How to Make Butter

It is super frugal and easy too. In fact, you can get your kids involved in making butter at home. We did this over our last fall break. I’m not sure why I’m just now sharing it with you, but I know you will love that I did.

We love making homemade butter for the holidays. It is a special addition to our dinner and even better topped on these Empty Tomb Rolls.

Why We Love This Recipe

I remember making butter at home when I was a little kid. Or maybe we made it in Kindergarten class, either way, I remember being fascinated that if you shook some “white liquid” (that I now realize was cream!) long enough you ended up with delicious butter, that simply tasted amazing spread on saltine crackers.

I wanted to share that experience with my kids. So we did it and they were all amazed at just how easy it was and how it tasted!

Ingredients

• Heavy Whipping Cream  – Any brand will work
• Small Mason Jars – We used small ones that I had bought on Amazon

For the full recipe, scroll to the bottom for the recipe card.

Variations Ideas

• Add Fresh Herbs – Take it up a notch by adding herbs or flavorings to it before you refrigerate it. Add some chopped basil, parsley and garlic for a quick garlic basil butter. Parmesan and cheddar cheese are also a good flavor combo. Cinnamon butter is also a great option.
• Salted Butter – If you want the delicious taste of salt, just sprinkle some in and give it a quick shake. It doesn’t take much to make it nice and salty.

How to Make Butter in Mason Jar

Step 1 – You pour about ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream into your mason jar. Make sure the lid is on tight.

Step 2 – Shake the jar. This is where I get my kids to help.

Step 3 – The fun part is about halfway through you can take the lid off and show them that they made whipped cream.

Step 4 – After a while, the cream turns into more of a solid and there will be a lot less liquid left. This is liquid buttermilk. You can strain it off, or leave it in if you want a thinner butter. Use a fine mesh sieve to drain.

• Step 5 – Wrap the butter in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for about an hour. You can eat it immediately, and believe me, we did. However, I liked it better when it was nice and cold.

How to Make Butter in Food Processor

Homemade butter can also be made in a food processor. Pour the heavy cream into the bowl of the food processor and begin running the machine. Once you see the liquid splatter on the side of the food processor then stop the machine.

You will know that the process is done is when you see butter and buttermilk separated. If you do not, continue running the food processor. You may need to rinse the butter to remove the buttermilk.

How to Make Butter in Blender

Pour the heavy whipping cream in the blender and blend on high speed until the cream begins to separate into butter and buttermilk and splashing on the sides.

You may need to stop the blender several times to scrape the sides of the blender to make sure the cream gets into the blade.

Homemade butter can also be mixed with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a hand mixer in a large mixing bowl.

What to Do with Leftover Buttermilk?

When your butter gets to the stage where it separates from the liquid, place it on cheese cloth and squeeze to remove the remaining buttermilk. Some people find that pouring in a small amount of ice cold water before they remove the butter solids will help the solids separate from the buttermilk better. Rinse the butter to remove the remaining buttermilk, you don’t want it to go waste.

Once you strain the buttermilk, don’t toss it. You can use the buttermilk in pancakes, use it in homemade ranch dressing, gluten-free biscuits, or really any recipe that calls for buttermilk. So really, this recipe is a two for one!

Serving Suggestions

This homemade bread is delicious on Homemade Kings Hawaiian Rolls Recipe and it was amazing on those warm rolls or toast with honey. It is also delicious served on Peanut Butter Bread, Oatmeal Banana Bread and Applesauce Bread.

You can even use it to top these Homemade Mashed Potatoes or make garlic butter to top this Air Fryer Steak.