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Butter with … chunky chips, iced buns or steamed pudding? Readers spill the beans on their tasty little secrets

<span>Photograph: MajaMitrovic/Getty Images</span>
Photograph: MajaMitrovic/Getty Images

“I’m originally from Australia where buttered iced finger buns are mandatory. I’ve put a thick layer inside them all my life. But I now live in England and whenever I ask my local bakery to butter my iced finger bun, they look at me in horror. I’m sure you’re probably pulling a face just reading this, but try it and you’ll thank me. Iced bun + no butter = no fun.” Jennifer Campbell, 50, Essex

“Forget all sauces, the only way to eat pasta is with a large knob of salted butter stirred in, and a generous grind of black pepper. Mmmm.” Maria Mosquera, 50, London

“Coming from an Indian household, I used to love it when my mum would make ghee as the entire house had the most magical, almost nutty, smell. She’d heat blocks of Kerrygold butter, then it was my job to skim the froth off the top, leaving the golden elixir of ghee. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. In October it was Durga Puja, which is a bit like our Christmas, so I had to drive my mum to the shops to bulk-buy Kerrygold so she could make mountains of ghee!” Soumya Basu, 34, Redbridge

“Sprouts belong on a Christmas dinner, but for years the rest of my family wouldn’t so much as look at them, so my mum stopped buying them. About 20 years ago I persuaded her to stop boiling and start roasting them in an entire block of butter and sugar, until they’re like lumps of toffee. They’re now one of our Christmas dinner highlights and she wouldn’t dare cook them any other way.” Samantha Earl, 43, Bournemouth

“I always stir a knob of butter in when I’m cooking baked beans as it makes the tomato sauce even lovelier and thicker. An absolute must for a cold, winter’s day. I remember being a child and my sister and I would go swimming in the sea off the Essex coast. We’d come out blue and shivering and eat a plate of hot, buttery beans. Life doesn’t get much better than that.” Will Cummins, 45, London

Butter

“I still love a couple of Rich Tea biscuits sandwiched together with butter, something my granny gave me when I was a child. I used to squeeze the biscuits together tightly and lick the butter that wormed its way through the biscuit holes. As an adult, I find butter with radishes and a sprinkling of salt something of a revelation.” Niamh Neville, 46, County Cork

“Whenever I’m in a restaurant that serves lush, chunky chips I always ask for a side of butter to dip them in. I’ll have normal condiments too – ketchup and mayo – but I’ll also ask for a little pot of butter. I didn’t think anything of it until my friends started laughing about it. I try and justify it by saying it’s just potato and butter – why is it any different to the way you’d treat a jacket?” Lily Graham, 31, Workington

“I absolutely have to have a thick layer of Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter on fruit cake – especially Christmas cake. Delicious!” Maggie McCann, 60, Connemara

“My favourite evening snack is a Digestive biscuit smothered in salted butter, with a slice of cheese on top. Tonight I had a piece of Comté, but any cheese works as long as you’ve got the salted butter.” Naomi Rahmen-Gee, 47, Southampton

Related: Butter up your Christmas cocktails: the surprise ingredient that takes Manhattans from meh to marvellous

“Whenever I make a steamed pudding I always serve it with a dollop of butter and granulated sugar instead of cream or custard, something I adopted years ago from my Nan. I always put a bit of salted butter on top of my fish fingers too. Way better than ketchup, in my honest opinion.” Tracy Morgan, 54, Wisbech

“Before bed on Christmas Eve our family tradition has always been to have a grilled banana sandwich with loads of salted butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon. The sweet, salty combination is amazing. Mum used to give it to us with hot milk, but now we’re older I tend to have a double gin and tonic with mine.” Jack Cassel-Gerard, 24, Epsom

“My go-to snack is a buttered, dry Weetabix. I think it comes from the days of having a husband working long shifts and being at home alone with three small children. It was quick, easy, cheap, but also delicious, and just works with a cup of tea. I’ll still catch myself buttering one up now.” Susan Wood, 78, Axminster

“I’ll always have warm baguette bread covered in butter, sea salt and lemon zest as an aperitif. I first had it at a two-Michelin-star restaurant in Spain, served as a complimentary snack while we waited for our meal. Simple but absolutely delicious.” Imelda Echevarria Splinter, 38, Spain

Salted, Unsalted or Softer Butter? Let deliciously-creamy Kerrygold fulfil all your buttery cravings – no matter how strange people think they are