Homemade Cultured Butter Recipe - Savory Simple (2024)

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Homemade Cultured Butter has only 2 ingredients and is easy to make at home! If you’ve been interested in learning how to make butter from scratch, keep reading!

Homemade Cultured Butter Recipe - Savory Simple (1)

I’ve been off of refined sugars and carbs for about 9 days and I have to say I’m surprised at how sluggish I still feel. Well, I’m surprised and not surprised at the same time.

Sugar is powerful stuff and it’s not shocking that it’s making a powerful statement as it works its way out of my body.

Staying away from sugar has caused me to get a bit more creative with my recipes recently. I’m still doing quite a bit of experimenting from one of my favorite cookbooks,The America’s Test Kitchen DIY Cookbook.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been experimenting with homemade cultured butter. I always find it fascinating to make store bought staples at home and butter was no exception.

Homemade Cultured Butter Recipe - Savory Simple (2)

How to make homemade cultured butter

This homemade cultured butter only has two ingredients, cream and yogurt. And it makes a butter that tastes equally as smooth and rich as anything I’ve ever bought from the store.

It does have several involved steps but none of them are difficult and the results are just plain fun. There is something so immensely satisfying about holding a lumpy stick of butter in the air and proclaiming to the stars, “I made this!” Or maybe that’s just me…

Homemade Cultured Butter Recipe - Savory Simple (3)

Also, buttermilk. One of the byproducts from making homemade cultured butter is real, old fashioned buttermilk like grandma used to make on the farm.

Not the curdled stuff you can make by adding vinegar to milk and letting it sit. Most likely not even the stuff you buy at the grocery store.

Real buttermilk is a byproduct of butter creation. It’s liquid gold in your baked goods.

Homemade Cultured Butter Recipe - Savory Simple (4)

A very important note about the recipe: one of the final steps involves pressing and washing the butter in ice water to remove any traces of buttermilk. If you don’t wash the butter very thoroughly it has the potential to go rancid quickly.

This happened to me the first time I experimented with making homemade butter. I rushed through the process and my gorgeous stick of butter began smelling sour after a week.

If you wash the butter thoroughly it will last in the refrigerator up to a month or in the freezer for four months.

Homemade Cultured Butter Recipe - Savory Simple (5)

Homemade Cultured Butter Recipe - Savory Simple (6)

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Homemade Cultured Butter

5 from 8 votes

Homemade Cultured Butter has only 2 ingredients and is easy to make at home!

Course Condiments, Drinks

Cuisine American

Keyword Cultured Butter

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Inactive Prep 2 days days 2 hours hours

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12 ounces butter + 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Calories 279

Author Jennifer Farley

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

  • 4 cups pasteurized heavy cream (not ultra-pasteurized or UHT), room temperature
  • 1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt, room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt, optional

Instructions

  • Combine cream and yogurt in a 2-quart jar or container with a tight-fitting lid, cover, and shake to combine. Remove lid, cover with a clean kitchen towel, butter muslin or triple layer of cheesecloth, securing in place with a rubber band. Place jar in a warm place, preferably 75 degrees F, and let sit until thickened to the consistency of yogurt, 18 to 48 hours. (If temperature dips much below 75 degrees, culture may take up to 60 hours). Once thickened, remove the kitchen towel, cover jar with lid, and transfer to refrigerator until mixture registers 60 degrees F, about 2 hours.

  • Place 4 cups of ice water in the refrigerator. Line a fine-mesh strainer with a butter muslin or triple layer of cheesecloth and set it over a large bowl. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and covered with plastic wrap, whip cream on high speed until cream separates into buttermilk and small clumps of yellow butter, 2 to 5 minutes. Strain butter through prepared strainer for 1 minute. Gather edges of muslin and twist to squeeze butter until buttermilk no longer flows freely from pouch. Remove butter from muslin and transfer to a clean, large bowl; reserve buttermilk for another use.

  • Pour about 1/3 cup ice water over the butter. With butter resting in water, use rubber spatula to fold the butter against the side of the bowl, letting water wash over the butter to rinse off any remaining buttermilk. Discard milky liquid, and repeat washing process until water remains clear, about 6 washes. After the final wash, discard any water in the bowl and continue folding butter to squeeze out any remaining liquid; discard liquid. If you want to really get in there, squeeze the butter with your hands at the end. Sprinkle butter with salt, if using, and fold into butter. Divide the butter in half, transfer to parchment paper, and roll into 2 logs or desired shape. Butter can be refrigerated for up to 1 month for frozen for at least 4 months.

Notes

Shared with permission from ‘The America’s Test Kitchen DIY Cookbook’ by the editors at America’s Test Kitchen

Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!

