How To Make Butter (ONE ingredient)

How to make butter at home with just ONE ingredient and five minutes, resulting in a deliciously creamy homemade butter!

Homemade butter is an absolute must for anyone interested in making more of their food from scratch. Unsalted butter uses just ONE ingredient and around 5 minutes to prepare. Plus, the process is way simpler then you may think if you’ve never tried it before – all you need is a stand mixer.

Alternatively, if you want to go old-school, then all you’ll need is a mason jar or similar container with an airtight lid. Now, this method takes a bit of arm-power and longer to make – but the process is just as simple.

If a healthy butter is what you’re looking for, then I’d suggest making it yourself at home. You are 100% in charge of what goes inside the butter, there are no additives or preservatives, and you can customize and flavor it as you please. Plus, if making salted butter, then you’re in exact control of the amount of salt used, too.

Feel free to then use the homemade butter how you would store-bought butter: in baking, mixed into veg, to top toast, to flavor a variety of dishes and more.

Is Butter Bad For You?

There are lots of arguments around this question. Most diets will instantly cut out all fats like butter – but this doesn’t automatically make it bad.

Butter is essentially made from just one ingredient – cream. Once churned, the cream will separate into its solid fats and buttermilk. These solid fats are butter.

One of the main arguments against butter is its high saturated fat content. According to Healthline, around 63% of fat in butter is saturated fat, while monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats make up 26% and 4%. Saturated fats have long been linked with being unhealthy, artery-clogging, heart-harming.

However, more recent research on this subject is starting to change some of those perceptions. For example, recent studies found no link between eating saturated fats and an increased risk of heart disease.

Butter also contains CLA fats, which contain cancer-fighting properties, can help with reducing body fat, and even improve immune function. Butter also contains butyrate, a fat that may improve digestive health and decrease inflammation.

Research also shows that high-fat dairy products are actually linked with a reduced risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart problems.

From all the research I’ve done, it seems like the same can be said for butter as with most foods – eat it in moderation alongside a variety of other heart-healthy fats such as nuts, seeds, avocado, EVOO, etc. Many suggest trying to stick to consuming around 10% or less of saturated fats per day out of your ingested calories – for me, that’s around 20 grams of saturated fat per day.

There is a lot more to be said for this topic, though, so if you want to read more about how healthy butter is, and what studies tell us about butter.

How To Make Butter

This recipe calls for just ONE ingredient and 5 minutes of your time – for creamy, rich butter. Although, within this post, I’ll be showing you two methods to making creamy homemade butter, one with a machine and one using an airtight jar with a lid.

As well as only needing one ingredient (two if you want to make salted butter), the recipe is also made up of just two steps! Yes, you read that right – two simple steps.

Step 1: Agitate the cream to separate the fat solids and buttermilk.

Step 2: Remove the excess buttermilk and move to a new container.

Optionally: You can also add salt and any other flavorings. I have a post on Making Compound Butter (flavored butter), which contains lots of ideas for how to flavor your butter.

Method One – The Stand Mixer:

Place your cream in your stand mixer. I used the top layer of raw organic milk from grass-fed cows as my cream. You could also use double/heavy cream.

Begin to blend (alternatively, use an electric whisker). The cream will go through 3 stages when turning into butter: whipped cream, stiff peaks, and finally butter.

You’ll know when it’s ready as the fat solids will have completely separated from the liquid into our familiar buttery consistency. The liquid is actually buttermilk and can be saved to use in a variety of ways. You can read more about that on my Herby Butter post.

The next step is to remove all of the buttermilk from the butter. Buttermilk contains casein, which will cause your butter to spoil sooner, as it will putrefy when oxidized.

Luckily, removing the excess buttermilk is fairly easy as you can use water to help wash your butter, and it won’t affect the butter at all but will wash away the buttermilk. I first drain the buttermilk from the mixer bowl into another container, and then I fill a bowl with ice-cold water, place my butter in a sieve and submerge into the icy water. Using a spatula or your hands, press the butter to thoroughly rinse it.

Note* You can also do this under cold running tap water, using a spatula. Or even squeeze the butter inside cheesecloth, to remove the extra liquid,

You’ll notice that the water will become milky so I usually repeat this process a couple of times, until the water is clear. You could also have placed some of the ice water into the food processor with the butter after the initial drain, blending for a further 30 seconds, then draining and pressing the liquid out of the butter. Either method will work.

Once the butter is ready, then you can choose to stir in some salt or additional flavors, before popping it into a butter dish and leaving to chill.

Method Two – A Mason jar:

Churning cream into butter works by agitating the liquid and causing it to separate. In victorian kitchens, there were dedicated butter-churning machines that you would have to manually work.

