I was baking a homemade french loaf this Sunday and came across a homemade butter recipe that I wanted to try. After all, what goes better with fresh baked bread?
It was one of those cozy, slow Sundays at home. Dough rising on the counter. Chicken soup simmering on the stove. No one in a rush. Some meals just lend themselves to doing things the old way.
Making butter felt like it fit right in. And you don’t just get butter out of this either. You get buttermilk too. Getting a two-fer makes it feel even more worth it.
It turned out to be simple, practical, and the perfect old-fashioned way to get the kids involved in making dinner.
Why I Love This Recipe
The only ingredients are heavy cream and salt. That’s it.
You can make this in a stand mixer (or food processor), or just shake it in a mason jar. Of course I chose the harder way. We passed the jar around and all took turns shaking it until the cream finally came together.
It was fun watching each phase – liquid cream, whipped cream, and then a slightly questionable in-between stage where we weren’t sure it was going to work out. And then suddenly it breaks! The fat separates. And just like that, you have fresh butter ready for dinner.
It’s such a low-effort, high-yield food activity, and it went perfectly with our French loaf.
Recipe Credit
This recipe is from Rachel Farnsworth’s cookbook, The Stay At Home Chef.
You can also find it on her website, along with her other recipes. What I love about her cookbook is that each has a QR code that takes you to her site where she shares more notes and tips.
Notes From My Kitchen
- If you use the mason jar method, it does take some real shaking. Me, my husband, and both kids rotated through it. It took every bit of about 7 minutes.
- Keep shaking until you clearly see the liquid and fat separate (see the pic above). That’s how you know it’s done!
- Bonus: the buttermilk at the end! I poured ours into a small jar and put it in the fridge to use in another recipe.
- We lightly salted ours and scooped it into a cute little butter dish for the table. The perfect little addition. You can add fresh herbs or garlic to this too.
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