How to Make Homemade Butter from Cream in a Stand Mixer

Learn how to make your own butter using heavy whipping cream from the grocery store or raw cream from your own dairy animal. This is one of the easiest ways to make homemade butter and can be done in about 25 minutes. 

I first started making my own butter when we had a surplus of raw cream from a milk cow. With gallons of milk coming in every week, it didn’t take long for the butter making experience to transition from feeling like a special treat to just another household chore.

But I didn’t complain! Not a chance. Because of all the dairy products available for a traditional kitchen, I love butter most. 

While the idea of using a butter churn made my old fashioned heart go pit-pat, I quickly learned there were much faster ways of making butter…like in the bowl of your stand mixer! If you have a whisk attachment, you can quickly whip out a beautiful, golden ball of butter in no time. 

Tools You’ll Need

• electric mixer (I use a Bosch)
• wire whisk attachment
• rubber spatula 
• sieve 
• 4 quart bowl 
• butter mold
• freezer bag or plastic wrap

You can use a kitchenaid stand mixer with a large bowl for making homemade butter. But in my kitchen, I prefer to use a Bosch mixer for making butter. The Bosch has a splash guard that can help prevent splattering when the cream first begins to form lumps of fresh butter. 

Ingredient List

• 1 quart of heavy cream 
• cold running water
• salt

Youtube Tutorial: Easy Way to Make Butter

How to Make Homemade Butter from Cream in a Stand Mixer

Step 1: Source Your Heavy Cream

To make your own homemade butter as per directions here, you’ll need a quart (1 litre) or 4 cups of cream. You can use raw cream from a dairy animal or pasteurized cream from the grocery store. 

Raw Cream: If you have a dairy cow, you know that the cream separates after fresh milk has been chilled for a while. It’s easy to skim off and can be collect in the refrigerator for 1-3 days, until there’s enough to make a batch of butter.

Cream from a dairy goat is a bit harder to access because you need a cream separator to get your hands on pure cream. With goats, you can make butter with just a pint of heavy cream. Two cups of cream will give you less butter, but you won’t have to worry about your cream turning in the fridge. 

Pasteurized Cream You can use thick cream from the grocery store for making homemade butter recipes. Just stay away from ultra-pasteurized cream. And when you buy, be sure to get 35% fat, also known as store-bought whipping cream. It’s a thick and will give you the most butter per pint or quart.

Step 2: Let Your Cream Come to Room Temperature

Before you start making butter, let your cream sit out until its come to room temperature. Cold cream take much longer to turn into butter and you’ll cut your time in half by letting it warm a bit. Of course, if you’re working with raw cream, you can let it sit and culture for a while before making your butter. 

Step 3: Pour Cream Into the Bowl of a Stand Mixer & Whisk

Set up your stand mixer using a wire whisk attachment. Pour a quart of cream into the large mixing bowl and turn machine on the low speed. After several minutes have passed, your cream will start forming soft peaks as the whisks work it. At this point, you should have a beautiful whipped cream in your mixer bowl. But you aren’t done yet! 

At this point, you’ll want to cover your mixer. With the Bosch, you can pop the lid into place. And if you have a kitchenaid, you may want to drape a large, clean kitchen towel over the machine. Because splatters will soon occur! 

Continue to run your machine on slow speed for the next 3-5 minutes, standing by and often peeking in at the cream. When the fats (aka homemade butter) separate, it happens quickly. You’ll first see tiny grainy lumps in the bottom of the bowl. A few seconds later, small lumps will appear.

And very shortly after that, the butter will clump around your wire whisks and you’ll see a watery buttermilk in the bottom of the stand. When this occurs, you know it’s time to turn the machine off. 

Step 4: Separate Butter from Buttermilk 

Place a colander over a large bowl. Remove the wire whisks from the mixing bowl and pour the buttermilk and butter into the colander. Your fresh buttermilk will collect below, while the solids (butter) will be caught in the colander.

