Have you ever wondered how butter is made? This heavy cream butter recipe shows how to make homemade butter from scratch. It's divine smeared on our fresh, homemade Bread Machine Honey Wheat Bread, and it's easy to make!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Whether you’re looking for something unique to top off your toast or are looking for a project to intrigue your kids, learning how to make butter from scratch can be a lot of fun!
- Fun to make. Your kids will love churning butter at home with you. It highlights the reality of where their food actually comes from.
- Easy to make. It's super easy. You can even use a hand held mixer or blender, if you don't have a stand mixer.
- Delicious. You will taste the freshness in your homemade butter. It just does not compare to mass farm raised butter.
- Versatile. You can make honey butter, cinnamon butter, herbal butter, and all sorts flavored butters with this delicious fresh made butter.
Jump to:
- Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Ingredients For Churning Butter At Home
- How To Churn Butter
- How Much Cream To Make 1 Pound Of Butter?
- Serving Suggestions
- Related Recipes
- Substitutions and Variations
- Equipment
- Storage and Reheating
- Tips for Success
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Some Other Recipes We Are Sure You Will Love
- 📖 Recipe
- Food Safety
Ingredients For Churning Butter At Home
First, churning is kind of an old fashioned term for making homemade butter, because we are going to use the stand mixer.
Second, butter fat in cream is all over the place, as are the names of how stores or geographic location identify the cartons. Light cream, heavy cream, whipping cream? What are you looking for when making butter with heavy cream?
Regardless what the container names the cream, look for a cream that has AT LEAST 30% butterfat. That will usually be 'heavy cream', and it's usually about 36% butterfat. Costco however has heavy cream at 40% butterfat!
- Heavy cream - Get cream that is at least 30% butterfat. Costco sells heavy cream at a 40% butterfat, and you get so much more butter from it!
- Salt - Salt is optional, as you can make this heavy cream butter unsalted also.
- Cold water - You'll use cold water to wash the butter, so that all the buttermilk is rinsed out. It's an easy, but important step, otherwise the butter will sour from buttermilk left in the butter.
Full ingredient amounts and preparation instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How To Churn Butter
Here you'll learn the basics of making butter in your stand mixer so that you can whip up batches whenever inspiration strikes. So grab some heavy cream with at least a 30 to 36% butterfat and get ready to make decadent homemade butter from scratch!
Whip It Until It Breaks
What happens when you over whip heavy cream is breakage, or separation of the fat and water particles. This separation is then pulled together to form a ball of butterfat and the liquid is natural buttermilk!
- Set up your KitchenAid or other stand mixer and beat the cream until peaks form.
- Start on low, and slowly build up to a medium speed.
- Continue to beat the heavy cream past high peaks.
- All of a sudden, the air will deflate and the fat will break out into globs, separating from the buttermilk.
Separate Butter From The Buttermilk
- Use a spatula and pull the bits of butterfat into one glob, mushing it together so it expels buttermilk.
- Drain the buttermilk into a jar or storage tub and refrigerate or freeze it for baking. It's perfect for pancakes, biscuit, or scones.
Add Cold Water To The Butter
You can wash the ball of butterfat directly under a stream of cold water, or in the bowl. The goal is to fold the butter over on itself in the fresh, cold water to rinse out the buttermilk residue.
Leftover buttermilk in the butter will sour after a few days, ruining your homemade butter.
Wash The Butter
- Faucet Method: Turn the cold water on so that it runs very cold. Holding the ball of butter under the cold water, knead it like Play-dough, working the cold water as you fold the butter over itself repeatedly.
Mixing Bowl Method: Add two cups of cold water (ice water, if you can stand it) into the mixing bowl with the ball of butter. Using a spatula, paddle the butter in the cold water so it fold over on itself repeatedly, washing out the buttermilk residue.
- Drain the cold water out of the bowl once you feel you've washed the butter well. Add the salt now if you are making homemade salted butter. Knead it in like you did when washing the butter.
- Place your homemade butter in a crock or storage container and refrigerate. You can shape it with butter molds, or in a block if you prefer also. Serve with hot homemade bread, scones, pancakes, or whatever you fresh butter on.
