Autumn Butter Board

It’s a trend for a reason! Learn how to make an Autumn Butter Board topped with delicious fall ingredients like apple butter, herbs, fresh apples and nuts.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Michigan Apple Committee. All opinions are 100% my own. #MIApples

I’m not on TikTok. The only TikToks I see are the ones my friends text me, or the ones popular enough to eventually make their way onto Instagram. Honestly, if I signed up, I’d probably spend way too much time on it, so I’m OK staying off of it.

This means that most of the current food trends fly right past me, because most of them originate on TikTok. But once in awhile, some, like jarcuterie and breakfast charcuterie boards are popular enough that even I can’t ignore them.

One of the original TikTok trends, Dalgona coffee, has made it’s way into my repertoire, and when I’m not making caramel iced coffee, I’m still making Dalgona coffee (more like still trying to make my way through the HUGE jar of instant coffee granules I bought).

And recently, of course, I haven’t been able to miss the butter boards making the rounds on all forms of social media. Whether you love them, hate them or haven’t tried one yet, I’m sure you’ve also realized they’re impossible to ignore.

Give me room temperature salted butter any day of the week, and I’m in. And with it being apple season (also known as autumn) here in Pure Michigan, I thought I would combine butter with APPLE butter made from Michigan Apples to create my own spin on this wild, fun trend.

Grab some friends, and, for those over the age of 21, a round of bourbon apple cider cocktails or caramel apple mules, and let’s dive in to this butter board recipe!

What you’ll need for this autumn butter board recipe:

• butter – high quality, salted, room temperature butter is what you want for a butter board recipe.
• apple butter – you can buy a good store bought version, or make a batch of my Instant Pot apple butter.
• apples – I like the crisp, sweet flavor of Michigan Gala apples to top my butter board with some crunch, but any variety of Michigan apple will work great, because Michigan’s climate and geography results in the best tasting apples! Michigan Apples are also perfect in phyllo cup appetizers.
• herbs – I used fresh thyme and rosemary to garnish my butter board (and to flavor my Thanksgiving rice and honey roasted carrots), but you can use one or the other. Any extra herbs can be used to make my salmon in oven recipe or mini Hasselback potatoes.
• Marcona almonds – these special Spanish almonds have a delicious, buttery flavor. They’re also so good in individual charcuterie cups. Regular almonds, or pecans or walnuts are also great to add extra crunch.
• edible flowers – these are totally optional for this butter board recipe, but they add an extra special touch.
• red pepper flakes – add a sprinkle of these if you’d like to add a little heat to counterbalance the sweetness of the apples and apple butter.
• salt and pepper – even though I’m using salted butter, I still like to add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper.
• bread and crackers, for serving.

Why make a butter board?

Like my Thanksgiving charcuterie board and the rest of my fun charcuterie board ideas, butter boards are fun and beautiful. Any occasion where bread and butter might be a good addition to the meal or snack offerings, a butter board will be right at home.

A butter board recipe is not much different than serving a basket of bread with a bowl of butter, or even a platter of chips and salsa. It’s just different things in a different format than we’re used to.

Some hosts will have guests use the bread as a way to kind of swipe through the butter to scoop it up, but I prefer to offer a few small knives or spreaders to keep things easy and tidy.

Some tips for making the best butter board:

• Give your butter PLENTY of time to come to room temperature (2 hours, minimum in most climates). Don’t shortcut it and microwave it – you’ll end up with some hard and some melted butter and it won’t that perfect softened consistency.
• If you have one, use a small offset spatula to spread the butter.
• Be aware that butter sitting on a wooden board for an extended period of time may stain or change the finish of the board. You could also spread the butter on a ceramic platter or plate if you didn’t want to worry about this.
• Serve with WARM crusty bread for maximum deliciousness.