How to Bring Cold Eggs and Butter to Room Temperature Quickly

And why does it matter in baking?

Baking with room temperature eggs and butter

If you’ve been following me on social media or receiving my EMPOWERED Digital Newsletter, you know that I love to bake.

I mean, I LOVE to bake!

Baking is like a meditation for me. It’s medicine. It’s how I let go of stress.

Yes, the act of baking is a powerful form of stress release!

When things feel overwhelming and I find myself caught up in my head about all the things that life is stirring up at any given moment, I know that I can go into my kitchen and make it all go away for a period of time. 

Mindful baking brings me back into the present moment and allows me to let go of things that are weighing me down.

The simple act of pulling different flours and other magical ingredients out of the pantry brings me joy and gets my creativity flowing. 

It pulls me out of stressing about the past or worrying about the future.

I’m passionate about gluten-free living. Figuring out how to make gluten-free breads, cakes, and pastry taste like the real thing really speaks to my inner scientist. Playing with different gluten-free flours, leavening agents and other everyday “common items” to alchemize them into delicious baked goods of gold for my family and friends makes me happy.

And speaking of alchemy, leavening agents, and baking…

What is any good recipe without quality eggs and butter? 

Flours and leavening agents are certainly key elements, but there’s nothing that pulls me back into my head than realizing that the recipe may require “room temperature” eggs or butter.

It’s like one of those …

“Whomp… whomp… whomp” moments when you forgot to plan accordingly.

You may find yourself thinking…

Does it really matter if your eggs and butter are at room temperature?

I hear the voice say: “Eggs are eggs and butter is butter. It can't make that much of a difference.”

I know. I’ve been there, too. Especially when I was eager to get started and I only had a short window of time. Because sometimes you need to make a batch of cookies RIGHT NOW!

I would ignore the temperature specification in a recipe and later wonder why my results weren’t as good as the picture in the recipe … until I took the time to really understand the why and how these magical ingredients work in various recipes.

Let’s start with butter…

Butter adds richness, tenderness, and flavor (think muffins, cookies, and cakes), as well as acts as a “leavening agent” of sorts (think layers of puff pastry!) in your baking adventures. It also lets your baked goods stay fresh longer. Who knew, right?

And now eggs…

The whole egg is made up of a great deal of water as well as protein and fat. These three components work together to perform quite a few different functions in baking. Like butter, eggs also add flavor, richness, and tenderness and serve as a leavening and binding agent to create rise and structure.

How does the temperature of eggs and butter influence their role in your favorite recipe?

Some recipes call for ice-cold butter and eggs and others call for room temperature ingredients. Why the difference? How do you know which is best for the recipe you are making?

Let’s dig in a little deeper…

Think about cakes, muffins, and cookies… you want lift and airy texture that creates a certain crumble and mouth feel.

To accomplish this you want your butter 🧈 and eggs 🥚 to emulsify together. You want that creamy, buttery goodness that melts together rather than fighting with each other like oil and water. 

The reason the butter and eggs come together, creating a homogenized blend of yumminess, is because they are at room temperature. That’s when the fat molecules are still solid but pliable and can trap air pockets. This creates light and airy cakes.

When your eggs and butter aren’t at room temperature they don’t mix well. They remain separate… The butter forms clumps and even the egg (made of water, protein, and fat) can’t blend together as easily. 

When eggs are cold they don’t whisk into a cohesive network building lift and texture. This leaves your cakes, muffins, and cookies more flat and dense. They lack lift and crumbly air pockets of goodness.

Try it yourself… Whisk an egg straight out of the fridge and then whisk a room temperature egg. You will see and feel the difference.

There are certain times you don’t want your eggs or butter at room-temperature.

Three words. 

Buttery. Flaky. Crust. 

When making pie crusts, scones, biscuits, and puff-pastry items, you want to keep everything cold and separate. You don’t want the butter and eggs to join forces and incorporate well with flour. 

Butter that doesn’t melt into the flour mixture and instead keeps its integrity creates the dreamiest and flakiest layers for your holiday pies, sweet or savory galettes or delicious (gluten-free) sourdough croissants.

It’s worth it to set your butter and eggs up for success when you put them to work in your favorite family recipes. 

OK… so back to I-don’t-like-to-plan-ahead me in the kitchen pulling ingredients off the shelves and realizing I need room temperature eggs and butter for my gluten-free sourdough cookie recipe… 🍪(coming soon)

Typically it takes up to an hour or two, depending on the season and the temperature in your kitchen, to bring ingredients to room temperature … but have no fear! I’ve got you covered! 

Here are some “I forgot to take out my eggs and butter and now I need cookies” warming hacks. 

How to Soften Butter: 

Microwave Method:

I don’t love the microwave, but if you have one, heat your butter in 5-10 second increments until softened. 

Leave it on the counter Method:

If you have 20 - 30 minutes of time until you need your softened butter, you can slice your butter into thin slices and leave them on the counter in the kitchen. It is faster than leaving the whole stick sitting out but not as quick as my favorite method below.

Hot Glass Method:

Fill a tall glass with boiling water. Let it sit for a minute or two to get the glass really warm, then pour the water out. Stand a stick of butter on its end and place the tall glass down over the top. Allow the butter to soften under its own “heat lamp” for 5-10 minutes. 

Click the image below to watch a fun little video (48seconds) on how simple and effective this method is!

Sometimes I like to use melted or browned butter. Browned butter has more of a nutty flavor, reminding me of almonds. In this case, I melt my butter on medium heat on the stovetop, whisking frequently until the milk solids brown and fall to the bottom. Then I let it cool down to room temperature.

When I feel lazy or I am short on time, I place my butter into an oven-proof pyrex dish and let it melt in the oven while it warms up (see images below). Keep an eye on your butter though to prevent it from overheating!

Butter in a heat proof pyrex dish in the cold oven

Butter melting as the oven warms up

However, in most cases, I find that soft butter works a lot better in cakes and cookies than melted butter. There is just something magical that happens when you cream your cake batter with room temperature butter. 

How to Bring your Eggs to Room-temperature Quickly:

If you’re like one of my dear health coach friends, you might message me and tell me you have eggs in your yoga pants pockets to warm them faster. Yes, this happened! Lol. I do not recommend this!

Instead, I would suggest placing the eggs in warm (90-100 degrees) water for 5-10  minutes. This will bring them to room temperature, but not partially cook them. Because who wants soft-boiled eggs in their cakes and cookies? Not me.

Eggs coming to room temperature quickly in a warm water bath

Your eggs have reached room temperature when they no longer feel cool to the touch when holding them in your hands.

If you have found some great hacks to warm up your butter or eggs in a pinch, please share in the comments below. 

I hope you found this helpful to up-level your baking adventure.

Let’s keep the kitchen warm and our tummies happy!

Just curious… now that you can have room temp ingredients in roughly 10 minutes, what are you going to bake?

Looking for inspiration? Check out my Alchemy of Baking Persian Love Cake Masterclass!

Gluten-free Persian Love Cakes Masterclass

Or… maybe you’re looking for other ways to become mindful? Check out my Sacred Eating Mini-Course.

Self-guided Mini Course to connect with and become more mindful of the food you’re eating

Waltraud has over 10 years of experience in helping others achieve their health and life goals. Her focus is centered around digestive health and living a naturally gluten-free life without sacrificing flavor or fun. She hosts a variety of online workshops and events throughout the year to help you find fun, new ways of living naturally gluten-free without stress and overwhelm. Her greatest joy is in guiding you to bring more magic, fun, and purpose back into your life.

Click here to learn more about her offerings or to schedule a chat with Waltraud.