Use a spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl and also the bottom of the mixing bowl. You won’t get much butter, but you don’t want to waste the precious gold. So scrape well! 😉 

Sent the butter loaded colander in the kitchen sink and pour the buttermilk into a mason jar.

Cover jar with a lid and refrigerate for use in pancakes, biscuits or other quick breads. You’ll get 2-3 cups of buttermilk from 1 quart of cream.

Step 5: Wash the Butter

At this point, you’ll be left with about 13 oz (363 g) of solid butter. If you’re going to use it up right away, you can mold it and pop it directly into the fridge. But most of the time, folks prefer to rinse their butter under cold running water. Some even say you should use ice water, but as long as your tap runs quite cold you should be fine.

Turn your faucet on as cold as it will go and use your hands to mash the butter around. Your butter will last longer if all the buttermilk has been removed. The cold water will wash it away without melting your ball of butter. 

Step 6: Salt and Mold Your Homemade Butter

You can make unsalted butter by packaging your butter up as is, but most people prefer to salt it. To do so, place the ball on a plate and lightly mash in salt with a fork.

Warning to the wise? You need very little salt to properly flavor your butter. Sprinkle in tiny amounts, working it with a fork and shaking off any extra buttermilk the salt draws out.

Use a tiny amount of salt and taste after every addition, until your butter tastes perfect. 

From there, you can pack it into a mold. Some folks like using silicone, others use wooden butter molds but I like to use an old fashioned teacup. The bell shape is perfect for releasing a nice brick of butter and it’s something I already have in my kitchen.

Pack the butter down, filling the teacup as full as you please. If you want small bricks of butter, add less. If you want a full size brick, fill the teacup to the top. 

Step 7: Freeze Your Butter in the Mold

Depending on the type of mold, you may not need to do this step. But if you’re using my favorite mold (aka the teacup) you’ll want to freeze the butter before popping it out.

Place your butter-filled teacups in the freezer and let the golden butter harden.

Flip the teacup upside down and run it under hot tap water for about 7-10 seconds. Gently tap on the palm of your hand and the bell of butter should slip out. 

Step 7: Wrap and Refrigerate or Freeze Butter 

You now have 13 ounces of quality, good butter. I recommend wrapping it in cling wrap, parchment paper or butcher paper. From there, you can either refrigerate or freeze it. Butter made from raw milk will go rancid much faster than pasteurized butter when sitting out on the counter, so keep that in mind as you go. 

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FAQ

What Type of Stand Mixer is Best for Making Your Own Butter?

In my kitchen, I prefer to use the Bosch because it has a lid cover that prevents splatters from going all over your kitchen when the fat solids begin to separate from the buttermilk. But I know folks who use a kitchenaid and they just drape a kitchen tea towel over the machine to prevent the splatters. The cloth can be washed after. 

How Much Butter Does 1 Quart of Cream Make? 

A quart of cream makes approximately 13 ounces or 363g (1.5 cups) of butter. Of course, it will vary based on the fat content in your cream. 

Does Homemade Butter Taste Like Store-Bought Butter?

Butter is butter. But I do find that homemade butter made from store-bought whipping cream often seems to be milder in flavor and often, a lighter, fattier texture. And if you use raw cream from a dairy animal the flavor will vary, based on the animal’s diet and even the time of year. 

Can You Make Mason Jar Butter Instead of Using a Stand Mixer? 

You can make butter in a mason jar by shaking it a lot. You can even using a hand mixer. But the easiest way is to use a stand mixer or some sort of kitchen mixer that will do all the hard work for you. The only exception is if you have a lot of cream to work with. A stand mixer can only hold so much cream and in those cases, a pail and a hand mixer may be appropriate

Is it Ok to Double This Recipe in a Mixer?

I don’t recommend doubling this recipe, simply because cream will fluff up when whipped and double in height before it turns into butter. You don’t want to overflow your mixer during the whipped cream phase and for this reason, I don’t do more than 4-5 cups of cream in my stand mixer.