With the holidays fast approaching, it’s time to think about celebration menus. Old traditions are great, but have you thought about starting a couple of new ones?
Friendsgiving has gained popularity over the last decade. Groups of friends get together to celebrate the season with a festive meal and good company. Some do it on Thanksgiving Day with a full traditional turkey dinner.
Others like to celebrate Friendsgiving in addition to their usual family gatherings. What a great time to experiment with new culinary trends!
This year, add some extra creaminess to your Friendsgiving with a butter board. It’s time to learn about a new way to eat bread and butter.
Butter Boards
What is a butter board, you ask? It is literally a board covered with butter. Wait, hear us out. Like cheese boards, charcuterie boards, and dessert boards before them, butter boards offer a fun way to present a variety of snacks.
If you spend any time hanging out on social media, you’ve probably seen this TikTok-inspired viral trend. Beautiful wooden boards, covered in butter that’s been jazzed up with all sorts of extras. Add an assortment of delicious breads and your butter board is born.
Inspired by Joshua Mcfadden and spread to the world by Justine Doiron, these boards are a simple way to make a holiday splash.
The devil is in the details, of course. So we’re going to give you some ideas for a delicious butter board for your Friendsgiving this year. As we all know, everything's better with a board full of butter.
Bring Out the Best Board
The base of any good butter board is the board, of course. A beautiful wood cutting board makes the most eye-catching presentation. Try our Rossie Home Reversible Acacia Wood or Black Walnut cutting boards for an impressive presentation.
They make perfect butter boards. They’re large and gorgeous, with plenty of space for multiple kinds of butter and toppings. The natural wood grain makes everything you serve look elegant.
If you’d like to make clean-up easier, use parchment beneath the butter. It can be cut to fit the shape of your spread so your beautiful board still shows.
If your event is less formal or your guest list is small, you can use a fun ceramic dish. Find one in a Friendsgiving-themed shape (like a pumpkin, cornucopia, or slice of bread). You can also opt for a smaller wooden board.
People either dip directly into the buttery goodness or spread it with small knives.
Choose Your Butters
Once you’ve decided on a board, it’s time to choose your butters. You don’t have to choose more than one. But whatever you choose must be softened. It has to be spreadable. Your presentation depends on being able to make fanciful swirls or fun shapes.
Choose regular butter for a more robust texture and whipped butter for a lighter, fluffier presentation.
You can opt for plain salted or unsalted butter or choose a flavored variety. For Friendsgiving, maybe you’d like to give pumpkin butter (spread in the shape of a pumpkin, of course) to be your highlight.
You’ll find flavored butter at many specialty stores. You’ve certainly seen apple butter in the fall. And there are so many more!
Epicurean Butter carries a fantastic variety of butter flavors. They have everything from Tuscan Herb Butter to Chili Lime Butter to Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Butter.
You can also create your own flavored butters. Most of them are relatively simple to make and the variety is endless. A quick Google search will lead you to goodies like lemon-thyme butter, avocado butter, or salted caramel butter.
If you choose multiple butters, make sure the flavors are complementary. You can spread them side by side on your butter board or around the outside with room in the middle for bread cubes.
Choose Your Breads
A pretty butter board is useless without dippers. You can choose crusty artisan bread (cold, warm, or toasted). If you prefer crackers, go for it! Scones? Sound great. Maybe you’d like to toast up some cinnamon raisin bread for your sweet butter board.
Anything that gets buttered is an option. Choose your breads to compliment the flavors in your butters and toppings.
Choose Your Toppings
You can top your beautifully spread butter with something sweet or savory. Presentation is everything with butter boards, so choose toppings that look as good as they taste. Also, make very sure that your toppings are plentiful, especially if you’re using plain butter.
For your Friendsgiving Butter Board, choose toppings based on when the board will be served. If it’s an appetizer, savory flavors might be best. If it’s going to come out after dinner, have fun with sweet versions.
