Terms of UseHow to Cut in Butter Explore this Article methods 1 Using a Cheese Grater 2 Cutting in with Your Fingers 3 Using a Food Processor Other Sections VideoWATCH NOW Things You'll Need Related Articles References Article Summary Co-authored by wikiHow Staff
Last Updated: September 3, 2025
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This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 14,888 times.
When baking, you may struggle to “cut in” the butter, meaning finely divide and disperse it evenly among other ingredients. Sometimes, people melt the butter so that it’s easier to mix in, but this won’t get you an optimal end result. Freeze and grate the butter with a cheese grater to successfully cut it in. You can also cut in butter by smushing it with your fingers or pulsing it in a food processor.
Steps
Method 1 Method 1 of 3:
Using a Cheese Grater
1 Freeze the butter for 1 hour. Unwrap however many sticks of butter your recipe requires and put them in the freezer for about an hour. Grating the butter is much easier if it’s frozen because it makes the butter more solid and firm.
2 Grate the butter with a cheese grater. Remove the butter sticks from the freezer and get out a box cheese grater. Hold the butter flat against the biggest holes in the grater and move it in a repeated downward motion over a sheet of wax paper.[1]XResearch source Advertisement
3 Put the butter back in the freezer until you’re ready to bake. Unless the next step in your recipe is to bake the ingredients, carefully place the wax paper sheet of grated butter back in the freezer. Keep the grated butter in the freezer until just before it’s time to bake. This will ensure that the ingredients are the correct consistency when mixed together.
4 Mix the butter into the dry ingredients with an electric mixer or pastry cutter. Take the butter out of the freezer again and combine it in a bowl with the other ingredients. Use an electric mixer or a pastry cutter to fully mix the butter in with the dry ingredients. Advertisement
Method 2 Method 2 of 3:
Cutting in with Your Fingers
1 Cut the butter into ½-inch (1.3 cm) cubes. Get out a knife and cutting board and unwrap all sticks of butter that your recipe requires. Cut each stick into several ½-inch cubes so that mixing the butter into the dry ingredients is as easy as possible.[2]XResearch source
2 Refrigerate the cubes for about 30 minutes. It’s a good idea to chill your butter cubes for about half an hour so that they don’t start melting. This will prevent the butter from becoming too soft and creating an undesirable consistency once it’s cut in.
3 Toss the cubes in the dry ingredients. Using your hands or a fork, toss the butter cubes in with the dry ingredients so that they stick to the butter. This should make the ingredients stick to your hands less once you start smushing.[3]XResearch source
4 Smush the butter into pea-sized pieces. While combining with the dry ingredients, smush and separate the butter cubes continuously with your fingers. Keep an eye on the overall consistency and stop when most of the chunks of butter look like they’re about the size of peas.
You can also cut the cubes into smaller chunks with a pastry cutter.
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Method 3 Method 3 of 3:
Using a Food Processor
1 Cut chilled or frozen butter into ½-inch (1.3 cm) cubes. Unwrap the sticks of butter you’re cutting in and set them on a cutting board. Then slice them into several ½-inch cubes to that they’re a bit easier to mix in with the other ingredients.[4]XResearch source
2 Pulse all ingredients about 8 times in a processor. Add your butter cubes into a food processor with the other ingredients and quickly press and release the power button. Allow one second to go by and then press the button again. Press the button like this about 8 times to get the right consistency.
3 Mix the butter in by hand or continue mixing in the food processor. Depending on what you’re baking, you may want to combine the ingredients more extensively with your fingers. Otherwise, you may be able to keep adding ingredients to the food processor and continue mixing by pulsing.[5]XResearch source
For example, all of your mixing can be done in the food processor if you’re making a pie crust.
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Video
Things You'll Need
Using a Cheese Grater
Freezer
Box cheese grater
Wax paper
Electric mixer or pastry cutter
Bowl
Cutting in with Your Fingers
Knife
Cutting board
Refrigerator
Using a Food Processor
Knife
Cutting board
Food Processor
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Co-authored by: wikiHow Staff wikiHow Staff Writer This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 14,888 times. 2 votes - 50% Co-authors: 5Updated: September 3, 2025 Views: 14,888Article SummaryX
To cut in butter, start by unwrapping the sticks and freezing them for 1 hour. Then, hold the butter flat against a cheese grater and grate it over a sheet of wax paper. If you're not using the butter right away, return it to the freezer. When you're ready, use an electric mixer or pastry cutter to mix the butter into the dry ingredients. You can also cut the butter into ½-inch (1.3 cm) cubes and put them in the fridge until you're ready to use them. Then, just mash the cubes into your dry ingredients using your fingers! To learn how to cut in butter with a food processor, keep reading the article!Did this summary help you?YesNo
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Co-authored by: wikiHow Staff wikiHow Staff Writer This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 14,888 times. 2 votes - 50% Co-authors: 5 Updated: September 3, 2025 Views: 14,888 Article SummaryX
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466 
1 Freeze the butter for 1 hour. Unwrap however many sticks of butter your recipe requires and put them in the freezer for about an hour. Grating the butter is much easier if it’s frozen because it makes the butter more solid and firm. 
2 Grate the butter with a cheese grater. Remove the butter sticks from the freezer and get out a box cheese grater. Hold the butter flat against the biggest holes in the grater and move it in a repeated downward motion over a sheet of wax paper.[1] Advertisement 
3 Put the butter back in the freezer until you’re ready to bake. Unless the next step in your recipe is to bake the ingredients, carefully place the wax paper sheet of grated butter back in the freezer. Keep the grated butter in the freezer until just before it’s time to bake. This will ensure that the ingredients are the correct consistency when mixed together. 
4 Mix the butter into the dry ingredients with an electric mixer or pastry cutter. Take the butter out of the freezer again and combine it in a bowl with the other ingredients. Use an electric mixer or a pastry cutter to fully mix the butter in with the dry ingredients. Advertisement 
1 Cut the butter into ½-inch (1.3 cm) cubes. Get out a knife and cutting board and unwrap all sticks of butter that your recipe requires. Cut each stick into several ½-inch cubes so that mixing the butter into the dry ingredients is as easy as possible.[2] 
2 Refrigerate the cubes for about 30 minutes. It’s a good idea to chill your butter cubes for about half an hour so that they don’t start melting. This will prevent the butter from becoming too soft and creating an undesirable consistency once it’s cut in. 
3 Toss the cubes in the dry ingredients. Using your hands or a fork, toss the butter cubes in with the dry ingredients so that they stick to the butter. This should make the ingredients stick to your hands less once you start smushing.[3] 
4 Smush the butter into pea-sized pieces. While combining with the dry ingredients, smush and separate the butter cubes continuously with your fingers. Keep an eye on the overall consistency and stop when most of the chunks of butter look like they’re about the size of peas. 
1 Cut chilled or frozen butter into ½-inch (1.3 cm) cubes. Unwrap the sticks of butter you’re cutting in and set them on a cutting board. Then slice them into several ½-inch cubes to that they’re a bit easier to mix in with the other ingredients.[4] 
2 Pulse all ingredients about 8 times in a processor. Add your butter cubes into a food processor with the other ingredients and quickly press and release the power button. Allow one second to go by and then press the button again. Press the button like this about 8 times to get the right consistency. 
3 Mix the butter in by hand or continue mixing in the food processor. Depending on what you’re baking, you may want to combine the ingredients more extensively with your fingers. Otherwise, you may be able to keep adding ingredients to the food processor and continue mixing by pulsing.[5] 
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