Conventional baking wisdom says to use unsalted butter because you have more control over the amount of salt in a recipe, and salt amounts in salted butter vary from brand to brand. It’s like a blank slate!

While this may be true, I have personally found that salted butter works just fine without a noticeable difference most of the time. In fact I actually prefer to use it in recipes where I want a little oomph of extra flavor and sweet and salty-ness— like cookies, caramel and rice krispie treats.

The bottom line? Use what you already have! And if you’re unsure about using salted butter in a recipe that specifically requires unsalted butter, play it safe and reduce the salt amount in the recipe by one half if you like.