The Key Difference Between European and American Butter, According to Pastry Chefs

Butter seems like a straightforward ingredient to grab for your next baking project or to smear on your breakfast toast, but the choices can sometimes be overwhelming. And not just the various brands but also different styles of butter. Similar to Greek vs. regular yogurt, you can find both European-style and American-style butter; the difference comes down to fat content.

What Makes European and American Butters Different?

I reached out to Ben Yee, Director of Processor Partnerships for Real California Milk, to help explain the difference between the two types of butter. U.S. law requires butter to have a minimum of 80 percent butterfat. European-style butter has a higher butterfat percentage of at least 82 percent.

Priya Kumar, VP of Marketing for Challenge Butter, said that Danish Creamery, the brand's European-style butter, boasts a butterfat content of 85 percent that delivers a richer, creamier texture. This means that European-style butter, with its higher fat percentage, is great for anything where the butter is meant to shine.

When To Use European-Style Butter

Michelle Lopez of Hummingbird High and author of Weeknight Baking, fell in love with European-style butter while traveling abroad in Europe. “I recommend trying European-style butter if you're baking anything where butter is the main flavor component. Pound cakes, pie crusts, and shortbread cookies are recipes where it's worth the upgrade.”

Jenni Fields of Pastry Chef Online agrees. She told me “Batters made with European butter tend to bake up more tender with a lovely, velvety crumb. Don't discount using European butter in an American-style pound cake for both luscious butter flavor and texture.”

The high fat content also leads to flakier pie crusts and anything laminated, like biscuits and scones. “I always recommend using European-style butter for pie crusts. The higher fat content, due to the longer churning process, produces an extra-flaky crust,” said classically-trained pastry chef Alanna Taylor-Tobin of Bojon Gourmet. 

European-style butter is also ideal for making brown butter. Becky Sue Wilberding, founder of the blog Baking the Goods, explained, “When browned, the higher fat content in European butter makes for deep golden richness—speckled, nutty aromatic bits that radiate with warmth and toasty depth.”

When To Use American-Style Butter

Don’t discount American butter, though! This everyday butter, which is typically cheaper than its European counterpart, is a great all-purpose staple to have in the fridge. Most American recipes are designed with American-style butter in mind.

Though she uses European-style butter for biscuits, pie crusts, laminated doughs, shortbreads, and buttercream frostings, cookbook author Cheryl Day of the New York Times bestseller The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, told me, “Butter is one of the most important choices you'll make while baking. I reach for American-style butter—which means it contains a minimum of 80 percent butterfat and a slightly higher amount of water—for my recipes for cakes, brownies, and cookies.”

Ben Yee, from Real California Milk, calls American-style butter a great all-purpose butter with a more neutral flavor and color.

Bottom line, reach for the more expensive European-style butter if you have a recipe where you really want the butter flavor to shine, like buttercream frosting, shortbread cookies, or pound cake; when you’re making a laminated dough like pie crust, flaky biscuits, puff pastry, or croissants; or when you want to treat yourself when smearing butter over bread. However, the more economical American-style butter is a solid all-purpose workhorse in the kitchen that is great for almost all cookie, cake, and brownie recipes.