Common butter board toppings include sea salt, pepper, herbs, garlic, spices, nuts, honey, fruit, jam, and maple syrup.
There is no right or wrong topping for a butter board, but let’s take a look at some recipes. They’ll give you direction, but you should feel free to experiment with changes that suit your taste and your Friendsgiving.
We’ll link to the recipes so you can try them for your celebration!
Butter Board Recipes
Savory Butter Boards
Jamie at So Happy You Liked It created a recipe for a Savory Pumpkin Butter Board. Perfect for Friendsgiving, this board uses an easy-to-make pumpkin butter. She tops it with roasted garlic, rosemary, sea salt, and a drizzle of maple syrup.
Jessica at Savory Experiments uses regular salted butter and a quartet of toppings. By dividing your butter board into sections you can offer more flavor combinations. Her Four Flavor Butter Board has mouth-watering toppings.
One section is topped with salt and pepper, herbs, and lemon zest. One has roasted garlic, Parmesan cheese, and basil. A third has fig, prosciutto, and honey. Finally, she uses pistachios, mint, and orange zest.
This board has something for everyone. Savory combines with a touch of sweetness for the best of both worlds.
Is your Friendsgiving opting for a non-traditional menu? Maybe your guests would like this Italian Garlic Butter Board from Tastefully Simple. A simple combination of garlic seasoning, parmesan cheese, and bacon makes this a quick and easy option.
Heather at Homemade Heather has a great Thanksgiving recipe. Her Best Butter Board recipe includes cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts. She adds a few unexpected touches like Thai basil and pink Himalayan salt to make this one beautiful butter board.
Sweet Butter Boards
Now it’s time for some decadent, sweet options. Feel free to use them as appetizers or part of an after-dinner spread. Or make one for a brunch or breakfast Friendsgiving!
Emily Ackerman from A Pinch of Adventure brings some traditional flavors to her Sweet Butter Board recipe. She uses an easy-to-make maple cinnamon butter base. She tops it with candied pecans, dried cranberries, and a drizzle of maple syrup.
What we like best about this recipe is that Emily includes some non-bread dipping suggestions. Apple slices and pretzel sticks are her choices, along with more traditional sourdough bread.
Instagrammer Alissa DiSanto designed the Sweet Brunch Butter Board for Heinen’s Grocery Stores. She uses a simple orange zest, brown sugar, cinnamon, and honey topping with plain butter.
What makes this one special is her choice of dippers. She uses waffles, sausages, fresh fruit, and even mini pancakes. Arranging your choices around the edge of the board makes a very pretty presentation.
One of our favorite sweet butter board recipes is the Baklava Butter Board from Shyanne at Food Dolls. It’s quick and easy and has the delicious flavors of traditional baklava.
Plain butter is topped with roasted pistachios and walnuts, sprinkled with cinnamon, and drizzled with honey. This board looks beautiful and decadent without a lot of work. Serve with ciabatta or any other bread.
The Butter Board Bottom Line
The sky’s the limit for your Friendsgiving Butter Board. Keep it simple with traditional holiday flavors. Combine your favorite flavors for something new.
You may be thinking that butter boards will come and go as a trend. Maybe they will. Or maybe they’ll stick around as one of your new holiday traditions. This is definitely the year to try one. Tips and recipes abound and they make for an impressive display.
The only real rules for a butter board are to use good quality butter and you’re your presentation a priority. That’s true for your Friendsgiving celebration or any other occasion. They’re far less expensive to create than a charcuterie board, so experiment with flavors and styles.
Present your creation on a beautiful wooden board or a whimsical ceramic dish. Have some fun with swirls and flourishes as you spread the butter. Choose toppings that look as good as they taste and use them generously.
What’s the most important thing about a Friendsgiving Butter Board? That it be a fun and delicious addition to your celebration. Enjoy the process of creating your masterpiece and your guests will love the experience of trying something new.