Does Using Stick Butter Differ From Whipped?

Whipped butter is lighter and airier than stick butter.

Butter and margarine have been contending for a place on your table for well over a century. Butter is a clear winner on flavor, while margarine has positioned itself as a healthier and more convenient alternative: healthier because it lacks butter's saturated fats; and more convenient because soft margarine is easy to spread even when cold. Butter manufacturers countered with whipped butter, which spreads easily and has fewer calories because of the whipped-in air. Does this Spark an idea?

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Making Whipped Butter
- Whipped butter's softness and spreadability come from the air that's beaten into it. The relatively stiff butter becomes light and fluffy from the aeration, and increases greatly in volume. This means that a given amount of butter can be spread across a larger surface area of bread, giving equivalent coverage more economically. When making whipped butter at home, you can stretch the butter by incorporating a small amount of water, milk or cream into the butter as you whip it. Commercial manufacturers sell similar products, usually described as "butter spread" or "spreadable butter."
Cooking With Butter
- Butter is a useful fat for cooking, because it imparts a rich and pleasant flavor to foods. Either stick or whipped butter can be used for cooking, though stick butter is more cost-effective. Watch the butter in the pan as it melts and foams. Once the foaming has stopped, the pan is at cooking temperature. The milk solids in butter turn brown as the pan's temperature rises, adding a pleasantly nutty flavor to the food. However, it's not suited to high-temperature frying, because those same milk solids will scorch and burn.
Clarified Butter
- You must clarify butter to cook with it at higher temperatures. This means removing its moisture and impurities, leaving the pure butterfat behind. It's a simple matter of heating the butter, then scooping the solids from the top of the butter and pouring the pure fat from the milky liquid. Clarified butter can be used for frying at temperatures of up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and it can be prepared from either stick or whipped butter. Stick butter is usually more cost-effective.
Baking with Butter
- Stick butter is usually the only practical choice for baking. Bakers must combine their ingredients in precise proportions or the recipes will not work. A cup of whipped butter weights substantially less than a cup of regular butter, and this will affect a cake or cookie recipe. Whipped butter is fine for muffins, brownies and other recipes that call for the butter to be melted, since you can melt more if you need to. Professional recipes specify weight rather than volume, so with a kitchen scale you can substitute whipped butter in some recipes.