Jennifer Garner is known for being a Hollywood actress, but she also knows her way around the kitchen! She just came forward with an ingenious hack for softening butter that is going viral.

When it comes time to use butter for baking, softening it beforehand can be annoying. Some people try putting the butter in the hot oven or warming it up in the microwave, but this can turn disastrous quickly if the butter is left there too long.

Garner was making an episode of her Instagram cooking show, #PretendCookingShow when she realized that she had forgotten to leave the butter out to soften beforehand. She had planned to make Rose Beranbaum’s chocolate bread recipe from The Bread Bible, and she had gotten up at 5:30am to do so, but she forgot to leave the butter out the night before.

Taking matters into her own hand, Garner took out the butter and  grabbed a cheese grater. She proceeded to grate stick of butter just like you would with cheese and add it to the bowl.

This is the perfect hack to deal with softening butter when time is an issue!

 

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This time of year it is extra cozy to send kids to school with something warm in their bellies. My kids feel extra cozy about @realbakingwithrose’s chocolate bread. This recipe isn’t crazy sweet and, with a good swish of peanut butter, is just the thing for my early rising middle schooler. You can find the full episode on IGTV. #PretendCookingShow #bangwentthecabinet #????‍♀️wentmybrain #hurryupchristmas?? . #TheBreadBible Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bread Ingredients: 3 Tbs plus 1/2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder 3 Tbs boiling water 1/2 Tbs pure vanilla extract 3 large eggs 1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs sugar 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 13 Tbs unsalted butter, softened 3 Tbs chocolate mini chips or bittersweet chocolate (chopped) . Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350F. 2. Whisk cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature, then gently whisk in vanilla and eggs. 3. In a mixer bowl, combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add half the chocolate paste and the butter and mix until dry ingredients are moistened. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute to aerate and develop structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gradually add remaining chocolate paste in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the bowl. Fold in chocolate mini chips/chopped chocolate. 4. Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. 5. Bake for 50-60 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center will read about 200F. (The bread shouldn’t start to shrink from the sides of the pan until after removal from the oven.) 6. Set the bread on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides of the bread and invert onto an oiled wire rack. Reinvert so it is top side up and cool completely.

A post shared by Jennifer Garner (@jennifer.garner) on Dec 11, 2018 at 12:02pm PST

Garner’s video has since gone viral, with people all over the world being impressed with her hack. It looks like acting is far from the only skill this woman has!