This cranberry orange compound butter is filled with cognac soaked cranberries and fresh rosemary. Slather it on your holiday bird, breads and rolls!
I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited about a condiment as I am about this cranberry orange compound butter (ok, this blueberry lavender honey butter is a close second).
It’s kind of crazy that 4 ingredients can transform a simple thing like butter as much as they do in this recipe but, take my word, you need this on your holiday table whether it’s next to the bread/rolls or what you used to grease up that bird with before it gets put in the oven.
True story, there’s been a bottle of cognac on the sideboard in my dining room for approximately 7 years.
The only action it’s seen has been when I lift it up to dust around it (not nearly as often as I should).
Watering the plant next to it the other week, I got irrationally irritated by the fact that it’s been sitting there this long and decided I needed to find a way to use some up.
Enter cranberries, butter and all things deliciously Thanksgiving.
If you’re going to make compound butter (which is basically just adding a bunch of stuff to butter, mashing it up and then reshaping it), you need to start with a quality butter base.
I grabbed Finlandia imported butter for this recipe. Made from pure milk with no added hormones and nothing artificial, the taste of this butter on it’s own is what sets it apart from others.
The first step is giving some dried cranberries a nice long bath in that cognac.
As they sit and absorb that boozy goodness, you bring the butter to room temperature and prep the orange zest and rosemary.
After that, it’s just mashing everything together, reshaping into a log using some wax paper and throwing it back in the fridge to re-solidify.
After about an hour, you have a deliciously festive butter that will just be begging you to smear it on a piece of toasted bread or muffin.
If you leave out the rosemary, it’d be great on sweet baked goods too like cranberry orange bread.
If you can resist, you’re a better person than I.
Need a savory compound butter instead? Try this rosemary garlic compound butter. It’s great on a good steak!
Love this cognac cranberry orange compound butter recipe?
Check out: Cranberry Banana Tea Bread with Orange Glaze, Paleo Maple Peach Bread and Savory Thyme Pear Apple Butter.
Cognac Cranberry Orange Compound Butter
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
- 2 tablespoons cognac
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon minced rosemary
- 8 tablespoons softened unsalted Finlandia premium imported butter
- pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine cranberries and cognac in a small bowl, set aside and let soak for 30 minutes.
- Leave butter out at room temperature while cranberries soak.
- Combine soaked cranberries (they should have absorbed all the liquid), orange zest and rosemary in a bowl.
- Add the softened butter to the bowl and mash together using the tines of a fork until the ingredients are well incorporated into the butter.
- Add the salt to taste, mix again then turn the butter out onto a large piece of wax paper.
- Form the butter into a log shape, roll the wax paper around the butter, smoothing the butter with your hands as you do this and twist the ends to close. Place butter in the refrigerator for about 1 hour to harden.
- Spread on bread, rolls or even use to cook your holiday turkey.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Finlandia™ . The opinions and text are all mine.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
This was a brilliant use for that bottle! This looks amazing!
That pretty much looks like the best butter ever. Cognac and cranberries – seriously salivating.