Did you love fresh, homemade butter as a child? Nothing tastes as fresh and brings back such fond memories! This homemade butter recipe is delicious and super easy, too! Learn how to make homemade butter with this quick recipe.
How to Make Homemade Butter
All you need when making homemade butter and buttermilk is heavy cream. Well, that and a stand mixer and half an hour or so. Find heavy whipping cream in the dairy section of your local grocer. It is sold by the pint or by the quart, for about the price of a pound of pre-made butter, depending on which you pick.
Making homemade butter is not as hard as it sounds. In elementary school we made butter in a way similar to this method, except we used old Tupperware containers which required us firmly hold the lid and shake and shake until those butter clumps formed.
In the olden days it was required to churn and churn until the butter formed. Talk about a workout! I am so thankful for my stand mixer. Follow the instructions below and you’ll have your own butter in the fridge in no time.
About homemade butter
There’s nothing that tastes better than eating your own butter. You can make it unsalted or salted, or add in other flavors or spices as well! Think along the lines of garlic butter for toast to pair with spaghetti on Italian night, or cinnamon sugar butter to sprinkle on the kids’ toast in the morning. You could even separate it out and make several different flavors from the same original batch.
Is Homemade butter easy to make?
YES! This is such an easy way to make butter that even the kids will enjoy helping. They can help pour in the heavy cream and they’ll be fascinated when they get to taste their own concoction.
Total time to make butter should be about half an hour, but the prep time is negligible. You literally just throw it in the mixer!
Can you use a hand mixer instead of a stand mixer?
The short answer to this is yes, but it is definitely easier with a stand mixer. It doesn’t have to be a fancy mixer either. You may also be able to use a food processor depending on the functions of yours.
Is it cheaper to make your own butter?
One quart of heavy cream should yield about three sticks of butter, or about 3/4 pound. With the price of store-bought butter nowadays it can be cheaper to make your own than to buy it.
The other benefit to making your own butter is that you naturally get the byproduct, buttermilk. Buttermilk is great for using in other recipes that call for milk, and you can even freeze it for future use! Make sure to label the frozen milk with the date made and the amount so you’re not left guessing.
How to store homemade butter
Store your freshly made butter in a wide-mouthed jar with a lid in the refrigerator or cover it with plastic wrap. Short, wide-mouthed mason jars like these would work perfectly.
How long does homemade butter last?
Homemade butter lasts up to 2 weeks in the fridge. While I personally like to leave some butter out on the counter for easy spreading on toast etc, keep in mind that the shelf life of homemade butter is only a couple of days when left out. Don’t leave out too much of it at room temperature at once or you’ll find yourself throwing it out.
How do I make my own butter step by step?
1. Pull out your kitchen mixer and insert the whisk attachment.
In this tutorial I am using one entire pint of heavy whipping cream.
2. Turn on your mixer, set the speed as high as you can go without the cream splashing out of the bowl. I find that this is a medium-high speed, or the 4 setting on my mixer. If you have a larger bowl on your mixer, you may be able to go up a speed still.
3. Let it mix. This can take up to 20 minutes or so. It will turn into a whipped cream and soon it will start to separate into butter and buttermilk.
4. Let the mixer go until you hear more of a splashing sound than a mixing noise. You’ll know it when you hear it, it will sound like liquid.
5. Turn down the speed and watch until you have as much of the butter as possible inside the whisk itself. This just makes the next process that much easier.
6. When you’ve got the majority of the butter inside the whisk, turn off your mixer and prepare an ice bath.
7. Using a medium sized bowl, place the formed butter in ice water. To do this, carefully remove the whisk and smush the butter through the tines. Chill the butter in ice-cold water.
8. Let the butter chill for about 15 minutes or so. This is a great opportunity to clean up by rinsing the whisk and transferring the buttermilk to another container, either to use right away or to freeze.
9. Knead the butter to get any excess liquid out. A cheese cloth may be helpful for this process. Squeeze it, roll it around, rough it up a little, then form into a ball.
10. Add any salt, garlic, cinnamon, sugar, or other flavorings you like. It does not take much, and you don’t have to add in anything at all. Experiment and let me know which flavors your family likes best!
You’ll want to keep the butter refrigerated in an airtight container and use it within two weeks. You can even use an old container that has the print removed! Consider removing the print from several different smaller containers and making one a designated garlic variety, or a designated cinnamon sugar butter variety, etc.
Easy peasy, right? Use your fresh, homemade butter with any of these delicious recipes:
Cranberry Orange Scones Recipe
Honey Jalapeño Cornbread Recipe
Easy Hidden Zucchini Bread or Muffins Recipe
Apple Pumpkin Muffin Recipe
Easy Baked Apple Crumble Recipe
More homemade:
Three Ingredient Drop Biscuits :: Homemade and Buttery!
Easy Homemade Pumpkin Dog Biscuits
EASY Homemade Bisquick Recipe
How to Make Balsamic Glaze
5 Minute Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing/Dip
How to Make Homemade Taco Seasoning