How Much Cream To Make 1 Pound Of Butter?
| Fat Content (%) | Amount of Cream (Ounces) |
|---|---|
| 30% | 32 |
| 32% | 30 |
| 35% | 28 |
| 40% | 26 |
Serving Suggestions
The flavor of freshly made butter cannot be denied; it gets bonus points for you being able to choose grass fed or even organically fed cows. You'll notice the difference!
Serve this creamy heavy cream butter with some of our delicious quick and yeast bread recipes:
- Old Fashioned Crisco Biscuits
- Pumpkin Pecan Waffles
- Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
- Apple Flaxseed Muffins
- Keto Red Lobster Biscuits
- Challah Rolls
- Twisted Garlic Herb Bread
- Jack & Hatch Cajun Cornbread
- Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread
Full ingredient amounts and preparation instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Related Recipes
Substitutions and Variations
Here are a few delicious variations when making homemade butter.
- Once you've churned the butter, you can add cinnamon and honey and make our Texas Roadhouse Cinnamon Honey Butter recipe!
- Snip some of your garden herbs, and make Tarragon Butter, Rosemary Compound Butter, and a Garlic Herb Steak Butter.
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Below are some of my favorite pieces of equipment that I use when making homemade butter.
Storage and Reheating
- Store freshly churned homemade butter covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
- You can freeze this butter for up to 6 months also. Be sure to wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
- Defrost in the refrigerator after freezing, then let come to room temperature before serving so that it's spreadable.
Tips for Success
- Rinse the butter well, it will add to the shelf life in the refrigerator. You don't want any buttermilk residue to go sour in the butter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Go by the butterfat content. Look for at least 30%, though 36% and 40% will yield more butter.
You will need 32 oz of heavy cream at 30% butterfat to make 1 lb of butter. If you use heavy cream at 40% butterfat, you only need 26 oz.
Salt is not essential to making homemade butter, but it can enhance the flavor. If you do add salt, use about ¼ teaspoon of salt per cup of heavy cream.
Washed homemade butter will last up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator, and up to 6 months in the freezer.
Some Other Recipes We Are Sure You Will Love
📖 Recipe
Homemade Butter From Scratch
Ingredients
- 2 cup Heavy cream
- 3 cup Cold water for washing butter
- ¼ teaspoon Salt or to taste
Instructions
- Set up your KitchenAid or other stand mixer and beat the cream until peaks form.2 cup Heavy cream
- Start on low, and slowly build up to a medium speed.Continue to beat the heavy cream past high peaks.
- All of a sudden, the air will deflate and the fat will break out into globs, separating from the buttermilk.
- Use a spatula and pull the bits of butterfat into one glob, mushing it together so it expels buttermilk.
- Drain the buttermilk into a jar or storage tub and refrigerate or freeze it for baking. It's perfect for pancakes, biscuit, or scones.
Wash The Butter
- Leftover buttermilk in the butter will sour after a few days, ruining your homemade butter, so you will need to wash the butter with cold water before storing it.Faucet Method: Turn the cold water on so that it runs very cold. Holding the ball of butter under the cold water, knead it like Play-dough, working the cold water as you fold the butter over itself repeatedly. Mixing Bowl Method: Add two cups of cold water (ice water, if you can stand it) into the mixing bowl with the ball of butter. Using a spatula, paddle the butter in the cold water so it fold over on itself repeatedly, washing out the buttermilk residue.3 cup Cold water
- Drain the cold water out of the bowl once you feel you've washed the butter well. Add the salt now if you are making homemade salted butter. Knead it in like you did when washing the butter.¼ teaspoon Salt
- Place your homemade butter in a crock or storage container and refrigerate. You can shape it with butter molds, or in a block if you prefer also. Serve with hot homemade bread, scones, pancakes, or whatever you fresh butter on.
Notes
- Rinse the butter well, it will add to the shelf life in the refrigerator. You don't want any buttermilk residue to go sour in the butter.
How Much Cream To Make 1 Pound Of Butter?
| Fat Content (%) | Amount of Cream (Ounces) |
|---|---|
| 30% | 32 |
| 32% | 30 |
| 35% | 28 |
| 40% | 26 |
Nutrition
Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove.
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