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Homemade Butter ingredients
diyDIY · 20 min20 min totalapprox. 100 kcal per tbsp

Homemade Butter

October 2, 2026

This is one of those things that sounds like a project but takes less than twenty minutes and produces something genuinely better than anything you can buy. Pour your heavy whipping cream into the KitchenAid bowl, start it on medium, and add a pinch of Himalayan salt early — stop and taste as it thickens and adjust to where you want it. The salt is not just seasoning; it draws out moisture and helps the butter keep longer.

Keep the machine running past whipped cream, past stiff peaks, past the point where it looks done. The cream will collapse suddenly — the fat globules break apart from the buttermilk and you will hear the liquid sloshing in the bowl. That is the moment. Stop the machine, use a spatula to gather everything back to the centre, then run it again at a higher speed until the butter is fully solid and the buttermilk has separated completely.

Pour the butter and the liquid over a cheesecloth set over a bowl and let it drain. Then rinse the butter in cold or ice water — two or three times, working it gently with your hands each time, until the water runs completely clear. That rinsing step is what makes the difference between butter that keeps on the counter and butter that goes off quickly. Press out the last of the water and you are done. I store mine in a butter dish on the counter. It is ready to use immediately and it tastes like nothing else.

The recipe, step by step

KitchenAid whisk spinning heavy whipping cream in the bowl
Pour in the cream, start on medium — add your Himalayan salt and taste as it thickens
KitchenAid whisk with butter clumps and buttermilk separating in the bowl
The moment it breaks — fat clumps on the whisk, buttermilk pooling below
Solid butter and separated buttermilk in the KitchenAid bowl
Gather it back to the centre with a spatula and run it faster until fully solid
Fine mesh strainer ready to strain the butter and buttermilk
Pour butter and buttermilk over a cheesecloth — let it drain completely
Fresh butter rinsed in a glass bowl with cold water
Rinse in cold or ice water 2–3 times until the water runs clear — this is what lets it keep on the counter
Butter wrapped in cheesecloth being pressed to remove the last of the water
Press out the last of the water through the cloth

What you'll need

  • Heavy whipping cream (as much as you want to make — 500 ml gives you roughly 200 g of butter)
  • Himalayan salt, to taste

How to make it

  1. 1

    Pour the heavy whipping cream into the KitchenAid bowl. Fit the whisk attachment.

  2. 2

    Start on medium speed. After a minute or two, add a pinch of Himalayan salt. Stop and taste — add more if you want it saltier. The salt draws out moisture and helps the butter keep.

  3. 3

    Keep whipping past stiff peaks. The cream will suddenly collapse and you will hear liquid sloshing — the fat has broken from the buttermilk. Stop the machine.

  4. 4

    Use a spatula to gather everything back to the centre of the bowl. Run the machine again at a higher speed until the butter is fully solid and the buttermilk has separated completely.

  5. 5

    Pour the butter and buttermilk over a cheesecloth set over a bowl. Let it drain completely.

  6. 6

    Rinse the butter in cold or ice water 2–3 times, working it gently with your hands each time, until the water runs completely clear. This is the step that lets you store it safely on the counter. Once rinsed, strain it again — ideally over a fresh piece of cheesecloth — gather the cloth and squeeze out every last bit of liquid. A clean cheesecloth at this stage means less buttermilk left behind, and that is what keeps it.

  7. 7

    Press out the last of the water. Shape it, store it in a butter dish on the counter, and use it immediately. Well rinsed, it keeps at room temperature.

Why it works

  • One ingredient, real food: Shop-bought butter often contains additives, stabilisers, or cream from unknown sources. When you make it yourself, you know exactly what went in — just cream and salt.
  • Grass-fed cream makes a difference: Organic Valley Grassmilk cream comes from cows raised entirely on grass, with no grain in their diet. Grass-fed dairy is higher in omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) compared to conventional cream.
  • The rinsing step is everything: Rinsing the butter in cold water until it runs clear removes residual buttermilk. Buttermilk left in the butter is what causes it to go rancid quickly. Rinse it properly and it keeps safely on the counter.
  • Counter storage is intentional: Well-rinsed, well-pressed butter does not need to be refrigerated. Keeping it at room temperature means it is always soft, always spreadable, and always ready — the way butter was kept for centuries before refrigeration.
  • The buttermilk is a bonus: The liquid that separates during churning is real cultured buttermilk — not the thickened commercial version. Use it in pancakes, baking, or salad dressings. Nothing goes to waste.
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