With 26.3 million views for the hashtag #butterboard alone, butter boards are definitely exploding on the social media video platform. So don’t be surprised if, in the coming holiday party season, you show up at someone’s house for a festive gathering and are presented with a cutting board boasting thick-spread butter and topped with, well, all sorts of things.
“Have you heard of a butter board?” asks TikToker and recipe developer Justine Doiron (@justine_snacks) in a video that has racked up 7.9 million views in only five days and kicked off a craze. “This is what one looks like and I want to make them the next charcuterie board. Not to usurp charcuterie, but, like, maybe a little bit.”
Over a video showing her generously slathering two sticks of softened butter onto a (cute, bread-shaped) wooden cutting board, Doiron explains that the concept, which she credits to chef and cookbook author Josh McFadden, is perfect for when you’re hosting a group of people.
Basically, you “spread a bunch of softened butter on a plate, add tons of flaky salt, tons of lemon zest, any herbs or toppings you want,” Doiron advises, sharing that she’s adding “edible flowers and like a honey coriander situation” to her board.
The board is meant to be served with warm bread and, she says, “It just feels really communal. I love it.”
Even as Doiron’s video went viral, some commenters expressed skepticism.
“During Covid everyone wore gloves, masks, and stay 6 feet away. Now we’re sharing tables of bite size food and scraping butter off the same plate,” one noted.
“No TY I don’t trust double dippers,” another wrote, before allowing, “I’d do this for myself though.”
Doiron apparently felt compelled to weigh in on the controversy. “I was not expecting this to blow up but YOU CAN USE A KNIFE JUST LIKE A CHEESEBOARD CALM YOURSELVES Ok ily,” she wrote.
Other commenters were into it, though.
“If hummus and pita is too exotic for you then this is just the thing,” wrote one fan.
“This sounds incredible omg,” another responded.
“I want to LIVE in that butter board !!” exclaimed a third.
Other TikTokers have embraced Doiron’s viral post promoting McFadden’s butter board concept — and added their own twists.
Canada-based @themodernnonna makes her butter board with fig preserves, fresh fig slices, hot honey and walnuts “for crunch.” “A Butter Board IS THE MOST BRILLIANT IDEA I Have Ever Come Across,” she gushes in a video posted just three days ago and watched more than 2.6 million times. (She subs in creamy goat cheese for the butter, in another version.)
Food Network recipe developer Amanda Neal calls butter boards a “clever idea.” “It’s basically a compound butter but layered beautifully on a small cheese board,” Neal says.
For a better butter board, Neal recommends using salted butter and/or a generous pinch of flakey sea salt on top, “because of the ratio of butter to other ingredients.”
Guess we all butter jump on this trend!