Sometimes the easiest way to make breakfast more interesting isn’t changing what you’re making—it’s changing what you put on top.
Homemade flavored butter, cream cheese, and whipped cream are simple to make and easy to customize with LorAnn flavors. Start with a basic creamy base, add your favorite flavor, and in just a few minutes you have a homemade topping or spread for pancakes, waffles, French toast, biscuits, bagels, muffins, fruit, and more.
Once you know the basic formulas, you can use them again and again with different flavors.
The Basic Formula for Homemade Flavored Breakfast Toppings
Making your own flavored breakfast toppings comes down to a simple approach:
Choose a base + add LorAnn flavor + sweeten to taste
Butter and cream cheese should be softened so the flavor mixes in evenly, while heavy whipping cream should stay cold for the best volume and texture.
LorAnn Super-Strength Flavors are highly concentrated, so a little goes a long way. LorAnn® Better Than Extracts™ Bakery Emulsions can also be used to flavor creamy spreads and toppings. Start conservatively, mix thoroughly, taste, and adjust as needed.
Homemade Flavored Butter
Flavored butter—also known as compound butter—is an easy way to add flavor to pancakes, waffles, French toast, biscuits, muffins, or toast.
Basic Sweet Flavored Butter
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks / 226 g) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon (5 mL) LorAnn Bakery Emulsion OR ¼ teaspoon (1.25 mL) LorAnn Super-Strength Flavor
1–2 tablespoons powdered sugar or honey, optional
Pinch of salt, optional
Directions
Beat the softened butter with an electric mixer until smooth, creamy, and slightly fluffy.
Add the LorAnn flavor and mix until evenly incorporated.
Add powdered sugar or honey for a sweeter spread and a pinch of salt, if desired. Mix until smooth.
Taste and gradually add more flavor or sweetener as needed.
Serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. Allow chilled butter to soften slightly before serving.
Flavors to try: Cinnamon Roll, Maple, Brown Butter, Butter Vanilla, Cherry Almond, or Orange.
TIP: Some Super-Strength Flavors are more potent than others. Start with the recommended amount and add more gradually to reach your preferred flavor intensity.
Homemade Flavored Cream Cheese
Flavored cream cheese takes only a few minutes to prepare and works especially well with bagels, toast, English muffins, muffins, pancakes, waffles, and quick breads.
Basic Flavored Cream Cheese
Ingredients
8 ounces (226 g) full-fat cream cheese, softened
½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) LorAnn Bakery Emulsion OR ⅛ teaspoon (0.6 mL) LorAnn Super-Strength Flavor
2–3 tablespoons powdered sugar or honey, optional
Directions
Beat the softened cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
Add the LorAnn flavor and mix until evenly incorporated.
Add powdered sugar or honey, if desired, and mix until smooth.
Taste and gradually add more flavor or sweetener as needed.
Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Flavors to try: Strawberry, Raspberry, Blueberry, Cinnamon Roll, Lemon, Orange, Maple, or Brown Butter.
For added texture and flavor, fold in fresh fruit, toasted nuts, mini chocolate chips, or other favorite mix-ins after mixing.
Homemade Flavored Whipped Cream
Flavored whipped cream makes an easy finishing touch for pancakes, waffles, French toast, crepes, oatmeal, fresh fruit, coffee, and more.
Basic Flavored Whipped Cream
Ingredients
1 cup (240 mL) cold heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons (16 g) powdered sugar
½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) LorAnn Bakery Emulsion OR ⅛ teaspoon (0.6 mL) LorAnn Super-Strength Flavor
Directions
Beat the cold heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until the cream begins to thicken and soft peaks form.
Add the LorAnn flavor and continue beating until evenly incorporated and medium peaks form.
Taste and add more flavor gradually, if desired. Avoid overwhipping.
Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Flavors to try: Vanilla, Raspberry, Coffee, Lemon, Salted Caramel, Coconut, Peppermint, or Cinnamon.
Mix, Match & Make It Your Own
Once you know the three basic recipes, the fun is mixing and matching flavors with your favorite breakfast foods.
Maple Pecan
Make Maple flavored butter and serve it over pancakes or waffles with toasted pecans.
Blueberry & Cream
Add Blueberry flavor to cream cheese, spread it over a toasted bagel, and finish with fresh berries.
Cinnamon Roll
Add Cinnamon Roll flavor to butter and serve it with warm pancakes, French toast, biscuits, or muffins.
Cherry Almond
Add Cherry flavor to cream cheese and pair it with toasted almonds.
Apple Pie
Add Apple Pie flavor to butter and spread it over warm toast, pancakes, waffles, or muffins.
Peaches & Cream
Add Peach flavor to whipped cream and spoon it over waffles, pancakes, crepes, or fresh peaches.
Use these combinations as inspiration, then experiment with different bases and flavors to create your own.
Three simple bases. So many ways to flavor them.
Tips for Better Flavored Breakfast Toppings
Pay Attention to Temperature
Butter and cream cheese should be softened enough to mix easily and evenly. Heavy whipping cream should stay cold for the best volume and texture.
Add Flavor Gradually
It’s easy to add more flavor, but you can’t take it back out. This is especially important with highly concentrated Super-Strength Flavors and particularly potent flavors such as cinnamon and mint.
Sweeten to Taste
Powdered sugar dissolves easily in creamy toppings, while honey adds both sweetness and its own flavor. Depending on the flavor and what you’re serving it with, you can also leave the additional sweetener out.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the Difference Between a Bakery Emulsion and a Super-Strength Flavor?
LorAnn® Better Than Extracts™ Bakery Emulsions are water-based flavorings that can be used in place of extracts in baking and frosting applications. They are approximately the same strength as a traditional extract.
LorAnn Super-Strength Flavors are highly concentrated—typically 3 to 4 times stronger than traditional baking extracts—so much less is needed.
How Much LorAnn Flavor Should I Use?
The amount depends on both the LorAnn product and the individual flavor.
For flavored butter, start with 1 teaspoon Bakery Emulsion or ¼ teaspoon Super-Strength Flavor per 1 cup of butter. For cream cheese and whipped cream, start with ½ teaspoon Bakery Emulsion or ⅛ teaspoon Super-Strength Flavor. Mix thoroughly, taste, and gradually adjust as needed.
Can I Combine LorAnn Flavors?
Yes. Combining flavors is an easy way to create custom flavor combinations. Try Cherry + Almond, Maple + Cinnamon, Raspberry + Lemon, or Peach + Vanilla. Start with small amounts of each flavor, mix thoroughly, taste, and adjust as needed.
Can I Make These Toppings Ahead of Time?
Yes. Flavored butter and cream cheese can be prepared ahead of time, covered, and refrigerated until ready to serve. Allow refrigerated butter to soften slightly before serving. Flavored whipped cream is best when made closer to serving time for the best texture and volume.
Bring more flavor to the breakfast table.
Once you know the basics, it’s easy to turn butter, cream cheese, and whipped cream into something new. Choose a favorite LorAnn flavor, start with one of these simple recipes, and create a homemade topping that makes breakfast a little more delicious.
