This is likely the question I’m asked most often about baking, and it is certainly a logical one to ask: since most recipes call for salt, why use unsalted butter in baking?
Here are the three main reasons:
- Brand by brand, the salt content in salted butter can vary, and ultimately you want to be the one in control of the salt in your baking.
- Recipe by recipe, the butter measurements vary from as little as a teaspoon to up to a pound. And recipe by recipe, the salt measurements vary, too. The only way to truly control butter and salt proportions is to keep the salt and butter measurements separate.
- Salt is a natural preservative, and it extends the shelf life of butter both in the grocery refrigerator and in your own. That said, with a longer shelf life comes a greater opportunity for butter to pick up “fridge taste.” While you may not taste the age of your butter when you spread half a teaspoon of it on your toast in the morning, you will taste it when you use a cup in a shortbread cookie recipe. Unsalted butter is fresher and sweeter tasting.