The Chef-Approved Butter Trick We Wish We’d Known About Sooner

Is there anything a bench scraper can’t do?! It might look like just a flat piece of metal with a handle, but it's a major helper in the kitchen when you’re folding and shaping wet, sticky dough, keeping your hands (and your surface) clean with minimal struggle.

It's called a bench scraper because its initial use was for helping bakers clean up their bench, aka the surface where they make their bread, but a bench scraper's usefulness goes way beyond baking.

A good bench scraper can help you transfer diced ingredients to a bowl, finely chop herbs, lift cookies off a baking sheet and smooth the frosting on cakes like a pro. And some (like mine) even have ruler measurements printed on them to help you measure dough thickness. There’s simply not enough praise for this modest little tool. The best part is that you can pick up a good one for less than $15.

Related: The Clever Butter Trick We Wish We’d Known About Sooner

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Why You Should Cut Butter with a Bench Scraper

A while back, recipe developer, cookbook author and podcast host Jessie Sheehan (@jessiesheehanbakes) showed us yet another way to use our fabulous bench scrapers: cutting butter. Yep, that’s right.

On Jessie’s Instagram page, she shows us how to cut butter into cubes using only a bench scraper (why didn’t we think of that?!). Using a bench scraper instead of a knife is brilliant for a few reasons. Not only do you have less of a chance of cutting yourself trying to perfectly cube cold butter (I know it’s not just me) but the scraper is also roughly the same size as a stick of butter, making cutting it cleanly into sticks, and then little cubes, a snap. Oh, and did I mention transferring them to the bowl is way easier and safer than using a plain old knife?

And p.s.—don’t get a bench scraper confused with a dough scraper: A bench scraper is usually made from metal or stiff plastic while a dough scraper is flexible and made to conform to the inside of a bowl, to scrape it out.

Related: The Best Way To Soften Butter Quickly

How to Cut Butter with a Bench Scraper

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But don’t take it from me. Jesse’s video shows just how amazing this tool can be as she cuts through her stick of butter with ease (and it’s totally satisfying to watch, too). The wide, flat edge of the scraper allows for a clean, even cut, and as a total plus, the scraper does its namesake job, keeping your cutting board free from the inevitable butter residue that can make cleanup a hassle. And if you have flour or other cooking remnants on your counter, one swipe of the bench scraper will clean it right off. Win!

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