When Melissa Clark tells you to put butter on your hard-cooked eggs, you listen. That was the conclusion that Lifehacker writer A.A. Newton came to when she stumbled upon an Instagram post from the New York Times columnist, and the same one we arrived at when we tried it ourselves.
Hard-cook eggs. Slice in half and top with butter. Sprinkle with salt or anything else. Simple.
Clark’s been onto this tip for a while. It was over a year ago that she posted a photo on Instagram of a five-minute egg smeared with butter and topped with Maldon salt and Urfa pepper. “Why are buttered eggs not a THING??” she asked. It may be a year later, but it’s never too late.
When the butter melts into the yolk, it tastes reminiscent of eggs Benedict, with their rich, buttery Hollandaise sauce. Call it brunch in a bite, without all the trouble of actually making Hollandaise. Newton makes a good suggestion, too. Consider contrast. If you’re eating your hard-cooked eggs hot, use cold butter from the fridge, which will melt slightly on the hot yolk. If you’re grabbing an already-cooled egg, use room temperature butter.
We’ll take it one step further and recommend compound butter–one of our favorite tricks for adding fast, bold flavor to anything from vegetables to steak, and now hard-cooked eggs. Compound butter is nothing more than softened butter smashed with various ingredients. We love making miso butter (equal parts miso and butter), or Garlic-Herb Butter: one clove of grated garlic mixed into 3 tablespoons butter, with two tablespoons parsley and one tablespoon each dill and cilantro, seasoned with salt.
Last week it was a trick for peeling a hard-cooked egg in a cup with water, and this week it's a dead-easy way to dress up that hard-cooked egg. The internet is not short on egg content, but only the best catches our attention. Clark's simple but delicious suggestion fits our bill: An easy upgrade with numerous ways to customize using pantry staples.
Follow our tips on making the perfect hard-cooked egg (steam, don’t boil) for the best texture and cleanest, easiest peel. And mix and match your toppings. We love Urfa pepper, as Clark recommends, but would easily reach for cumin, black garlic salt or smoked paprika.
h/t Lifehacker
