Compound butters are fun and easy to make. They make terrific homemade holiday gifts too. Today, I have two compound butter recipes I created for the holiday season. The recipes are inspired by a couple old world Christmas characters; The Gingerbread Boy and Krampus.
Most of you are familiar with the character of the Gingerbread Boy. I thought he was cute and tasty inspiration for a compound butter, and was pleased with the results. The butter features Horizon Organic butter, crystallized ginger, vanilla extract and a bit of cinnamon. Gingerbread Boy Compound Butter goes great on warm rolls, pancakes, French toast and even in a saute you want to add a dash of sweet buttery zing to.
Now my other holiday compound butter is crafted to bring to mind the lesser known character of Krampus. Krampus is an Old European companion of St. Nicholas. He resembled the devil, and shared many of the fire and brimstone characteristics of him. When jolly old St. Nick deemed a child too naughty, instead of getting gifts from Santa's bag, the unruly tot was tossed into Krampus's bag instead and taken away. My Krampus Butter is hot and smokey, just like this St. Nick heavy. It features, Horizon Organic butter, smoked paprika, garlic, and lots of heat. This one would make a fantastic quirky gift for friends who love spicy food. It makes hot rolls into instant spicy garlic bread, works well on sandwiches and makes a great topped for grilled meats.
Making Holiday Compound Butters
I thought I would show you how easy compound butters are to make as holiday gifts. Full recipes and Free Printable Labels can be found below.
Simply mix the flavorings into room temperature butter.
Carefully scoop out with silicone spatula, so you don't lose any compound butter.
Wrap in plastic wrap to form a smooth log. You can put it in a mold or container instead if you prefer. Then chill.
Once firm, wrap the log in craft or wrapping paper and glue on a label. Get the kids involved. This is a great edible gift idea that even the younger ones can help with. Older children could even do the project by themselves.
Start Culinary Creations with Great Ingredients
The more time I spend in the kitchen, the more I demand good quality ingredients. The proportion of organic ingredients in my pantry and refrigerator has certainly grown. Horizon Organic makes organic foods easily accessible at my local market, and have a wide array of products to fit my needs.
Follow Horizon Organic on these social media channels to keep up to date on their ever growing offerings, as well as promotions.
Free Printable Compound Butter Labels
Here are the files to print your labels. I used standard printing paper, but cardstock would be better if you are using wrapping paper with strong contrast (so pattern doesn't show through).
Gingerbread Boy Compound Butter Labels
Krampus Butter Labels
Uh Oh! ... Low on Ink! Quick, order some Ink from Amazon and it will be at your doorstep fast.
Holiday Compound Butters Recipes
These are the Gingerbread Boy and Krampus Butter recipes as I made them. Don't be afraid to alter them to suit your own tastes. As long as you keep liquid additions to a minimum, it is pretty hard to mess up compound butters. I do advise starting off with a good butter, such as Horizon Organic and checking your flavor combinations as you make changes.
Gingerbread Boy Compound Butter
Ingredients
- 1 stick Horizon Organic unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 tbs finely minced crystallized ginger tightly packed
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon Sea salt
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients together well.
- Scoop out the butter compound with silicone spatula onto a sheet of plastic wrap.
- Roll into a tight smooth log and refrigerate until firm.
- Roll in craft or wrapping paper. Tape off edge and tie off ends.
- Print and cut out labels. Glue onto the wrapped log.
Ingredients
- 1 stick Horizon Organic unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha
- ½ teaspoon Tabasco
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Sea salt
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients together well.
- Scoop out the butter compound with silicone spatula onto a sheet of plastic wrap.
- Roll into a tight smooth log and refrigerate until firm.
- Roll in craft or wrapping paper. Tape off edge and tie off ends.
- Print and cut out labels. Glue onto the wrapped log.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon Organic. The opinions and text are all mine.
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
I love flavored butter. My mom always made a honey butter that was to DIE for when I was a kid. I never thought of gifting it, but I should try that 🙂
Jenn @ EngineerMommy says
I've never made compound butters, but they look so fun to make and delicious to enjoy! I'd love to try to make some of these this weekend!
Jaime Nicole says
This is a really cool idea for a Holiday gift, I love the flavors and how creative the labels are - so much fun and definitely a touch of fun with each package.
Carmen Perez (listen2mama) says
Not only does the butter look amazingly yummy but I love how you wrapped them too!
lisa says
I have never made compound butter before, but it sounds easy enough! Love these recipes.
Miranda (Myrabev) says
I have never had nor have I ever made flavoured butter before, thanks for sharing the how to and the printables. Now who is Krampus again lol
Lisa says
I have never made my own compound butter but these both look good. I like how you took the characters and created a butter around them.
Franc Ramon says
The labels and packaging looks really cool. This would be a great presentation for the bars.
Stephanie of The TipToe Fairy says
Oh my gosh! I love it!! I have to make this Krampus butter with the printables. We used to attend a free thinker church where we learned all about Black Pete and Krampus. I had never known about the history before that.
Heather lawrence says
Isn't that interesting! I had never heard of Krampus before reading this post.
Learned something new 🙂 Thought I have to admit he does look really creepy!
Robin Gagnon says
He certainly could motivate kids to behave I am sure...lol.
Erica Brooks says
My daughter enjoys cooking and making homemade gifts. She would love to make this for the holidays.
Adrienne says
I have never heard of compound butter before - where have I been?! I'm very curious in trying it though. It looks divine!
Britni says
This does sound like a fun gift at Christmas time. And your wrapping is so cute. I like that it is different than all of the holiday sweets we normally get.
valmg @ Mom Knows It All says
Compound butters are delicious and a great addition to a holiday gift basket! The printables you've created here are super cute too.
Amanda Tempel says
I've never seen anything like this! I've never even heard of compound butter - Definitely sounds interesting! I'd love to try.