I’m an impulsive baker. The only time I’ve ever planned to bake something before I started mixing things together was Thanksgiving when I had to plan around a huge hank of meat that would be taking over the oven for hours. Anyway, my point is that for baking they always tell you to use softened butter. Most people soften it either by sticking it on the counter for an hour (boooorrriinngggg) or nuking it for 20 seconds (which never works well, it always gets melty in places). I found this quick way to soften butter via Craftzine.
Images and instructions courtesy of elise.com.
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Just put the stick of butter between two large pieces of wax paper. Using a rolling pin, press down on the butter. Roll it out they way you would roll out a pie crust. When the butter is about 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick, lift off the wax paper and peel away the butter (before it gets too soft to peel).
Voilà! Softened butter, ready for beating.