Recipe: Homemade Butter

When I was at the City Market Co-Op in Burlington, VT I was given a recipe card with a way to make homemade butter. I was so excited because local organic butter is so expensive and this is a way to make it yourself for less.

Directions:

Fill a small jar half full of cream. Shake vigorously until you see the yellow butter solidify inside. The liquid is buttermilk and can be strained off to use for cooking or drinking.

Tricks to Making Awesome Butter

Leave the cream out of the fridge for a few hours before you want to make the butter to get it to room temperature. Warm cream turns to butter more quickly than cold cream.

If you get tired of shaking the jar, or to make butter more quickly, our the cream into a food processor (with the metal blade attachment) or blender and turn it on. After a few minutes, you will see small yellow butter beads form. Strain this liquid through a cheese cloth (or coffee filter) catching the white liquid for buttermilk, if desired. Strain the butter through the cheese cloth, pressing out all the buttermilk until a solid ball is formed.

Once butter is formed, knead it under cold running water to squeeze out any remaining buttermilk.

Knead in salt to draw out the flavor if desired.