes
• Sweet cream butter versus European style butter
• Comparison photos and video
• Recipes to use each kinds of butter so they perform beset

Why You'll Love This Salted Butter Baking Guide

• I tried out over a dozen different types of butters. They are all a bit different in butterfat (80% 82% and 84%), type (cultured, European, sweet cream), and of course taste.
• While most guides compare just one thing, I'm comparing 6 different ways to use butter!
• So, if you’ve ever wondered what the best salted butter for baking is — or which salted butter is best to bake with for cookies, cakes, and pie — this guide breaks it all down.
• This guide will help you choose the best butter for all your baked goods next time you're staring at a fridge of butter in the grocery store.
• You can use different butters for different bakes to get the best results, you'll see that here!

Why use salted butter for baking?

The way I like to look at it is there are two kinds of bakers, those who bake with salted butter (me) and those who bake with unsalted butter. So, I’m going to tell you why I think salted butter is best for baking.

All baked goods have salt added to them (for flavor). So, why would I buy two kinds of butter (unsalted for baking and salted for eating) just to add salt to the baked goods with the unsalted butter? That makes absolutely no sense to me! I want to make my life easier, not harder, especially in the kitchen!

I also grew up in a house where my mom wasn’t a baker. So, all we had was salted butter. So, that was what I started baking with and continued baking with my entire life. Plus, it’s so much easier to just buy one kind of butter at the grocery store.

Salted butter can vary by brand. But the only difference between unsalted butter and salted butter is just salt. A general rule of thumb is there is about ¼ teaspoon of salt per 113 grams (or ½ cup) of butter. So as long as you slightly reduce added salt in a recipe calling for unsalted butter, then salted butter works beautifully for baked goods.

Butter Comparison Elements

Before comparing, here’s what matters most when choosing a butter (besides salt)!

1. Butterfat Percentage

• U.S. butters start at 80% butterfat.
• European-style typically ranges from 82–87% butterfat, which means:
  • Richer flavor
  • Slightly less water
  • Extra tender baked goods

2. Sweet Cream Vs. Cultured

• Sweet cream butter = clean, mild flavor
• Cultured butter = tangy, complex, “artisan bakery” flavor

Brands Compared in This Guide

1. Organic Valley Salted Butter
2. Nancy's Organic Sea Salt Butter
3. Sierra Nevada Cheese Company Organic Vat-Cultured Salted Butter
4. Rumiano Organic Sea Salted Butter

Here’s how I chose which butters for this guide. Organic Valley was the butter I used at my bake shop for over a decade. I always thought it was the GOAT of butter. But, since I transitioned to home baking more than commercial baking, I have been testing out so many other butter brands.

I also wanted to test a European butter versus a sweet cream butter (like Organic Valley). So, I chose Seirra Nevada Cheese Company Organic Vat-Cultured Salted Butter, which has 82% butterfat. And, I also wanted to test an even higher butterfat, so that’s why I chose Rumiano Organic Sea Salted Butter as it has an even higher butterfat and this is more widely available across the country compared to a similar butter like Straus.

Last, I chose Nancy’s as I have been buying this butter more recently and I knew I liked it, but I couldn’t really put my finger on why. So this test really confirmed why this butter is truly special.

1. Organic Valley Salted Butter

• Style: Sweet cream, ~80% butterfat
• Flavor: Mild, clean, classic
• Best for: Cakes, and everyday, reliable baking

Organic Valley is the most neutral of the four. It’s mild, creamy, and dependable — the butter most recipes are written for. This is the butter I used at my bake shop for over a decade. I always thought of it as the GOAT of butters. And, in many ways it is because it’s great and dependable. But it is the most mild and neutral flavored. And I actually favored other butters for certain things because of this (more below)!

Its lower butterfat makes cake texture tender and absolutely perfect. And it makes frosting nostalgic and simple. I have used this butter in everything from Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies, Caramel Buttercream Frosting, Pie Crust with Sourdough Discard, and Cookie Dough Layer Cake and it works well and is delicious every time.

Why Bakers Love It

• Stable performance
• Easy to find almost everywhere
• Doesn’t overpower delicate flavors (vanilla, spices, berries)

Similar Butters: If you can’t find Organic Valley, Horizon, O Organics or Kirkland (from Costco) are all sweet cream butters with the same butterfat so will act similarly. I thought Organic Valley tasted the best of all these, which is why I chose it for testing.

2. Nancy’s Organic Sea Salt Butter

• Style: Cultured, European-style, ~82% butterfat
• Flavor: Deeply tangy, rich, creamy
• Best for: Butter-forward cookies & frostings

Nancy’s has that gentle cultured tang that makes shortbread and soft and chewy cookies taste more “bakery”. It melts cleanly and creams beautifully because of its slightly higher fat content.

I started buying Nancy’s Organic Plain Greek Yogurt for John John and it became our favorite yogurt. So, when they recently came out with a butter, I knew we had to try it. And it’s really become one of my favorites! This was the butter that surprised me the most as far as flavor goes. If you haven’t tried this butter, add it to your grocery cart on your next trip as you will not be disappointed!

I really preferred this butter in classic shortbread cookies like Kamut Flour Shortbread Cookies, Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies, and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies With Sourdough Discard above all others.

Why Bakers Love It

• Adds depth & complexity with noticeable tang
• Smooth, silky creaming behavior
• Balanced salt + cultured flavor enhances simple recipes

Similar Butters: If you can’t find Nancy's, the Clover Organic Salted Butter has a similar butterfat percentage so it will act similarly. I haven’t had this butter in a while as I haven’t been able to get it near me lately, so I can’t speak to its flavor here as I wasn’t able to test it in these ways.

3. Sierra Nevada Cheese Co. Organic Vat-Cultured Salted Butter

• Style: European-style, cultured, 82% butterfat
• Flavor: Smooth, creamy, rich, intensely buttery
• Best for: Pastry, laminated dough, pies, gourmet cookies, buttercream frostings, shortbreads

Sierra Nevada’s long vat-culturing creates a complex, creamy, delicate, chef-level flavor. It’s incredible in pastries such as pie and perfect in classic cookies where you want a buttery flavor but don’t want it to be the only flavor you taste. It’s subtle, but it also lets you know that it’s there in the most delicious way.

I recommend this for more extravagant baking where there’s multiple flavors going on and you want gourmet bakery flavor that compliments other things like fruit fillings, chocolate, nuts, or caramel. Try it in Eggless Strawberry Honey Galette, Bakery Style Chocolate S’mores Cookies With Fluff, Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies with Homemade Caramel, or Honey Buttercream Frosting.

Why Bakers Love It

• Ultra smooth and creamy = bakery-style results at home
• Exceptional in pie crusts, brioche, and high-fat doughs
• Makes cookies taste just more “gourmet”

Similar Butters: If you can’t find Sierra Nevada, the Clover Organic Salted Butter has a similar butterfat percentage so it will act similarly. I haven’t had this butter in a while as I haven’t been able to get it near me lately, so I can’t speak to its flavor here as I wasn’t able to test it in these ways.

4. Rumiano Organic Sea Salted Butter

• Style: European-style, very high fat (84–87%)
• Flavor: Rich, decadent, grass-fed sweetness
• Best for: Ultra-buttery desserts like shortbreads (so long as they are chilled), pie crusts, gourmet cookies

Rumiano is the richest of all four butters — high fat, golden color, and lush mouthfeel. While I really thought this was going to outshine all other butters for something like How to Make Pie Crust in a Mixer it wasn’t my top pick. But it was #2 (spoiler alert).

This was our favorite in gourmet cookies like Espresso Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies or Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies which are classic soft and chewy cookies. It created the most gourmet cookie flavor of all four butters. I also really loved this for brownies as it adds a richer flavor that pairs really well with chocolate, try it in Organic Brownies with Bone Broth.

Why Bakers Love It

• Gives cookies a crispy on the outer edge, chewy in the middle texture
• Flakier pie crusts
• The most rich butter flavor of all four

Similar Butters: If you can’t find Rumiano, the Straus butter will be a very similar option as it has the same butterfat percentage. I chose Rumiano for testing as I think it’s more widely available across the country and Straus is more of a west coast dairy brand.

