Back in my school teaching days, I would plan a classroom feast the day before Thanksgiving break. Each child in my class would bring something to contribute to the feast. As part of the feast, we would make homemade butter. Not all of the kids liked the food, but they all loved making the butter!

A couple of weeks before the feast, I would start asking around for empty glass baby food jars. I would usually collect quite a few jars; would buy some heavy whipping cream, and we were good to go. Each of the kids would get their own jar. I would fill each jar about half full with cream. We made sure the lids were screwed on tight, and then let the shaking begin! They would shake and shake their jars until a lump of butter formed. (This was also a great way to get rid of their excess energy)! We would drain the buttermilk from their jars, add a pinch of salt to the butter, and then everyone had their own jar of butter for the feast. It was then fun to talk to them about the first Thanksgiving and how much work went into preparing the Pilgrim’s food.

I still like to make homemade butter with my own kids on or around Thanksgiving time. We often use the “baby jar” method of making homemade butter, but here are two other ways you can make homemade butter.

The Blender Method – Pour 2 cups of heavy whipping cream in to a blender. Blend at a medium-high speed. It will first look like whipped cream, but as you keep going, it will get thicker and start to release the watery, buttermilk. Keep blending until it looks more and more like butter. The whole process should take about 5 minutes. Strain the buttermilk and add a couple pinches of salt (if you prefer your butter salted).

The Stand-up Mixer Method – I always make whipped cream at my house using my Kitchen Aid mixer, and butter can be made too. Pour 2 cups of cream into your mixing bowl. Start mixing on a low to medium-low speed to prevent the cream from splashing everywhere. As the cream starts to thicken, turn the speed up to medium. Let it mix for about 10-15 minutes. Pay close attention to it. When the butter starts to clump and stick to your whisk, it is done. Strain the buttermilk and add salt.

A couple of other thoughts about making homemade butter…

*2 cups of cream will yield about ½ cup of butter or 1 stick of butter. You can always make more!

*The buttermilk you strain from your butter can be saved, but it is not suitable for baking recipes that call for buttermilk. You will need to add white vinegar or lemon juice to it so it will have the acidity it needs to react with baking soda in a baking recipe. You can add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice per 1 cup of buttermilk.

*Your butter will go rancid more quickly if you do not do a good job of removing the buttermilk. If you plan on storing the butter in your fridge and not eating it right away, you will want to rinse the butter in very cold water. Squeeze and knead the butter in the cold water to get more buttermilk out. Continue to rinse the butter in cold water until the water runs clear.

*Rinsed butter can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for about one week. You can store it in the freezer for longer.

*It can be really fun to make flavored butter for special occasions or whenever… You can mix spices, herbs, honey, etc with your butter for fun flavors. Here is an easy recipe for some delicious cinnamon-honey butter. Yum!

Cinnamon-Honey Butter

1 cup butter, softened

½ cup honey

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Beat all ingredients in a mixer on low-medium speed until well blended. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

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