Amp Up The Flavor Of Your Baked Goods With A Simple Butter Infusion

From adding citrus zest or switching up flours to sprinkling in malted milk powder, there's no shortage of ways to give depth to baked goods, elevating them from mundane to mouthwatering. According to Sofia Schlieben, Corporate Pastry Chef at JF Restaurants, one of the easiest ways to add concentrated flavor to your favorite cakes, muffins, or cookies is to use infused butter. 

"When it comes to infusing butter, it's definitely worth exploring, especially when there aren't other opportunities to add extra flavor to your recipe," Schlieben told us. "This technique works particularly well for cookies, shortbread, or pound cakes — recipes where the butter takes center stage."

Schlieben also told Food Republic that she added rich flavor to her Earl Grey almond layer cookies by blooming the tea in warm melted butter. She explained that using this method created a far more flavorful result than she could have achieved with dried tea alone, as the heat of the butter brought out the tea's taste. Plus, by infusing the butter instead of adding brewed tea, she avoided having to adjust the recipe to account for extra liquid. Even if you're not a seasoned baker crafting treats from scratch, you can still use Schlieben's advice to dress up boxed mixes with infused butter.

Infusing butter couldn't be simpler. Melt the butter in a pan on the stove, add water and your chosen infusion ingredients, and cook the mixture down for a couple of hours. Once it reaches the right consistency, strain it through a cheesecloth. Transfer the strained butter to a container, and store it in the fridge or freezer so it's ready whenever you need it.

While Sofia Schlieben mentions using this technique to bring out the delicate flavors of Earl Grey, it can also be applied to a multitude of other ingredients. For example, try using ground coffee to add boldness to a recipe. Or, bloom spices like cinnamon, cardamom, or cumin in the butter. Heat not only enhances the spices' flavor, but also helps distribute them more evenly in a batter or dough. Dried or fresh herbs are another great option as well.

Finally, if you want to bring the flavor of your favorite liquor to your baked treats, try whipping up a booze-infused butter. For this, you can skip standing over the stove and simply combine the butter and liquor, allow them to come together in the fridge, then strain. Bonus? You not only wind up with flavored butter to use in your cakes and cookies — you'll also have a buttery spirit to shake or stir into a cocktail after you're finished baking.