Nutrition

Calories: 279kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 110mg | Sodium: 34mg | Potassium: 75mg | Vitamin A: 1175IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 64mg

Recipe Troubleshooting

For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)

Homemade Cultured Butter Recipe - Savory Simple (2024)

FAQs

How long can you keep homemade cultured butter? ›

– Cultured butter typically lasts for 10 days in the refrigerator. – Butter easily absorbs other odors so make sure it is tightly-sealed. – You can also freeze butter – it will last for several months.

What is the difference between churned and cultured butter? ›

Sometimes referred to as “European-style butter,” cultured butter is treated with live cultures and allowed to ferment before it's churned. This results in butter with a stronger, more lactic flavor. Cultured butter generally has a higher butterfat content (typically 82–85%) than standard American butter (80–82%).

What makes butter cultured? ›

To make cultured butter, bacterial cultures are added to pasteurized cream. This cream is left to ferment. During that time it thickens and, according to Adeline Druart, President of Vermont Creamery, “develops wonderfully tangy flavor notes.”

Why does Amish butter taste different? ›

Also known as roll butter for its log-shaped packaging, Amish butter is a slow-churned butter that is typically richer and creamier than regular stick butter. This flavorful butter has been produced for generations by family-owned and operated farms, but we're just beginning to see it pop up in local grocery stores.

Why is Amish butter so yellow? ›

The color can vary from pale yellow to deeper yellow depending on the cows' diet: cows that eat grass and flowers produce milk with more beta carotene, leading to yellower butter. Whether an Amish butter is made from grass-fed or pasture-raised cows varies by producer.

How to tell if cultured butter is bad? ›

Any sour or off-putting smell means it's a goner. Same goes for taste: If it tastes sour or off, toss it out. 5 And don't worry, a small taste of rancid butter won't hurt you. Of course any visible mold, discoloration, and changes in texture are visible cues that it's time to throw the butter in the trash.

Is cultured butter better for you than regular butter? ›

Cultured butters contain probiotics, live microbes with proven health benefits. Standard butters, known as 'sweet butter', do not. Cultured butters taste AMAZING! Most people with lactose intolerance can tolerate butter because it contains only trace amounts of lactose (<0.7g/100g).

Why is European butter better than American butter? ›

The higher butterfat percentage in European butter is one of the main reasons why many consider butters from across the pond to be superior to those produced in the US. It's better for baking, but it also creates a richer flavor and texture even if all you're doing is smearing your butter on bread.

What is Irish butter? ›

In Europe, the minimum is 82%, while in America it's 80%, and anything lower than those percentages cannot be considered butter. So Irish butter is a cultured butter that has been churned to at least 82% butterfat content. The higher the butterfat content, the richer and softer the butter.

Is cultured butter the same as ghee? ›

Many people ask us “what is the difference between ghee and cultured ghee”? The answer is actually very simple. Ghee is made from milk, and cultured ghee is made from yogurt. Cultured ghee is made by simmering unsalted butter over low heat until the milk solids separate from the liquid fat.

Is tillamook butter good quality? ›

This is a good brand. Have been using rolled butters, this is up to par with any of them. We like Tillamook cheese so much, we named our dog after it. :) The butter is no slouch either.

Why does cultured butter smell? ›

Oxidation leads to release of fatty acids from lipids and then cleavage of the fatty acids to produce hydrocarbons such as aldehydes, alcohols, and carboxylic acids. Particular fatty acids lead to particular hydrocarbons. Some of these have pungent aromas.

What cream is best for churning butter? ›

Heavy cream, whipping cream, or heavy whipping cream are all suitable choices for making homemade butter. Heavy cream, with the highest percentage of butterfat, will yield the most butter; lower-fat whipping cream will yield less.

Can you leave cultured butter out? ›

Room-temperature buttering is especially beneficial for craft butters, such as European-style cultured butter, which have a unique flavor profile that is best appreciated at room temperature. Keeping butter at room temperature can also help to preserve its natural moisture, making it easier to spread and use.

How is Amish butter cheese made? ›

Good quality Amish butter cheese is made from milk collected from cows that are not on artificial hormones. No artificial ingredients, flavors or preservatives are added to the Amish butter cheese during the preparation process.

How did they make butter in the olden days? ›

Butter was first made by placing the cream in a container made from animal material and shaking until the milk has broken down into butter. Later wood, glass, ceramic or metal containers were used. The first butter churns used a wooden container and a plunger to agitate the cream until butter formed.

How to make butter like Pioneers? ›

During pioneer days making butter was primarily a child's job. They would milk the family's cow and let the milk sit in a shallow pan overnight in order for the cream to rise to the top. The next morning they skim the cream layer with a wooden ladle and leave it out to sour.

Can Amish butter be left out? ›

According to the USDA, butter is safe at room temperature. But if it's left out for several days at room temperature, it can turn rancid causing off flavors. The USDA does not recommend leaving it out more than one to two days.

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