Maybe you are buying a low quality butter. I always use Plugra or Kerry Gold.

Could it just be too cold? Room temp in the winter when thermostat is 64 is different than in summer when it’s 74 in the house.

You could try melting it, if the recipe allows. But if you're making something like pastry, just buy something else.

I use unsalted Kerry Gold for baking, bought at Costco, and have never had this problem

Anonymous wrote:I noticed this too recently while baking and I just thought I was being impatient! Mine was unsalted from Costco

Scrap it. I buy salted and just reduce the added salt when cooking. Unsalted is harder to transport and store so it could be more likely to be unusable at any given time than salted. Big difference is butterfat. We buy these when on sale and freeze them: Kerry Gold , Plugra, Danish Creamery. Safeway store brand Lucerne is reliable and fine for bulk use - like vat of mashed potatoes served with topper of better butter, 3 dozen cookies etc.

I noticed this too recently while baking and I just thought I was being impatient! Mine was unsalted from Costco

What do you mean by “crummy?”

You could have just gotten an off batch. It happens.

Anonymous wrote:What brand? Ours is same as always.

I got the store brand but I always have for baking.

What brand? Ours is same as always.

I’m doing some holiday baking, and noticing that the butter has a different consistency. It’s almost crummy and hard to cream in to the other ingredients.
I leave it out overnight to soften it, and it still is hard to blend.