The Testing

Now that you know a bit about the butters tested, let’s dive right into the testing and results. We tested no chill shortbread cookies, no chill chocolate chip cookies, vanilla cake, vanilla buttercream frosting, pie crust (with classic apple filling), and of course plain butter on toast. Because, if you’re going to buy a butter to bake with, you should be able to enjoy it on toast too!

This testing took about 2 months and we made multiple batches of all baked goods. We weighed ingredients for precise measurements, had multiple people test, and you can assure we were not swayed by any butter companies in the testing of this butter!

Watch the Video

Best Butter for Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies are almost entirely butter, so flavor matters more than anything. I tested my tried and true vanilla shortbread cookie (you can find that recipe as the cookie recipe in Homemade Vanilla Oreo Cookies).

This is a no chill shortbread cookie, which is quick and easy to make. I wanted to test no chill shortbread cookie recipe because this can make a difference more so than if the cookie dough is chilled. So, here’s my top butter picks for shortbread.

#1 Nancy’s Organic Sea Salt Butter — Best Flavor

• Cultured notes add complexity
• Creates beautifully sandy, tender shortbread—absolute best texture!
• Had the best “butter flavor” that I couldn’t stop eating!
• If you are making a classic vanilla shortbread, where you want butter to shine, this is the butter to choose.

#2 Sierra Nevada Organic Vat-Cultured Salted Butter — Best Overall

• High butterfat = ultra-tender crumb.
• Delivers a luxurious, melt-in-your-mouth texture—best texture, this was a tie between the Nancy’s for texture.
• The flavor was a bit more mild than Nancy’s so if you’re pairing your shortbread with other flavors this is a great choice as it won’t overpower and it will complement icing, frosting, nuts, or chocolate.

#3 Rumiano Organic Sea Salted — Flavor Winner

• This butter didn’t hold up well (too much spread) because of higher butterfat
• But the flavor was there! This was my husband’s favorite flavor, even though the texture was off.
• If you are making a chilled shortbread cookie, this is a great choice.

#4 Organic Valley Salted Butter — Average

• The flavor was mild, nothing too fancy.
• The texture was okay, not mind blowing like the Nancy’s or Sierra Nevada, but also not bad either.
• Overall, it was good, but that was kind of just it.
• I’d recommend using if this is in a shortbread with other things such as chocolate, fruit filling, or nuts.

Best Butter for Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

To achieve chewy centers and defined edges, you want predictable spread and balanced flavor. All butters worked well for my Vanilla Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies, which is a no chill chocolate chip cookie recipe that I used for testing.

The Organic Valley Butter resulted in the least amount of cookie spread. The other three butters, Nancy’s, Sierra Nevada, and Rumino were all about the same—spreading a little bit more than the Organic Valley. I was honestly surprised by these results; I thought we’d have a bit more difference as far as cookie spread goes!

Nancy’s, Sierra Nevada, and Rumiano butters all resulted in a richer flavor and a little crispier edge because they spread out a bit more. The Organic Valley butter cookie was a bit more dense and cakey.

Depending on the cookie recipe though, the butters with higher butterfat may spread too much. Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie recipes can vary drastically. So, always do a test cookie whenever using a European or cultured butter with higher butterfat. If your cookie spreads too much, you can chill dough for 1 hour if you need to control spread.

In order of preference based on flavor and texture were:

#1 Rumiano Organic Sea Salted Butter

• Higher butter fat resulted in a richer flavor
• Tasted more “bakery-style” or gourmet
• Had perfectly crispy edges and a soft and chewy center
• This was the favorite among all of us, hands down

#2 Sierra Nevada Organic Vat-Cultured Salted Butter

• Soft, delicate, melts in your mouth
• Slightly increased spread
• Still had a crispy edge that was perfect
• Would be very happy with this cookie

#3 Nancy’s Organic Sea Salt Butter

• Slight tang deepens flavor, so if you want a bit more tang, choose this
• Slightly increased spread = soft, chewy centers
• Still had a crispy edge that was perfect
• Would be very happy with this cookie

#4 Organic Valley Salted Butter

• Standard 80% butterfat keeps cookies from overspreading
• Clean and mild flavor pairs well with chocolate
• Perfect for consistent thick cookies with the least amount of spread
• Baked up a thick cookie that was soft, was missing the texture of a crispy edge and softer middle
• If you are baking cookies in a gas oven and have issues with cookies spreading and becoming flat, then this would be the best butter to choose as it will help your cookies significantly  

Best Butter for Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

In buttercream frosting, the butter is the flavor. You want richness without overpowering the sweetness. I made my Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting to test, as I wanted a true vanilla buttercream versus a chocolate or caramel where the flavor would overpower the butter.