This mason jar method works on that principle. Simply add your cream to the jar, close the lid and shake, shake, shake. Unfortunately, this method will take a bit longer and will definitely be a bit of an arm workout. I suggest making sure everyone in the household has a go, and it’ll be ready in no time!

Once ready, just follow the process of removing the buttermilk as described above, and your butter is ready.

How To Store:

Homemade butter will last different amounts of time, depending on whether it is salted or unsalted. Unsalted butter may last around a week, whereas salted butter can last up to three weeks in the fridge.

Can You Freeze Butter?

Short answer – Yes. Butter is extremely freezer-friendly. Unsalted butter will stay fresh for six months when stored in the freezer. Meanwhile, salted butter will last for up to 12 months.

I’ve found that it can last longer, too – but the above are general guidelines. The best way to freeze your homemade butter is to keep it stored within an airtight freezer-friendly container of wrapped tightly in beeswax wrap and then even placed into a silicone freezer bag too, for extra protection from freezer burn.

To defrost the butter: simply leave it in the refrigerator overnight. Alternatively, you can pop it in the microwave for increments of 10-15 seconds, flipping over in-between, until softened.

Notes & Variations

• For even creamier butter, pour your cream into a bowl and add two heaped tablespoons of plain yogurt. Mix thoroughly and leave it out overnight. The cream can then be whipped into butter the next morning with super creamy results!
• For a list of ways to use the leftover Buttermilk & Options to flavor your butter then check out this Compound Butter post.

Other Simple DIY’s You May Like:

• How-to: DIY homemade Natural Yogurt
• DIY: Homemade Herb Butter ( Compound butter)
• Super Easy Homemade Cream Cheese
• DIY Homemade Ricotta Cheese

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments. I also love seeing your recreations on Instagram, so tag @Alphafoodie.

How To Make Butter at Home (One Ingredient)

How to make butter at home with just ONE ingredient - deliciously creamy homemade butter that takes only 5 minutes to whip up!

4.94 from 15 votes

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Course: DIYs

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Freezer friendly: 1 Year

Shelf life: 1 Week

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 16 tbsp (1 cup)

Calories: 103kcal

Author: Samira

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups fresh cream or heavy cream or double cream

US Customary - Metric

Suggested Equipment

• ▢
  Stand mixer or electric whisk

Instructions

Method One - The Stand Mixer:

• Place the cream in the stand mixer and mix. The cream will go through 3 stages when turning into butter; whipped cream, stiff peaks, and finally butter. You'll know when it's ready as the fat solids will have completely separated from the liquid into our familiar buttery consistency.* 
  
• The next step is to remove all of the buttermilk from the butter.** First drain the buttermilk from the mixer bowl into another container, and then I fill a bowl with ice-cold water, place my butter in a sieve and submerge into the icy water. Using a spatula or your hands, press the butter to thoroughly rinse it.
  
• You'll notice that the water will become milky so I usually repeat this process a couple of times, until the water is clear. ***
  
• Once the butter is ready, then you can choose to stir in some salt or additional flavors, before popping it into a butter dish and leaving to chill.
  

Method Two - A Mason jar:

• This mason jar method works on that principle. Simply add your cream to the jar, close the lid and shake, shake, shake. Unfortunately, this method will take a bit longer and will definitely be a bit of an arm workout. I suggest making sure everyone in the household has a go, and it'll be ready in no time!
• Once ready, just follow the process of removing the buttermilk as described above, and your butter is ready.

How To Store:

• Homemade butter will last different amounts of time, depending on whether it is salted or unsalted. Unsalted butter may last around a week in the fridge or 6 months in the freezer, whereas salted butter can last up to three weeks in the fridge or 12 months in the freezer.

  I've found that it can last longer, too - but the above are general guidelines. 
• The best way to freeze your homemade butter is to keep it stored within an airtight freezer-friendly container of wrapped tightly in beeswax wrap and then even placed into a silicone freezer bag too, for extra protection from freezer burn.
• To defrost the butter: simply leave it in the refrigerator overnight. Alternatively, you can pop it in the microwave for increments of 10-15 seconds, flipping over in-between, until softened.

Video

Notes

*The liquid is actually buttermilk and can be saved to use in a variety of ways. You can read more about that on my Herby Butter post.

** Buttermilk contains casein, which will cause your butter to spoil sooner, as it will putrify when oxidized.

***You could also have placed some of the ice water into the food processor with the butter after the initial drain, blending for a further 30 seconds, then draining and pressing the liquid out of the butter. Either method will work.

Other Notes:

• For even creamier butter, pour your cream into a bowl and add two heaped tablespoons of plain yogurt. Mix thoroughly and leave it out overnight. The cream can then be whipped into butter the next morning with super creamy results!
• For a list of ways to use the leftover buttermilk & options to flavor your butter then check out this Compound Butter post.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 103kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 11mg | Potassium: 22mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 437IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 19mg

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