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Hi Bold Bakers!

WHAT YOU GET: A creamy, spicy, and tangy flavored butter recipe that makes whatever it touches irresistible. Who can say no to Chipotle Lime Compound Butter?

This bold butter is one to be noticed! My homemade chipotle lime compound butter combines the spicy and smokey flavors of canned chipotles chiles with refreshing lime, pungent garlic, and creamy butter. It’s a flavor that completely transforms ears of sweet corn, roasted vegetables, or even proteins like fish and chicken.

Honestly, can you imagine a better secret ingredient for your savory dishes? This spicy butter will help you win over any anti-veggie picky eater. You’ll be begged to spread your kitchen know-how. You’ll reign supreme at any barbeque!

Is that a bit much? I think you’ll agree with me once you whip up this flavored butter!

Try these other flavors, too:

What Are Chipotles?

This recipe calls for canned chipotles in adobo sauce, but what exactly are chipotles? In 2003, McCormick, the spice and seasoning manufacturer, dubbed “chipotle” the flavor to watch — but people have been enjoying chipotles for a lot longer than that, especially in central and southern Mexico.

Chipotle peppers are jalapeño chiles that have been dried and smoked. While other peppers dried naturally in the sun and were well preserved, jalapeños have too much liquid to dry out without cooking them, and if they were left too long, they would rot instead. Smoking solves this problem.

Chipotles are left on the vine to ripen past a jalapeño’s green stage to become red and more flavorful.

Are Chipotle Peppers Spicy?

Chipotle peppers taste fruity and can be a little spicy. According to the Scoville Scale, which measures how spicy peppers are, chipotles are around 5,000 to 8,000 Scoville Heat Units.

To put that into perspective, green bell peppers score a zero, pepperoncini score between 100 and 500, and green jalapeños score between 2,500 and 8,000. Higher scoring peppers include cayenne peppers, which land between 30,000 to 50,000, while the hottest known chili, the Carolina Reaper, scores from 1,400,000 to 2,200,000. So on the scale of spicy, chipotles are relatively low!

What Is Adobo Sauce? Can You Use Dried Chilis To Make Chipotle Lime Compound Butter?

You’ll want to use canned chipotles in adobo sauce for this recipe instead of dried chilis. Dried chilis need to be rehydrated before use, and they won’t have the same texture as chipotles in adobo sauce. Adobo sauce is a type of marinade that originally was used to preserve meat. It is typically made from chili powder, vinegar, garlic, spices, and paprika, which gives it that iconic intense red coloring.

Tools You’ll Need To Make Chipotle Lime Butter

Measuring cups and spoons
Stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a handheld mixer
Plastic wrap

Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making Chipotle Lime Compound Butter

A little goes a long way with this butter, and the recipe can easily be halved. You can also freeze this butter. Before freezing, slice the butter into individual pieces and lay them on a parchment-lined tray, and allow the butter to freeze completely. Once frozen, transfer to a covered container and store in the freezer.
Be sure to use chipotles from a can in adobo sauce and not dried chipotle chilies – these have to be reconstituted in boiling water before they can be used and will have a different flavor profile.
Try spreading this butter on grilled prawns, with roasted vegetables, or on chicken.
If you prefer things a little less spicy, you can reduce the number of chipotles. Add a little smoked paprika, if you have it, to get that smokey flavor.

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