I love cooking and baking, but what I enjoy even more is sharing with you how easy it is to make pantry staples that you’d otherwise just buy from the store. For example, homemade vanilla extract, ricotta cheese or peanut butter, and now, the absolute simplest of them all – fresh, heavenly homemade butter!
Yup, you heard me right. And it only takes heavy cream and 10 minutes. How great is that?
I’d say pretty darn great.
Not only is this recipe efficient for using leftover heavy cream, but it tastes as delicious on toast as it does in any chocolate chip cookie. That’s just the beauty of homemade butter – You can use it just like you’d use store bought stuff in cooking, baking, panfrying, sauce making and everything in between.
Just pour in the cream, process in your food processor, and push all the water out of the cream curds through a strainer. It’s as easy as that!
You can also add finely chopped herbs, berries, fruit zest or other flavorings to create a compote butter. These are wonderful to add extra flavor to roasted meats and vegetables, and served with warm baked goods.
One Ingredient Homemade Butter
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt optional
Instructions
- Pour cream into a food processor or blender. Process for 10 minutes, or until the butter separates. Strain off the liquid. Season to taste with salt, if you like. Press butter into a small bowl with the back of a spoon to further remove liquid.
- Also, if you want a compote butter, add finely chopped herbs, fruit or other flavorings. Get creative!
- Enjoy!
Hi Georgia! Wow that’s it?? I have to try this. It sounds cool to have “homemade” butter. :-) Your pictures are so lovely and I like that linen/fabric too. Have a great weekend!
I grew up on a dairy farm in the Michigan UP. Saturdays were baking day and we would start in the morning mixing up the bread and setting it aside to rise, then go on to cookies, cakes, pies, etc. All that would be eaten in the next week (or put away in the freezer for when company came by).
My job (aside from peeling the apples) was to churn the butter. Churn. Our churn was a glass jar that was fitted with a paddle and a handle to turn the paddle kind of like an old hand egg beater. I would turn and turn and turn and turn. Then I would turn the jar around and turn with the other arm. Finally, butter!
I can remember being absolutely furious when I learned (at a much later age) that butter could be made with an electric mixer!!! (for me this is easier than a food processor or blender). Thanks for the reminder ;-)
But I have to say, there is nothing as good as a slice of fresh baked bread with a slather of fresh churned butter (and hopefully so homemade preserves as well!)
Penandra – What an interesting part of your past! Thanks for sharing this with me. I also grew up on a farm. There’s nothing like it – Fresh everything at your disposal!
I never tried to make homemade butter but you just gave me the courage to do so. Great idea Georgia. I bet the taste was amazing as the picutre shows.
Have a great weekend.
No way! I never knew this was possible! So excited to try.
I love, love homemade butter…looks wonderful!
I can never find cream at the store. It is just the super duper heavy whipping cream. grrrr
We went to the Central FL fair a few months ago and they had a “make your own butter booth”… they handed you a small plastic container of heavy cream and you had to shake it till it separated! it was SOOO good though – glad to know you can use the food processor (my arm hurt after shaking it for 15 mintes hah)!
I keep meaning to do this, but I always use my heavy cream up! Haha! I’ll have to purchase some just for this because it looks AMAZING!
This is awesome! I hate throwing away leftover cream that I only used 1/2 a cup of – so excited to put it to good use now!
oh my goodness! I made butter as a kid, but haven’t done so since! I forgot how easy it is. Great post :) Beautiful pictures
Wow! I never tried to make homemade butter, but I think I will try your recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I love homemade butter. We always tell the story of the Thanksgiving when my poor cousin wasn’t used to a standing mixer and made butter instead of whipped cream. She just didn’t realize it would got that fast and didn’t pay attention, poor girl.
I’ve also put whipping cream in jars and kept a bunch of cub scouts busy shaking them for an entire evening before. It’s just magical when it starts to turn into butter, and sooo delicious. They didn’t complain once they got to taste it.