All butters work for this, resulting in basically the same texture. The flavor was the differentiator here. Depending on how much butter flavor or tang you want, that will determine which butter you’ll like best for buttercream frosting! Here’s my favorites starting with my top pick.

#1 Sierra Nevada Organic Vat-Cultured Salted Butter — Best Flavor Balance

• Incredibly rich + excellent structure
• Produces a luxurious, velvety frosting
• Best if you want a premium buttercream that just tastes like pure vanilla
• This just made a perfect frosting that tasted like it was from a gourmet bakery

#2 Nancy’s Organic Sea Salt Butter — Best Tangy Depth

• Silky texture from cultured cream
• Not too salty
• Whips up beautifully light
• This has a little more tang, thanks to this being cultured butter, which we absolutely loved. But it’s not a true vanilla flavor here. So, depending on what you are going for, you may or may not want this. But we really loved it, almost couldn’t stop eating it as it just had a little something extra with that tang.

#3 Organic Valley Salted Butter

• Smooth, creamy, reliable
• This butter was good, it worked fine, but the flavor was just okay compared to the two above.
• Use if you want less flavor in a buttercream, where maybe you’re pairing with strawberry and you don’t want anything to overpower it.

#4 Rumiano Organic Sea Salted Butter

• This was just not my favorite
• It felt heavier, without having more flavor, so I felt like it was just a miss
• I wouldn’t choose this buttercream if I had another choice

Best Butter for Vanilla Cakes

Vanilla cake needs moisture, tenderness, and a clean, buttery flavor that doesn’t weigh the crumb down. I tested my Simple Vanilla Cupcakes as these are a tried and true recipe from my bakery. I’ve probably made millions of these cupcakes!

What was most interesting to me during the testing (you can see it in the video) was that the batter looked different for the butters. With the OV butter and Rumiano butter batter looking most similar to each other and the Sierra Nevada and Nancy's butter looking the most similar. This is directly related to how the cupcakes baked!

Here’s how the butter did for these classic cupcakes.

#1 Organic Valley Salted Butter

• Best texture and crumb, hands down OV was the winner here
• Predictable rise, which is so important when baking cakes or cupcakes
• Clean flavor, perfect for adding in fillings or frostings on top
• Comforting, classic taste, nothing too fancy, tastes homemade

#2 Rumiano Organic Sea Salted Butter  

• Second best rise and texture here, which was a surprise!
• Flavor was richer than OV, my husband liked it more
• Perfect for cakes when the cake itself is the star such as Traditional Butter Pound Cake Loaf where there’s just a dusting of powdered sugar on top, therefore you want more butter flavor

#3 Sierra Nevada Organic Vat-Cultured Salted Butter

• Sunk slightly
• Crumb not as tender or delicate
• Really good flavor though
• If you’re making something like cake pops or Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Balls where you’re crumbling up the cake, this is a great choice as it doesn’t matter how it rises

#4 Nancy’s Organic Sea Salt Butter

• Crumb was not ideal
• Sunk slightly
• Didn’t prefer the tang here in a vanilla cake

Baker's Tip: If you want to buy just one kind of butter for both cake and frosting, I recommend Organic Valley as it will work great for both with cake being more important as far as crumb goes than the small difference in frosting flavor.

Best Butter for the Flakiest, Most Buttery Pie Crust

When it comes to pie crust, you want two things working together:

1. High butterfat → gives flakiness, tenderness, and less water (which means less gluten development).
2. Strong butter flavor → so the crust tastes rich, golden, and crave-worthy and compliments your filling.

I made mini versions of my Eggless Honey Apple Galette. Here’s how each butter performs specifically for pie crust, ranked from best to good.

