Homemade Butter

Making homemade butter is way easier than most people think, and it is SO quick. It’s one of the things that I don’t always do in my kitchen, but I think it’s a good skill to have in your back pocket. Plus it’s just so insanely cool to see cream separate into butter right in front of your eyes. It makes me feel so thankful that we don’t live in the day and age when churning butter was a thing…because your girl could not.

And the food science behind homemade butter is surprisingly interesting, so if you have any questions I’ll try to detail them out a bit further down in the blog post. But feel free to chime in with any qs in the comments, we can always get into more detail there!

Why make butter at home?

With butter being so readily available in stores, I know the first thing you are thinking is “Why make butter at home?” And my answer to that is two-fold:

First, it’s just cool. It’s another way of working with food that connects us to where our food comes from, how it’s made, and the components of food that can cause these food reactions. When it comes to making butter at home, I think it’s a great way to get one step closer to the food production process and to know more about what goes on your toast.

Second, when you make butter at home, you can control the ingredients, the saltiness, the freshness and the texture of the butter. Making butter at home means you’re in charge of the process. You get to salt it, you get to whip it (if you prefer), you can keep the leftover buttermilk and you can choose where you source your cream.

Doing the homemade version just gives you more know-how and more control, which I think is a win all around.

What happens when you make homemade butter

Now let’s talk science!

Making butter is simple. You first start with cream.

Cream is derived from whole milk, because when milk is left out, fat molecules float to the top, creating a layer of cream that we skim off and use for other purposes. People usually whipped cream with it.

Homemade butter is one step past whipped cream. To get butter, you have to agitate, whip or mix the cream long enough for the fat molecules to begin to clump together. After enough time mixing and shaking, the fat molecules clump together into butter, leaving the liquid and butterfat behind.

All that’s left to do is squeeze out any excess liquid between the fat molecules, and then voilá, you have butter!

The ingredients you need for a classic homemade butter

So now that we know how to make butter, we know that you only need:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• Salt to taste

How to make butter

And this is the process I use to make butter. You don’t need a stand mixer, but I’ve found it’s the easiest method. Here is a step-by-step breakdown:

• Add the heavy cream to an electric mixer. Start whipping the cream on low speed until it thickens slightly.
• Gradually increase the mixer speed to medium-high and continue to whip for 5-7 minutes, scraping down the sides every now and then. Continue mixing past the whipped cream phase, and you’ll see the cream begin to break into butter (fat molecules) and liquid (buttermilk).
• Remove the butter from the mixer (save the buttermilk for use later!) and squeeze out any excess moisture by repeatedly squeezing the butter through your hands.
• Quickly rinse the butter under ice-cold water and add salt to taste.
• Store in either an air-tight container or rolled up in parchment paper. Keep it in the fridge and use within 10-14 days.

Looking for other spreads?

Every now and then, I love a good toast. Here are a few of my favorite spreads from the past few weeks that just *might* top your butter craving:

And that’s everything for Homemade Butter!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3