Martha Stewart's Favorite Fancy Butter Is Just $3.48 at Walmart

It has the best flavor and texture.

When I was in my 20s, I worked as a line cook in fine dining restaurants, under chefs like Top Chef contestant Bryan Voltaggio at VOLT. There, I was responsible for plating little mounds of butter for bread service every night, and it’s where I fell in love with the butter that also happens to be one of Martha Stewart’s favorites: Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter.

While this Martha-approved butter is more expensive per pound than less delicious butter, you can buy eight ounces of it for $3.48 at Walmart.

Why Vermont Creamery's Cultured Butter Is My Favorite

Not all butter is created equal, and European-style butter like Vermont Creamery's cultured butter has a few things going for it that dramatically improve its texture and flavor.

First and foremost is its fat content. Most American butter contains 80 percent fat, while European butter has a fat content that’s 82 percent or higher. The higher the fat, the smoother and creamier the butter. Vermont Creamery’s cultured butter clocks in between 82 and 86 percent fat. This creates flakier pastries and gives the butter a higher smoke point for cooking.

Second, this butter is cultured, which means a bacterial culture was introduced to naturally ferment it. The Vermont Creamery website states that the culturing process adds tangy notes of buttermilk and toasted hazelnuts.

Beyond the superior texture and flavor of this butter, I appreciate that Vermont Creamery is a certified B Corp, which means that it meets high standards of social and environmental responsibility.

Good butter starts with good milk, and that means excellent cow care, something Vermont Creamery takes seriously. They are dedicated to being good stewards of the land and producing their products sustainably, which is something I really care about.

How I Use Vermont Creamery's Cultured Butter

You might think that I would reserve Vermont Creamery's cultured butter for special occasions, spreading it on warm, freshly baked bread or serving it with a plate of crisp, peppery radishes. While I do love to use it in those ways, I’m an advocate for using the good stuff for anything and everything.

The cultured butter adds such a lovely tanginess and improved texture to baked goods that I always grab it whenever I’m making pie crust or biscuits, where butter plays a particularly pivotal role.

Read the original article on Simply Recipes.