Ever reach for the butter dish only to realize that it's empty but you need some spreadable butter right away but all you have is the block that's in the fridge.

Using the microwave to heat the butter can be problematic and warming it with hot water usually ends up melting parts of the butter. Grating the butter is another way to warm butter but it can be messy.

This quick tip will have soften butter on your toast in no time. The basic principle of warming butter with any method is to create more surface area and to work the butter.

Step 1: Materials

You will need:

Butter that is cold that you want to warm
Rolling pin
Plastic bag or cling wrap

Step 2: Pounding and Flattening the Butter

Put the cold butter in a bag or between two pieces of cling wrap. You can use as much or as little butter as you need. I've done this with a pound of butter and works great.

Start tapping the block of butter with a rolling pin until it starts spreading out. As it softens you can start rolling it out.

Make it as flat as possible, the more you work it the faster it will soften. You will want to remove it from the plastic and put it on a plate as once the butter gets warm it will be hard to separate from the plastic.

Enjoy!

Video on how to soften butter quickly: