Homemade Olive Oil Butter Spread

Ever get that craving for just bread and butter?  I don't eat much bread now, but every so often, I really just want bakery-fresh bread with a layer of butter.  Today was one of those days.  Sadly, I didn't have the foresight to take the butter out of the fridge before going to the bakery, and I wasn't willing to  wait… so I developed this recipe that is spreadable right out of the fridge!   The recipe below is a twist on whipped butter.  Only 3 ingredients, but each of them matter.  I start with unsalted butter, so I can add salt to taste.  I like the slight mineral taste of pink Himalayan salt, so I used that- but you can use any salt you want and adjust the quantity to suit your taste.  I also added olive oil so that it wouldn't harden completely when I put it back in the fridge (oil doesn't become solid when cold).  I love the taste of olive oil, so I used a good quality cold pressed extra virgin olive oil.  If you're not a fan of the taste, you can always use a milder olive oil.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt (or sea salt)

Directions

1.  If your butter is cold, cut it up into small pieces.  If it's at room temperature, there is no need to do this step.

2.  Beat the butter, olive oil, and salt together.  Start on low until the ingredients start to come together (~2 on my Kitchen Aid).  Then, slowly increase to high (~6 on my Kitchen Aid).  Scrape down often since the butter will climb up the sides fairly quickly.  Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy, without any lumps.