All butter is delicious, but my personal favorite is undoubtedly a good compound butter. It’s a great way to add an extra dose of flavor to seafood, chicken, burgers, toast, scrambled eggs, pasta, and more.

Compound butter is essentially just normal butter mixed with additional herbs, spices, and other flavors.

Sweet compound butters can be made by adding flavors like honey and cinnamon. These are amazing on morning toast, in oatmeal, or on pancakes. Savory butter can take corn on the cobb from a 4 to a 10 and is a great addition to hamburgers. Or, for my favorite quick dinner, boil and strain spaghetti and toss in a few tablespoons of savory compound butter. Let it melt and voilà, the easiest meal ever.

Compound butters aren’t exactly rocket science, but I do have a few pointers that are helpful. First, I like to make sure my butters are always well balanced. They should include acid, salt, heat, and sweet. Acids gives the butter a palate-pleasing kick, salt will enhance all the flavors in the butter, and heat gets your attention.

Warm spices like nutmeg, cardamom, and cinnamon work well for sweet butters, and bold spices like paprika and chili powder work best for savory butters. Fresh herbs perform better in compound butters than dried herbs. Dry herbs need more moisture to bring out their flavor, whereas fresh herbs can stand alone.

You can also add dashes of liquid to your compound butter. Be sure to not use more than 1 tablespoon of liquid per 1 cup of butter, and ensure the liquid is fully incorporated so that it doesn’t seep out when the butter is chilled. Some of my favorite liquids to add are lemon juice, bourbon, flavored vinegars, and wine.

I always keep seasonal compound butters in my fridge. When wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and kept cold, they can last for up to two weeks. If placed in the freezer, they will keep for up to six months. Here are my current favorite compound butter recipes.