Serving butter on a board is the latest design trend. Though they may appear elaborate, butter boards can be made quickly and are sure to be a hit with kids of all ages.
You may make a butter board that the whole family can enjoy by using shapes, designs, and ingredients that are appropriate for children.
How to make butter boards that kids will love, with ideas ranging from butter butterflies to using spices to spell names.
Use Childhood Favorites
When putting together kid butter boards, stick to safe, tried-and-true flavors.
Bananas, berries, apple wedges, and mandarin orange segments are all delicious and entertaining additions. Sprinkles, chocolate chips, crushed cookies, granola, and dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, etc.) are also popular additions.
Butter boards go well with nut butters like peanut and almond. You may either mix them into the butter at the bottom or sprinkle them on top.
Beth Moncel, a cooking author, proposes adding a flavor like strawberry or chocolate hazelnut butter to make butter boards more kid-friendly.
Sweeteners such as jams, honey, maple syrup, or hazelnut chocolate spread can also be incorporated. Just use a small amount so the butter still shines through.
Mild cheeses are a safe bet when looking for a savory snack. Good choices for cheese include Havarti, cheddar, pepper jack, monterey jack, and parmesan. Turkey and cheese are always a safe bet for kid-friendly butter boards.
Read More: Butter Board Basics: The Ultimate Beginnerβs Guide
Make Fun Shapes and Designs
Butter boards should be eye-catching so that youngsters will want to play with them. Fortunately, butter, once softened, makes an excellent medium for shaping into interesting forms and decorations.
Shape the butter into whatever you like by using various cookie cutters. Spread them out on the board and use the filler ingredients to make a pretty pattern around the shapes.
Lucy Chen, an expert in early childhood education, suggests having children use their preferred cookie cutters to create designs themselves.
A piping bag with a star tip can be used to pipe butter directly onto the board. Create a whirl, a dot, a word, or an image. The boards can be decorated by older children who can develop their piping skills.
Kids can stamp and carve designs into the butter using small handheld tools like melon ballers, apple corer, or smaller cookie cutters. Lines, dots, and initials can all be etched neatly using a toothpick.
Using spices, seeds, and other small toppings to spell names, messages, or create images is another fun method to get kids involved in butter board creations. Their originality will be allowed to flourish!
Incorporate Interactive Elements
The most effective kid-friendly butter boards include a fun game or activity that gets youngsters involved.
“Butter board activities” can include things like spice shakers, chopsticks, tweezers, and miniature spoons. Then the kids can assemble the ingredients and sprinkle on their own toppings.
“I let my kids each make their own personalized butter boards on little boards,” says mom Megan Davis. Their fine motor abilities will improve and their imagination will soar.
Hidden treats like chocolate chips, micro marshmallows, nuts, or dried fruit can be tucked into the butter as well. Treasure hunts are great fun for kids.
Offering a variety of flavored butters, such as cinnamon honey butter, pumpkin pie spice butter, or chocolate peanut butter, to swirl into the base is another fun way to get people involved. Children can create their own unique blends.
Grilled bell pepper strips, shrimp, or pineapple chunks would be a great addition to the family cheese board. They’ll have a great time adding to the recipe.
Keeping kids entertained will encourage them to try new things from the butter board.
Read More: Creative Butter Board Toppings: Taking Butter Boards to the Next Level
Make Individual Boards
Making personalized butter boards for each kid may maximize fun and minimize cleanup time. Use cutting boards or plates that are more kid-friendly in size.
Distribute the butter and let each person assemble their own board with their own toppings. The thrill of consuming their “artwork” is amplified when they have a stake in it.
If you have children who have severe food allergies, separate cutting boards can help prevent any accidental exposure. Improved command over what goes into a product.
Chen explains that this allows children “the freedom to decorate their butter board in whatever way they see fit without affecting what others prefer.”
A disposable butter board can be made from a foil baking sheet. Spread the butter with the little ones and then let them decorate it whatever they like.
Pair with Kid-Pleasant Foods
Children will like butter boards more if they have a variety of simple meals to spread the butter on.
Butter is best spread on soft breads like biscuits, dinner rolls, focaccia, and flatbreads. White, wheat, and nut-based sliced breads should also be available.
Fruits go well with cheese and butter platters. You could snack on some apples, bananas, strawberries, melon chunks, pineapple chunks, or mandarin oranges.
Parent Amy Park notes, “We always accompany kids’ butter boards with apple slices for dipping.” As one reviewer put it, “It makes a fun, interactive snack.”
Kids also enjoy spreading butter on simple snacks like crackers, pretzel sticks, and breadsticks. Goldfish crackers, a tried-and-true staple, are also a safe bet.
Cucumber sticks, carrot sticks, bell pepper sticks, sugar snap pea skewers, and broccoli floret skewers are all great options for a snack board presentation. Youngsters will enjoy playing in the water.
Butter Board Inspiration for Kids
Now that youβre loaded up on tips for kid-friendly butter boards, here are some themed ideas to inspire your next edible creation:
- Strawberries, kiwis, pineapple, grapes, mandarin oranges, and blueberries, arranged in a rainbow pattern on a platter.
- A spread for making s’mores, including all the fixings (chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs, small marshmallows, and toasted nuts).
- An animal-themed snack board with crackers, pretzel rods, raisins, and almonds for eyes.
- Cheese lips, pepperoni eyes, olive nose, and herb hair make up a Pizza Face.
- Treasure in the form of goldfish crackers, rock sugar jewels, and toasted coconut “sand” on a pirate’s treasure map.
- Unicorn-themed cake board with butter piping, rainbow sprinkles, and silver dragees.
- A board with seeds, spices, and herbs arranged to spell out children’s names or ABC shapes.
Using your imagination and these guidelines, you can quickly and simply transform boring old butter boards into stimulating and engaging culinary art projects for kids. If you let them use their imaginations, they will be begging for personalized butter boards of their very own.