#1 Sierra Nevada Organic Vat-Cultured Salted Butter — Best Tender Flakiness + Overall Flavor 

Sierra Nevada is the clear winner for pie crust. With a higher butterfat percentage, it contains less water, which means:

• Delicate and flaky AF
• Melt in your mouth tender crust
• Beautiful golden color
• The best butter flavor hands down, being rich, light, and creamy all at the same time

If you want a pie crust that tastes like it came from a small-batch bakery, Sierra Neva is your butter. I will only be using this for pie going forward, it is that good! This butter was so flavorful, perfectly buttery, it would go well with any kind of filling from chocolate, caramel, nuts and fruits.

#2 Rumiano Organic Sea Salted Butter — Strongest Butter Flavor + Very Flaky

I really thought this was going to be the best because it has the highest butterfat percentage. But Rumiano was the runner up, baking up a very flaky crust. But, because of the higher butterfat percentage, it was not as tender as the Sierra Nevada butter. So, this shows that a middle ground may be best for pie crust, which isn’t what you would think. This was still a delicious pie though!

• Highest butterfat percentage
• Strongest butter flavor
• Flaky pie crust

Because of its grass-fed cream and ultra-high fat, Rumiano produces a crust that tastes like a high-end French pâtisserie — intensely buttery, richer, flaky, and very gourmet. This would pair well with all kinds of fillings.

Baker's Tip: Chill your dough thoroughly — high-fat butters soften quickly. If your pie crust begins to warm while rolling out, place it back in the fridge for 15 minutes, then remove and continue working. You can also chill the rolled out pie for 15 minutes before baking to ensure the crust is cold before going into the oven.  

#3 Organic Valley Salted Butter — Most Reliable, Mild Flavor

Organic Valley is, again, reliable with a mild flavor. This is the lowest butterfat percentage of the four butters. So, something like pie crust, it really didn’t shine above the others. But it still baked up a tasty pie crust. Organic Valley has:

• ~80% butterfat
• A mild, classic American butter flavor
• A good pie crust, but not wow

Baker's Tip: Excellent for custard pies like Eggless Sourdough Pumpkin Pie or Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Without Eggs where you want the crust to support—not dominate—the filling.

#4 Nancy’s Organic Sea Salt Butter — Tangy Flavor

This butter still makes a good pie crust — but it was our least favorite here.

• Slight tang as far as flavor goes, which I love
• Texture was not the best, I want a more flaky crust than this made
• It was the least flaky, it tasted more one note

Best Butter for Caramel Making

While caramel isn't a ‘baked good' it does fall into the realm of baking. When it comes to making caramel sauce, higher butterfat doesn’t always mean better. Butter with a very high butterfat percentage contains less water and more milk solids, which causes it to heat up faster and reach higher temperatures more quickly.

In caramel, where sugar is already being cooked to a precise stage, this reduced water content can make the sauce far more prone to scorching and burning, especially during the initial melt and when the butter is added, when making true caramel. Instead of helping the caramel stay smooth, ultra-rich butter can push the mixture past the sweet spot before you have time to adjust the heat.

I hadn't planned on including caramel in my tests, originally. But, with all kinds of butter in my fridge lately, I simply went to make my tried and true Homemade True Caramel last week. I grabbed Sierra Nevada butter, used it, and as I was transferring it to a glass jar, I noticed it was burned.

I was in shock because I knew I didn't burn the sugar and I've made caramel hundreds of thousands of times and cannot remember the last time I burned a batch. So, of course, I grabbed another pot and made it again, with the same butter (like a dummy, not even thinking).

I knew this sugar was also not burned the second time when I added in the butter as I was watching it like a hawk, thinking I had just made a mistake earlier. When I added the butter, I watched it transform before my eyes to burnt again! I knew this wasn't normal.

When I realized I had used the same butter both times, a light bulb went off. So, what did I do? Yep, I grabbed yet another pot (good thing I have a lot of pots) and made caramel again for the third time in a row, intentionally grabbing Organic Valley butter from my fridge! And, it came out perfectly, just like normal.

Bottom line is, traditional sweet cream butter with a moderate butterfat level actually performs better in caramel sauce because the extra moisture slows the cooking process, giving you more control and a wider margin for error. (And let's be real, everyone needs a wider margin of error when making homemade caramels, even a professional like me!). The water helps regulate temperature as the sugar dissolves and cooks, reducing the risk of burnt flavors and separating fats.

