Did you know you can make your own homemade butter in a KitchenAid mixer or food processor?!! It is fun & easy and tastes SO much better than the store bought stuff!
Okay, so maybe I just tend to get overly excited about butter in general, but I am pretty sure that making homemade butter in my Kitchen-Aid is both the coolest and the most domestic thing I’ve ever done. Just when I didn’t think it was possible to love an appliance even more….I mean really, what’s better than homemade butter? Mmmmmmmm…..butter……
But I digress.
It was seriously so easy that I see a lot more butter making in our future. Since this was technically a homeschool activity (and had no selfish motivations whatsoever!), we tried to follow the instructions from Little House in the Big Woods as closely as we could. Of course considering that we didn’t have a cow or a real butter churn, or even a wooden bowl and paddle, we did a lot of improvising.
We used a quart of heavy cream, which made approximately a pound of butter and about 2 and 1/2 cups of buttermilk. I paid $5.99 for the cream at Publix, which was a lot, but next time I’d probably stock up at Sam’s Club, where it is just under $3 a quart. I’ve heard Aldi has super cheap cream as well. We also grated a carrot to add yellow coloring because that is the way Ma Ingalls did it, but next time I would probably skip that step!
How to Make Homemade Butter
Here is what you need:
1 carrot (optional) 1/4 c. milk (optional) 1 quart heavy cream 3/4 teaspoon salt
Step 1 (optional): Peel & finely grate a carrot. Heat in small saucepan with 1/4 cup milk until milk is bubbly. Use a clean cheesecloth to strain orange-colored milk into the bowl of your stand mixer. Discard shredded carrot.
Step 2: Pour cream into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add salt. Cover mixer with a towel–trust me on this one, it will be messy! Turn mixer on high.
Step 3: Continue mixing, checking on mixture frequently. It will first turn to whipped cream, then begin to get grainy and separate into butter and buttermilk, and the splashing will get much worse. The butter is ready when it sticks in a clump to the paddle.
Step 4: Place a colander over a bowl, then strain the buttermilk off of the butter. (For a GREAT recipe using buttermilk, try these super yummy refrigerator raisin bran muffins–they are our FAVORITE!)
Step 5: Using your hands or a spatula, press out excess buttermilk under cold running water until water runs clear. Shape into stick or ball. Butter will keep covered in refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. Serve with bread and enjoy!
Note: While we were making our main batch of butter in the Kitchen-Aid, we also made a very small amount of butter by placing the cream in a small jar and taking turns shaking it. This was a great way to show the kids how much work it is to make butter by hand! Our shaken butter didn’t turn out quite as firm, probably because we didn’t shake it long or hard enough–my 3 and 6 year old didn’t have a lot of stamina, but older kids would probably do a little better!
HOMEMADE BUTTER
Ingredients
- 1 carrot optional
- 1/4 c. milk optional
- 1 quart heavy cream
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- (OPTIONAL) Peel & finely grate a carrot. Heat in small saucepan with 1/4 cup milk until milk is bubbly. Use a clean cheesecloth to strain orange-colored milk into the bowl of your stand mixer. Discard shredded carrot.
- Pour cream into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add salt. Cover mixer with a towel–trust me on this one, it will be messy! Turn mixer on high.
- Continue mixing, checking on mixture frequently. It will first turn to whipped cream, then begin to get grainy and separate into butter and buttermilk, and the splashing will get much worse. The butter is ready when it sticks in a clump to the paddle.
Place a colander over a bowl, then strain the buttermilk off of the butter.
Using your hands or a spatula, press out excess buttermilk under cold running water until water runs clear. Shape into stick or ball. Serve with bread and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Preparation time: 30 minutes. Number of servings (yield): Approximately 1 pound of butter + 2 1/2 cups of buttermilk. Butter will keep covered in refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.
Other recipes you’ll love:
Pin for Later:
Ruth Soukup
Latest posts by Ruth Soukup (see all)
- Stop Worrying About Money - July 19
- How to Fit In More Fitness - April 28
- The Most Powerful Decision You’ll Ever Make - April 27
TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR HOME LIFE
Ever feel like you just can't keep up? Our Living Well Starter Guide will show you how to start streamlining your life in just 3 simple steps. It's a game changer--get it free for a limited time!
If you love this resource, be sure to check out our digital library of helpful tools and resources for cleaning faster, taking control of your budget, organizing your schedule, and getting food on the table easier than ever before.
I can guarantee that I will never make homemade butter…but reading your instructions was quite fascinating. Good for you for creating such a fun home schooling experience to show kids where our food really comes from.
Can I bake with this homemade butter?
Yes, just remember to adjust the salt in your recipe because you added salt to the butter. Or leave the salt out when making it and use according to recipe directions. To store put wax paper in your measuring cups ( 1/4, 1/2,…) (divide the 1/4 cup into 4th’s to get your Tbsp) pack it and refrigerate or freeze ( wrap in aluminum foil to store for few months Vacuum seal it to store for a year).
This sounds like an awesome idea and I’m super exited to make it. How long is the butter good for? (This seems like a lot of butter to make at once, I was just wondering if it goes bad more quickly than the store both version)
I used to make all my own butter. I learned years ago that it will eventually sour if you don’t get all the milk out of the butter. It’s still good for baking, but not so great on toast or bread.
It freezes well.
Thanks for posting this! Will def try. Wish I had the recipe qhen I homeschooled.
I made this with a stand mixer and store bought ultra pasteurized heavy cream, NO milk or carrot. Results were GREAT!
1) It was as yellow, if not at least a little yellower than store bought butter, though I am sure that fresher, grass fed cows’ cream will produce a better tasting and better quality butter.
2) I read a post somewhere that it will not work with ultra pasteurized cream… not true! Perhaps by hand it will be more difficult/time consuming, but in the stand mixer it did fine. Honestly, most of us have made butter once or twice accidentally while making whipped cream and taking it too far.
While I see the value in using the jars, also consider the value of the stand mixer – as a cooking lesson. Students can watch the ‘phases’ of turning cream into a foam/froth, soft peaks, stiff peaks and then butter.
I tried this with fresh cream from the cow. I have to say, even with the towel, it was a really big mess. It tastes great, but I’m not sure I would do it again because of the waste of cream all over my kitchen!
You don’t have to do this at high speed. It will take longer on low, but you won’t have the mess. I have made butter in a jar in a backpack on horseback, lol. Slow n steady does the job. And the readers who have commented that you should let the cream reach room temp before beginning are right on – often that is the lengthiest part of the process! 😉
An immersion blender in a half gallon jar works fast without any splashing.