My grandparents had a farm and when I was small we used to make this. Unfortunately I don’t remember the taste but with fresh good ingredients one can imagine. I should try this again, thanks for the inspiration
Homemade butter…yes, please!! This looks so good! I need to make my own butter sometimes. You just reminded me how simple and delicious it is:)Have a great weekend, Georgia:)
Fantastic idea! I can’t wait to try this! Thanks for sharing Georgia!
I am going to have to make my own butter! This is incredible! Thanks for sharing Georgia!
Angie
Cool! This IS really easy. I’ll have to give this a try soon.
Just came across your site and am enjoying these unique and lovely recipes. Look forward to following you for some more inspiration! Thank you.
I was so excited the first time I made my own butter, it’s so fulfilling to make your own staples like this.
Homemade butter?! I had no idea it could be so easy! I bet that butter is amazing.
Nothing beats butter on warm bread from the oven and homemade must be even nicer.
:-) Mandy
I have always wanted to try something like this! Looks wonderful!
What a great idea! It must taste so fresh.
I discovered this by accident when trying to make some fresh whipped cream…left it beating a little too long in the mixer. Ooops :)
How cool are you? I would never think to make my own butter.
I discovered homemade butter by accident when I was making whip cream and got interrupted. I left it and came back awhile later, started whipping again and there was my butter! The freshest, most delicious butter I had ever tasted! Thanks for the reminder!
This looks SO cool. I have some heavy cream at home and have got to try this. The kids will be amazed! Butter is one of those mysterious foods, I think – I’ve never thought about how it gets to be that way. It’ll be SO cool to make our own. Thank you!
What a great idea! I try not to buy heavy cream in the bigger cartons but I always end up doing so because it’s cheaper. I’ll have to make my own butter next time. Thanks for commenting on my blog. I’ve added yours to my Google Reader and look forward to reading your future posts.
A couple of weeks ago I read a post on design sponge about homemade butter. I had no idea how easy it is!! And now you’ve made it sound even more simpler, so I’ve offically be reassured. Not that I even need reassuring? Great post, Georgia!
Yep, so simple, yet I still haven’t done it myself! I’ll have to put it on my list. Yours looks delicious.
i love this already! thank you for sharing this with us! i cant wait to make some soon.
Georgia this looks great. Have you ever made clotted cream? That is so easy and so good.
I remember the jar with the paddle with ‘not so fond’ memories. I hated turning that handle! And it was MY job. Saying that, we always washed our butter after straining the ‘buttermilk’ out of it. That buttermilk can turn sour or add a bad flavor, ruining the taste of your butter. Simply use cold water and a paddle of some sort and keep pushing the butter around in the cold water, pressing it until the water runs clear. Then, when finished, press the butter and pour off any water that comes out.
When you have a minute stop by my blog. I have an award for you:)
Holly
http://www.simplequintessentialcuisine.com/
I’ve never made homemade butter and honestly never even thought about it, your posts are so inspirational because everything I see here I want to try, everything looks just beautiful;-)
meeshiesmom – No, I’ve never made clotted cream or even tasted it, but I’m curious to try both! :)
Completely agree about the butter! I’ve been making my own for awhile now. (My friends think I’ve officially lost it.) I *swear* it makes for better sauteing, cooking, you name it. Glad to see I’m not the only one. ;) And you’re right, it really is pretty easy.
I love your simple advice! This looks fantastic…a definite must try :)
How did I miss this post? I love simple things like this. On my must try list! How super cool would you be to serve homemade bread with homemade butter?!
This is so interesting. Can I do this in a blender? If not I’ll have to try Tina’s shaking method. Thanks for the tip!
BigFatBaker – I have never tried this in a blender, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
I love home made butter. I try and make some every time I have some left over heavy cream. The first time I made it was by mistake, was trying to whip up some cream for a cake and got sight-track and mixed until it separated.
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