For caramel, the goal isn’t richness alone — it’s balance, controlled heat, and a smooth emulsion — which is why standard butter with ~80% butterfat produces a more reliable, evenly cooked caramel than high-butterfat varieties. So, choose Organic Valley when making caramel (or another sweet cream butter). Don't use European butter or butters with higher butterfat when making caramel.

Bonus: Best Butter for Eating on Bread or Toast (Flavor Comparison)

Because so many bakers also want a butter that tastes incredible on warm toast, sourdough, muffins, or dinner rolls, here’s how each option stacks up when eaten straight, where flavor nuances are most noticeable! This way, if you want to buy just one butter for baked goods and for eating, you can choose wisely.

My top two picks are Sierra Nevada and Nancy’s, but for different reasons. Sierra Nevada was the best overall rich, buttery flavor. It’s delicious both with savory toast and sweet toast. But I really prefer Nancy’s for flavor when I want a tang and rich butter flavor on my toast.

#1 Sierra Nevada Organic Vat-Cultured Salted Butter — Best Balanced Flavor

Sierra Nevada is a cultured with a gourmet butter taste, nutty complexity, and a restaurant-level “chef’s butter” vibe. On toast, it’s smooth, incredibly creamy, and just tastes like perfect creamy butter. It compliments both sweet and savory toast, so no matter what you’re eating you can enjoy it fully with this butter!

Choose If: You want a butter that tastes special on toast—rich, creamy, and perfectly buttery. Goes well with both sweet and savory toast or breads.

#2 Nancy’s Organic Sea Salt Butter — Best for Tangy, Artisan Flavor

This butter had the absolute most flavor of all! Nancy’s is cultured so the flavor is tangy, rich, and creamy. It’s the perfect middle ground between classic smooth American butter and full European tang. This was my absolute favorite on toast if I was eating it alone.

But, eating this butter with a drizzle of honey and cinnamon (which is my go-to for morning toast) was not my favorite at all. I found this butter when combined with a sweet toast such as this, kind of just had a sour taste. So, I am not a fan for this application.

Choose If: You like European-style butters with a noticeable tang—amazing on sourdough, rustic breads, and warm baguette. Choose when butter is the star and you’re not adding sweeter elements onto your toast.

#3 Organic Valley Salted Butter — Best Mild, Classic Flavor

Organic Valley tastes like nostalgic, clean, classic butter. Not overly salty, not tangy, just smooth and comforting. On toast, it gives a warm, creamy flavor without stealing the spotlight. This is delicious alone, with nutritional yeast, or even with my honey drizzle and cinnamon.

Choose If: You prefer a traditional butter flavor that’s mild, familiar, and perfect for both breakfast toast and homemade breads (sweet or savory).

#4 Rumiano Organic Sea Salted Butter — Best for Bold Flavor

This one wasn’t my favorite on toast. It was rich and buttery but I thought it didn’t have as nice of a tang as the Nancy’s, wasn’t as creamy or buttery as Sierra Nevada, but tasted heavier than OV. So, it just wasn’t my favorite on toast compared to the others. I would save this for soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies!

Choose If: You want the richest, highest butterfat that just melts into toast with a very rich flavor.

The Takeaway

Wow, so that was a lot of baking and a lot of butter eating. So, the bottom line is, all butters are a bit different and bake up differently depending on what you’re making. Butterfat percentage does matter, more for certain things than others.

While Rumiano stole the show for soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies, Sierra Nevada gave me the most “wow” pie crust I’d ever had (and that’s saying something). Nancy’s slayed the shortbread section, making me want to solely use this butter for plain vanilla shortbreads for the rest of my life. And Organic Valley is a tried and true butter that is great for baking classic, comforting vanilla cake and a must for making successful caramel.

So remember—you can buy different butters for different baked goods. But, if you mostly bake cookies and eat butter on toast, then look for the butters that shined in these two categories. Or, if you bake everything often, you now that you know which butter perform best for different bakes, so you can pick up different ones depending on what you're making. I hope this shows you that something as simple as butter can really change a recipe. So, next time you’re in the butter aisle, choose wisely!

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