Butter making. Talk about intimidation. However, this age old skill is not just for the Laura Ingalls Wilder types.
Anyone can make butter and it takes less than ten minutes to do. All you need is heavy whipping cream. No doubt fresh raw cream would be even better, but using store bought heaving whipping cream makes a very delicious butter.
You can certainly do this with a hand mixer, although it will take longer.
Stand mixers were made for this job, taking the hard work out of butter making. While we are on the topic of stand mixers, they really are a work horse for a cooking from scratch kitchen. For years, like 20 years, I did not have a stand mixer. I also didn’t see the need in one until I really jumped into cooking from scratch.
I still couldn’t bring myself to spend the $400 or more on a new one, so I got my mixture off Facebook Marketplace and it works great. Andrew did have to service it, but a service kit is fairly inexpensive. Anyways, my old stand mixture (made in 2006) is a lifesaver in my kitchen now. All this to say, you don’t have to have expensive brand new gadgets in your kitchen to cook from scratch.
Okay, let’s get back to the butter.
The taste and satisfaction of making something yourself is where you are going to benefit in this recipe.
My cooking from scratch journey was largely started because I was tired of going over budget every month on groceries.
In case you’re in the same boat, I’ll throw out the cost for you.
At my Walmart, a carton of heaving whipping cream is $4.97. One carton will make 4 sticks of butter. 4 sticks of butter will cost me $3.44, and a 24 oz tub of butter cost $6.56.
So in this case it’s not cheaper to make your own butter, but again the taste is no comparison. Add to that the knowledge you gain in making butter from cream is a invaluable.
Bonus points, if you have kids, this is a great science experiment that they can eat! My kids were amazed watching the cream go from a liquid to whipped cream to butter.
Honestly, the taste of this butter is so creamy. It is the best butter I have ever had for sure!
This recipe calls for 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and makes 1/2 cup (2 sticks) of butter. Of course you could go ahead and put in the whole 32 oz carton of cream and make 1 lb (4 sticks) of butter. Or if you only had 1 Cup of cream, you would get 1/4 cup of butter (1 stick). This is what I used at the time I made this butter, because it’s all the cream I had on hand.
This butter recipe comes from Chef Jean Pierre. Give his video a watch before you try making butter or watch while you are making your butter. He goes step by step and is very entertaining. I just love Chef Jean Pierre!
Here’s what you’ll need:
2 cups of heavy whipping cream.
Mixing bowl.
A stand mixer or hand mixer.
The whisk and paddle attachment, if you are using a stand mixer.
Before you get started, put your bowl and attachments in the refrigerator to get cold. Also keep your heavy cream in the refrigerator until you are ready to start It’s important that everything is cold.
Step one: Add the heavy whipping cream to your bowl and mix. Continue to mix until the cream gets thick and turns into whipped cream. At this point, if you are using a stand mixer, change from the whisk to the paddle. It will keep the butter from getting all tangled in your whisk.
Keep mixing until the now whipped cream thickens even more and starts clumping together. At this point, it will be turning yellow. You will also see that the milk has separated from the butter. We’ll use this buttermilk in another recipe. We’ve almost got butter!
Step two: Now that the butter is a clump in your bowl, it’s important to strain the rest of the milk out of it.
You can strain the butter by using a cheese cloth, a thin towel, or just your hands. Whichever way you choose, using a pair of kitchen gloves is a good idea. I just about got frost bite from rising the butter in the icy water.
Luckily Andrew was so excited about making butter, that he took over this process for me!
To rinse, you will simply squeeze the butter over and over in the ice water until you notice milk is no longer coming from the butter when you squeeze.
If you want salted butter, go ahead and add the salt in at this point. Just a pinch is all it really needs.
All you do now is shape the butter. Store the butter in the refrigerator. For spreadable butter, let it sit on the counter to soften before you use it.
This was so fun to make! I hope you give butter making a try! Enjoy!