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5 Ways Baking with Goat Butter is a Game Changer

Published , Last updated by Stef
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If goat butter isn’t already in your baking ingredient arsenal, here’s your call to give it a try! From taste to texture to color and ease of use, goat butter has so many advantages that you need to know about.

This post was sponsored by Meyenberg.

Cupcake in a pink and white stripe wrapper with a package of goat butter in the background

After making the goat butter switch in some of my favorite desserts, here are my top five reasons why you should give it a try.

Taste

Let’s get this one out of the way first. Goat butter tastes like a cross between cow’s butter and goat cheese.

I know the flavor of goat cheese can be polarizing. If it isn’t your thing, the butter may not be for you. But, if you love the earthy flavor, you’ll appreciate the mild, tangy taste that goat butter adds to baked goods. It’s not nearly as prominent as it is in goat cheese, but it’s there and adds something special that most people won’t even be able to pinpoint.

Bowl of shortbread cookies
These shortbread cookies have a greater depth of flavor through the use of goat butter.

Color

Here’s something you probably didn’t know – goats digest the beta carotene in their food differently from cows.

Unlike cows, the color from it isn’t passed down into their milk. Because of this, goat butter is pure white while cow butter has a yellowish tint. This makes goat butter a fabulous choice when you are looking for a beautiful white frosting without resorting to using a vegetable oil-based shortening.

Block of goat butter next to a stick of cow's butter
Meyenberg goat butter on the left and cow’s butter on the right

Ease of Use

Goat butter has a lower melting point than cow’s butter. It’s a dream to spread on bread directly from the refrigerator.

Buttered bread on a plate with a more bread and a package of goat butter in the background

The lower melting point also helps in baking. Normally, when I remove pie dough from the fridge, it feels like a rock and it can be tough to roll. When I remove pie dough made with goat butter from the refrigerator, it’s still nice and cold (not at all sticky), but it is softer and rolls out so nicely.

The same is true when rolling cookies made with goat butter.

Rolling dough with a red rolling pin

Texture

When the team at Meyenberg told me that a pie crust made with goat butter would have a croissant-like lamination without making any folds in the dough, I was skeptical. But, look at the picture below to see the lamination that happened in my crust the very first time I used goat butter in a pie. The reason comes back to the lower melting point that I mentioned above and the way that it affects the moisture content and gluten formation in the flour during the baking.

Close up of pie crust showing many layers of lamination

Digestion

Goat butter has a lower lactose content than cow’s butter which makes it easier to digest. If you are ever uncomfortable after a buttery dessert (beyond just feeling stuffed), you might consider giving goat butter a try to see if it makes a difference.

Recipes to Try

Give some of these recipes a try with goat butter instead of cow’s butter for a delicious variation: