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Ashia Aubourg
A few years ago, I started a business selling Caribbean-inspired baked goods at farmers’ markets. To create the most delicious products possible, I went through multiple rounds of R&D to figure out which ingredients worked best in my recipes. Butter quickly rose to the top in terms of importance. If I chose the wrong one, my mango chocolate chip cookies came out cake-like (and not in a good way!). But when I reached for one of my go-to butters, they’d turn out chewy, tender, and full of flavor.
I learned pretty quickly that even though the butters on store shelves may look similar, they behave very differently when it comes to baking. So, I grabbed a bunch and put them to the test to see which one really stands out. After trying 13 kinds, I’m confident I’ve found the one I’ll always rely on from now on.
How I Chose the Unsalted Butters
The world of butter can get pretty nuanced—some aficionados even go so far as to import it from other countries. For this taste test, I stuck to brands available at national grocery retailers. I’ll always encourage visiting your local farmers’ market to support small makers who sell butter, but since that’s not accessible to everyone, I focused on widely available options. It’s also important to note: To keep this test as consistent as possible, I didn’t include any vegan or margarine alternatives.
How I Tested the Unsalted Butters
To determine which unsalted butters are worth keeping in your fridge, I put them to the test in a simple three-ingredient shortbread recipe. I focused on identifying brands that delivered cookies with a rich, buttery taste, a crumbly texture, and an overall delicious flavor. To avoid overwhelming my palate with too many sweet treats in one sitting, I evaluated just two butters at a time for the most accurate results.
The Best Unsalted Butters, Ranked
9th Place: Trader Joe’s Unsalted Butter
Ashia Aubourg
Trader Joe’s unsalted butter is certainly a reliable choice for producing baked goods with a tender texture and delicious flavor. In the shortbread test, while it didn’t yield the most buttery profile in the biscuits compared to some of the higher-ranked brands, those comforting, nostalgic butter cookie flavors were still present.
8th Place: Horizon Organic Unsalted Butter
Ashia Aubourg
Similar to Kate’s below, I really appreciate Horizon’s subtle notes. If I were making a lemon shortbread cookie and didn’t want the butter to steal the spotlight in terms of flavor but still wanted it to deliver on texture, I would definitely lean on this brand.
7th Place: Kate's Unsalted Butter
Ashia Aubourg
Kate’s butter has a distinct, fresh flavor on its own. When spread on a baguette, it makes for a delicious bite. Its light flavor profile can sometimes be overpowered by sweeter ingredients like brown sugar. In the end, it worked well in the shortbread recipe, delivering a nice texture but not quite the strong buttery flavor I was hoping for.
6th Place: Whole Food's 365 Unsalted Butter
Ashia Aubourg
Side by side, the unsalted butter from Whole Foods performed similarly to the sticks from Land O’Lakes. While it didn’t deliver particularly robust dairy notes in the shortbread, it still helped create tasty cookies with a classic buttery flavor and a crumbly texture.
5th Place: Land O'Lakes Unsalted Butter
Ashia Aubourg
Before I got into “fancy” butters, I always relied on Land O’Lakes. While it doesn’t have the most complex or layered flavor, it definitely has a nostalgic, comforting buttery profile. Using it in the shortbread recipe helped me bake a batch of cookies with a rich taste and a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
4th Place: Lewis Road Creamery Premium Unsalted Butter
Ashia Aubourg
This take I’m about to share may be controversial, but sometimes I’ll purposefully bake with salted butter so my desserts don’t turn out too cloying. For this test, I didn’t do that—but the unsalted butter from Lewis Road Creamery surprised me with its ability to bring a rich, subtle salinity to the shortbread, which helped balance out the sweet brown sugar in the recipe.
3rd Place: Maple Hill Organic Grassfed Unsalted Butter
Ashia Aubourg
This pick from Maple Hill has 85 percent butterfat, meaning the small amount of remaining liquid produces just enough steam while baking, helping the shortbread develop a tender interior and those crisp, golden edges. As for the flavor, it hit all the marks, delivering a rich and slightly nutty taste.
2nd Place: Kerrygold Grass-Fed Pure Irish Unsalted Butter
Ashia Aubourg
Kerrygold’s unsalted butter came close to taking the top spot, right alongside Organic Valley. It helped create incredibly flaky, crumbly shortbread that melts in your mouth with every bite. Thanks to its cultured flavor profile, the cookies came out tasting especially rich and pronounced with buttery notes.
1st Place Winner: Organic Valley Unsalted Butter
Ashia Aubourg
When you interact with softened Organic Valley Unsalted Butter, you’ll notice how silky and smooth it is (and how punchy its aroma is!) even before you start baking. Once it’s creamed with brown sugar and mixed with flour, the butter helps transform these humble ingredients into the most delicious cookie. The brand delivers tender yet crumbly shortbread with a well-rounded, buttery flavor.
The Bottom 4 Butters, From Best to Worst
Unfortunately, these butters didn't even place as commendable in the rankings. They may perform well in other uses, but their shortbread performance fell short.
Cabot Creamery Extra Creamy No Salt Butter Sticks
While Cabot’s butter produced shortbread cookies with a crumbly texture, it unfortunately lacked a strong enough buttery taste compared to our winners.
Lucerne Grassfed Unsalted Butter
When I broke into the finished shortbread baked with this butter, I couldn’t help but notice its overwhelmingly greasy feel, which also translated into the flavor.
Vital Farms Unsalted Butter
The nostalgic, buttery flavor was strong in the shortbread cookies made with these sticks from Vital Farms, but unfortunately, the texture fell short; it was neither crumbly nor tender.
Good & Gather Unsalted Butter
Unfortunately, Good & Gather performed the worst in the shortbread cookie test. The cookie lacked a rich buttery profile and did not have the melt-in-your-mouth consistency.
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