Homemade Butter
on Jun 06, 2025, Updated Jun 17, 2025
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Don’t ask me to measure butter, I measure it in vibes and generational trauma đ. Nonetheless, did you know that making homemade butter only requires one ingredient and about 5 minutes? If you’ve never had homemade butter before, you’re in for a treat. The taste and texture are unparalleledâfar superior to store-bought đ§. What you get is a creamier taste, a denser cream flavor, and a heavenly kind of spreadable texture đ. I grew up in Bulgaria, helping my grandma sell her dairy so this recipe HIT HOME đ§đŹ. There is something so nostalgic and rewarding about making butter from scratch. I hope you’ll give it a try.
Why You’ll Love Homemade Butter
Warning: you may get called a “homesteader” after making this luscious homemade butter đ¨. We should all be making our own butter. It’s a super easy process and tastes so much better than store-bought. Plus two great benefits of making homemade butter: you can control exactly how salty you want it, and two, you also end up with homemade buttermilk during the process, which can be used in baking and cooking đĽ. Show off your homemade butter by debuting it on a stunning butter board.
Ingredients
Heavy Cream: This is really the only ingredient you need to make butter. Use full-fat heavy cream (also called whipping cream) that contains only one ingredient: cream! Avoid creamers, low-fat creams, and flavored creams. You want the purest, highest quality heavy cream you can find; the thicker the better. Working with chilled cream can also help prevent splashing when it’s being whipped in the stand mixer.
Salt: Salt is optional. It helps prolong the shelf life of homemade butter (from about 5 days to up to 2 weeks, tightly sealed in the refrigerator). It also adds a salty flavor that you may be used to if you buy and cook with salted butter. Opt for a fine-grain salt, such as Kosher or table salt (versus a flaky salt), which distribute more evenly when mixed into the butter.
Optional additions: There are so many variations of flavored butter. After making the washed, finished butter, then you can add all kinds of flavorings. Check out my variations and substitutions below: herbs, flowers, garlic, fruit and more.
Nonna’s Tip đ§
Use cold heavy cream for faster separation đ§: Cold cream whips better and separates more cleanly into butter and buttermilk.
Homemade Butter Variations and Substitutions
- There are so many ways to customize butter. Any and all herbs are delicious in butter. I especially like fresh, roughly chopped rosemary and thyme.
- Add a handful of fresh edible flowers to the butter. You can either mix the petals directly into the butter or form a butter log and roll it in petals. Either way, it will look gorgeous đ.
- Roasted garlic butter is heaven on earth. You can follow my instructions for making garlic confit, let it chill, and then mix the softened garlic cloves into butter đ§.
- Fruit butters are delicious with baked goods. You can mash up some fresh berries, such as strawberries or blueberries, and mix them into the butter. These make lovely colors and taste delicious atop a warm muffin đ.
- Honey butter is a classic served with southern-style biscuits. Drizzle some runny honey into the butter and then mix to combine đŻ.
Homemade Butter is Best Served With
- Homemade butter begs to be served with fresh bread. My baguette recipe is the perfect accompaniment đĽ.
- Spread this on thick on slices of No Knead Bread.
- Butter Boards are my spin on Cheese Boards. Everybody will love it!
- Try my Holiday Butter Board for your next gathering. It’s such a fun way to serve guests.
What is Buttermilk?
When mixing cream, the solids will first separate into pea-size pieces and then turn into a large solid mass of butter that sticks to the whisk. There will be some cloudy, milky liquid left behind at the bottom of the bowl. This is buttermilk. This thin liquid is slightly tangy and contains bits of milk solids.
Don’t throw it out! Save homemade buttermilk for using in biscuits, pancakes, and breads đĽ. Most fried chicken recipes call for it as a tenderizing marinade for chicken đ. Some cultures enjoy buttermilk as a drink, especially on hot days đĽ. You can freeze buttermilk in an airtight container for about 3 months.
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Homemade Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream, 35% milk fat
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Set up your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Prepare a large bowl of ice water and set the ice water aside.
- Add the heavy whipping cream to the bowl of the stand mixer and turn on the mixer. Starting the mixer on low speed and gradually work up to a high speed, as the cream begins to thicken and splash less.
- Whisk until the cream forms a solid mass of butter and clings to the whisk. This could take anywhere from 7-10 minutes.
- Note: if the whipping cream starts to splatter, you can use a splatter guard or wrap around it with saran wrap.
- You will see the liquid separate from the butter; this is called buttermilk. Reserve the buttermilk for baking, cooking, or enjoying as a refreshing drink.
- Transfer the butter from the whisk to the bowl of ice water. Next, knead the butter a few timesâjust like bread doughâwith your hands while the butter is submerged in the ice water. This is called "washing" the butter.
- Remove the butter from the ice water, add salt, if desired, and shape into a log or whatever shape you like. Store tightly wrapped in parchment paper or in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Video
Notes
- Serving size: One pint of heavy cream makes 6â8 oz of butter. Nutrition is based on a 1 oz serving.
- Storage tips: Keep butter tightly wrapped or in a sealed container. Unsalted lasts ~5 days; salted lasts ~2 weeks. Discard if it smells sour or shows mold.
- Clarified butter: To make ghee, slowly cook the butter over medium heat until the milk solids separate and settle.
- Customize it: Add herbs, edible flowers, roasted garlic, berries, or honey for your own flavor spin đđ§đđŻ.
- Cold cream is key: It whips faster and separates more cleanly into butter and buttermilk đ§.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Common Questions
After the butter has been washed (kneaded in cold water), then you can mix your desired amount of salt into the butter. You can place the butter and salt back into the stand mixer and mix to combine, or use a wooden spatula, a bench scraper, or butter paddles to combine the salt and butter.
Use a full-fat cream or a whipping cream to make homemade butter.
Washing the butter helps remove any leftover buttermilk, which helps prolong the butter’s shelf life and reduce spoilage. This process also helps the butter firm up.
A fine grain salt, such as kosher or table salt, will mix in well and distribute evenly in the butter. I prefer this over flaky salt.
Yes, a stand mixer will make the quickest and easiest butter-making experience. However, one “old fashioned” way to make butter is to pour cold cream in a large bottle and shake vigorously until a butter mass appears and the buttermilk separates from the solids. This can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes of vigorous shaking. It’s a great arm workout đď¸.
So so easy! Will be making my own butter from now on!
I honestly canât believe how easy this was! Thank you!