Homemade Butter

Have you ever tried making your own butter?  If not you should!  It is SO easy and takes only about 10 or 15 minutes (assuming you have a stand mixer).  I can hear you asking “WHY should I make my own butter when I can just buy it at the store?”.  Here are 5 reasons why:

1.  Homemade butter tastes better than any store-bought butter

2.  You can use less salt than store bought butter

3.  You can add fun seasonings, like cinnamon, honey, garlic, cilantro, rosemary

4.  It’s a neat process to observe and share with your kids (or your spouse)

5.  It’s FUN!

Let’s get started!  All you need is a quart of whipping cream and your stand mixer with the whisk attachment (and whatever add-ins you may want).

Add the cream to your stand mixer, and mix on medium low (to prevent splashing) for about 5 minutes.  As the cream thickens, turns the speed up to medium high.

As the cream thickens it should start to form soft peaks (the stage you would stop at if folding in to baked goods).  This is a good time to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Continue to mix on medium high or high.  The cream should quickly reach the stiff peaks stage, when the cream stands up in peaks without falling down.  (If you’ve made whipped cream before, this is where you stop and add sugar and/or vanilla extract.)  Stop the mixer, and scrape down the sides of the bowl again.

Keep mixing on medium high speed.  Now the cream will begin to look “curdled” and seize up.  It will also start to look light yellow.  This is the beginning of the butter’s “ugly duckling” phase.  Keep going!

As more liquid appears (this is buttermilk!) you should turn down the mixer to medium-low or low to keep it from splashing and mix for a few more minutes.

Now it is time to separate the buttermilk from the butter.  Transfer the butter to a bowl, squeezing out as much buttermilk as you can.  You can save this buttermilk to bake with in recipes like Blueberry Crumb Cake or Buttermilk Pancakes.  It’s not going to taste exactly like store bought buttermilk (which I never buy anyway!), but you can add a little bit of lemon juice or vinegar to it and it will work just fine.

Time to wash the butter!  Add cold water to the bowl of butter, and knead the butter.  When the water turns cloudy, pour out the water and repeat the kneading process.  You’ll need to do this about 5 times, or until the water stays clear as you knead the butter.

To make the butter lighter and smoother, put it back in the mixer for a few more minutes on medium speed.  This is when you should add the salt or any other seasonings, and mix well.

The butter can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks….if you don’t eat it all first!  Tastes delicious with homemade bread!

Have YOU ever made your own butter?