Rick’s Handmade Butter
“Is this really OK? Thank you. Your milk is very good. In return, I’ll teach you how to make special butter. Once you’ve tasted it, you’ll go nuts over it.” - Rick, Harvest Moon 64
Homemade butter is actually quite easy to make, and tastes much better than anything store bought. Plus, you can add any herbs or spices that you’d like. I made a simple salted butter and an Italian herb butter. Cinnamon and a bit of sugar would also be a good butter for spreading on toast or pancakes.
Time: Less than 30 minutes
Two cups of cream will make about 1 cup of butter.
First, start with some cream. Heavy whipping cream will work, but I bought cream from a store that sold dairy from a local farm.
If you have a food processor, pour two cups (or if yours is smaller, fill it just over the blade until it’s half full) of cream into it. If you don’t have a food processor, skip to the end to learn how to make it without one. Since I’m making salted butter, I also pulled out some coarse kosher salt. Regular table salt will work as well, though you might need to adjust measurements to taste. Unsalted butter is fine, too.
Turn the processor on low and let it go for about seven minutes. It will start to clump up and turn yellow when it’s done. The liquid leftover is buttermilk, and can be saved for other recipes.
I poured the buttermilk off to make bread later.
After pouring off the buttermilk, rinse the butter several times with ice cold water. I took the workbowl off the processor and swirled the water around and poured it out into the sink. Rinse and pour out until it becomes clear.
Once the butter is thoroughly rinsed, add salt or other preferred ingredients and pulse in the food processor a few times to get everything stirred up. I used a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt. Then place the butter into a cheesecloth or other kitchen towel and squeeze it to get the extra liquid out.
Place the butter on parchment paper or wax paper and roll it out, or you can simply keep the butter in a ball and wrap in cling wrap or place into an air tight container.
I rolled mine into a little log. Twist the ends of the parchment or wax paper to keep air out and place it in the fridge. It will keep in the fridge for about a week. You could also freeze it indefinitely if you won’t use it all right away.
- Two cups of butter
- Salt to taste, or other preferred herbs or flavorings
- Put two cups of cream into a food processor, or for those with smaller processors, fill it just about halfway
- Process on low speed for about 7 minutes, or until yellow lumps start to form
- Pour off buttermilk
- Rinse butter with ice cold water until water runs clear
- Add desired ingredients and pulse a few times to incorporate them; for simple salted butter, use a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt, adjusting to taste
- Place butter on cheese cloth and wring extra liquid out
- Wrap in wax or parchment paper and roll into a log, or place in an airtight container
- The butter keeps in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer indefinitely
If you don’t have a food processor, but you do have a jar with a screw-on lid, you can also make butter at home!
- Fill a jar with a screw on lid half-way with cream
- Shake the heck out of that jar. Keep shaking until butter solids form. This can take seven minutes or more, depending on how hard you shake
- Once the butter has formed, pour off the buttermilk
- Rinse the butter with ice cold water and place butter into a bowl
- Let it come to room temperature and mix in preferred ingredients
- Place in the fridge until it firms up a little, roughly 10 to 15 minutes
- Place butter onto wax or parchment paper and roll into a log, or simply scoop it into an airtight container
- The butter will keep in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer indefinitely
Like I said, butter is really easy to make at home and you can impress your friends and family with knowing how to make it. Flavored butters are great additions to meals and also great, inexpensive homemade gifts, especially around the holidays. You can also use the buttermilk you get from it to make bread, biscuits, or other baked treats which you can then spread your homemade butter on!
