Yogurt butter

Yogurt butter is a butter-based spread with yoghurt added, giving it a tangier flavour than plain butter. It is different from yoghurt itself, which contains far less fat.

Yes: use it to finish vegetables, melt over potatoes or spread on toast. For frying at high heat, choose an oil or a butter designed for cooking, as yoghurt in the spread can brown or scorch.

Usually, but the yoghurt can make the result softer and tangier. For cakes or biscuits where texture matters, use the butter specified in the recipe; for savoury pastry, try a small test batch first.

Keep it covered in the fridge and use a clean knife or spoon each time. You can freeze it in a tightly wrapped portion, then thaw it in the fridge; the texture may be less smooth afterwards.

Beat softened butter with a spoonful of thick, plain yoghurt until smooth, then chill it until firm. Start with a small amount of yoghurt so the spread stays easy to scoop rather than turning loose.

It is still a high-fat spread, not a low-fat substitute. Yogurt butter has 602 kcal per 100 g, compared with 727 kcal in ordinary butter.

Yogurt butter contains 39 g of saturated fat per 100 g. The similar-food entry for ordinary butter does not give a saturated-fat figure, so a direct comparison is not available.