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Homemade Butter

Buttery biscuit
Image Credit:
Lauri Patterson/Getty Images
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener
Yield
1/2 cup
Category
Dips and Spreads
Course
Other
Special Considerations
Meatless
Preparation Method
No Cook
Credit
The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids

Making butter is a forgotten skill. So many folks don’t know where butter comes from (one ingredient!) or how easy it is to make (no churning required!). Plus, homemade butter has a pure, creamy taste. Spread your homemade butter on biscuits or bagels or melt some on top of noodles. Learn more.

Ever made whipped cream and accidentally over-whipped it? You’re on your way to making butter. Butter is made from heavy cream. That’s it. Once heavy cream is agitated enough, it separates into clumps of butterfat versus buttermilk; then you strain out the buttermilk and knead the butterfat in ice-cold water to remove every last drop of milk until you’re left with butter!

Today, all you need is a food mixer with a whisk attachment. Another option that simply requires time is to shake the heavy cream in a glass jar. This is a great way of teaching kids how butter is made. Do it on a walk, while you watch TV, or toss it back and forth with a friend; this generally takes about 10 minutes but depends on how fast you shake!

You can also customize your butter. For example:

  • Add a tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs; dill, parsley, fennel, chives, and thyme are all wonderful with fish; mint and rosemary are lovely with lamb. 
  • Make a flower butter with a few tablespoons of chopped nasturtium. 
  • How about a cheese powder? Or cinnamon sugar? 
  • Make a garlic butter and spread it on bruschetta. Be creative!

If you make your own butter, tell us what you think. How is it different than grocery butter? Some people describe homemade as having a more grassy, buttery, creamy flavor versus a more greasy one. Others can’t tell the difference. It may depend on the quality of cream you buy, the grass the cows eat, and other factors. We just enjoy making our own gorgeous butter.

Ingredients
2 cups organic heavy cream at room temperature
Optional: 1/4-inch sea salt

Instructions

  1. Pour the heavy cream into the bowl of a stand mixer or into a jar with a tight lid. (Make sure either bowl or jar are very clean and sterilized.) 
  2. Turn the mixer on low and up to medium. Or start shaking the jar up and down and side to side. 
  3. First, you watch the cream begin to thicken and stop sloshing around—at this point, you will have whipped cream! Keep going! After a few more minutes, you will hear liquid sloshing around again as the buttermilk separates from the butter that’s forming inside the jar. You see clumps forming in milky liquid. Keep going! Shake the jar for a few minutes longer, until your start to see the butter solidifying.
  4. If you are using a mixer, it helps to turn the mix into a sieve over a bowl. Strain out the buttermilk (which you can keep for other recipes or to drink) and return the butter to the mixer at medium speed and beat for another minute and repeat. If you’re shaking in a jar, drain off the buttermilk in a similar way and then shake for another minute and drain again.
  5. Fill a bowl with very cold (ice) water. Remove the butter and put in the icy water to “rinse” it.
  6. With clean, cool hands, knead the butter in the cold water and the water will turn cloudy. Change the water until the water stays clear. It’s very important to get to the clear stage. It may be challenging to keep your hands cold, which is why buttermakers use frozen “butter bats” to press the butter and extract the buttermilk liquid. However, do not use warm hands or the process won’t work.
  7. Optional: Mix in the sea salt if you want the butter to last longer.  Spread the butter out in a thin layer and sprinkle evenly with salt. Unsalted butter lasts a few days; salted butter lasts 2 to 3 weeks.
  8. Shape the butter into a flat pad with cold, wet hands (or bats). Line or wrap in waxed paper similar to store-bought butter; keep chilled in refrigerator. The butter also freezes well.

Storage Notes

  • As mentioned above, homemade salted butter will last 2 to 3 weeks, provided that you were able to extract all the buttermilk; otherwise, it will sour more quickly.
  • Butter should stay in the covered, especially in sunlight which will turn it sour.
  • If you want spreadable butter for a meal, simply leave it out of the fridge for a few hours in a covered container, but then return to the fridge when done.

Instructions

Spread your homemade butter on biscuits or bagels or melt some on top of noodles. 

About The Author
Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com, the website companion of The Old Farmer's Almanac. She covers gardening, plants, pest control, soil composition, seasonal and moon c...
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Comments

<span>Cynthia Key</span> Sat, 07/11/2026 - 16:43
When I was growing up we kept family milk cows and saved the heavy cream that comes to the top of the milk jars to make butter. We would churn the cream, wash the butter in very cold water several times using paddles and then add plain salt and mix well. We had a half pound and pound butter molds that we used to press the butter into convenient shapes. I am 80 years old and still remember making butter.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/jennifer-keating">Jennifer Keating</a> Mon, 07/13/2026 - 10:04
We love hearing about these great memories!
<span>S. Wilson</span> Thu, 07/09/2026 - 11:50
What is meant by: Butter should stay in the covered, especially in sunlight which will turn it sour.
<span>Christine</span> Thu, 07/09/2026 - 08:51
I make butter all the time using the cream (heavy? it's just cream to me) I get from a nearby farm. It's pricey but I wouldn't have it any other way, and I have forgotten how store butter (made from the cream of many cows) tastes. And, I know my source. I don't measure, I just pour the cream in my food processor and turn it on. I can tell when it has become butter by the sound it makes and watching it go through its stages. Also, I don't rinse it in cold water; I simply drain it well. Then I put it back in the food processor, add salt (Himalayan or Celtic) without measuring and mix it up a minute or so. I measure it out into quarter pound amounts on parchment paper, place on a tray and freeze. Doing it your way would take me all day; mine is faster.
<span>Debby</span> Thu, 07/09/2026 - 17:50
That’s exactly how my Grandmother taught me (only in the 70’s We used the Blender & worked fine), I’ve never used my food processor and this never heard of this Cold water bath until recently 🙄
<span>Dorothy</span> Thu, 07/09/2026 - 07:58
Where does one get the heavy cream in question?
<span>Christine</span> Thu, 07/09/2026 - 08:53
From the grocery store; it's near the milk section.
<span>Warren Whelan</span> Thu, 07/09/2026 - 07:54
what is a 1/4 inch sea salt?
<span>P. Dyer</span> Wed, 05/24/2023 - 09:42
Wow - I made butter accidentally one day when I was distracted ! And, I never had to go through all of the lengthy steps in your butter making process. All I did was whip the heavy cream using an electric mixer until I got the consistency of whipped butter ... slightly yellow / light colored and fluffy. No chilled bowls or ice water needed. Afterwards, I just place the whipped butter into an airtight container and use it immediately or refrigerate it. It lasts for a few days (if you get a little bit of water in container after refrigeration just dump out the very minimal excess water), but this butter seems to disappear quickly in my house. My friends now make their butter as well and enjoy it. I like to make the butter when I make homemade rolls or bread ... just so delicious. For flavorings ... just add them after your final whip and whip it until just combined. Try: honey, cinnamon and sugar, garlic, herb, or salt.
<span>April Combs</span> Wed, 05/31/2023 - 10:52
I have my Mom's churn and a hand-carved butter paddle one of her uncles made. The paddle looks like a smooth, fat, thick spatula, is made out of maple, and is used to work the milk out of the churned butter while you rinse it in cold water....preferably while sitting on the porch looking out at the mountains and trees. A Jersey cow gives the creamiest milk. I've seen whole, raw milk advertised here in Oregon for ten dollars a gallon...that makes expensive butter and could be "iffy" unless you have your own cow! Be picky about the source of your milk! Homemade butter is awesome!