Homemade Cultured Butter Recipe (2024)

This recipe makes butter that's as tasty as the expensive European cultured butter and it's really easy to make and a lot of fun. Here's a tip: use the leftover buttermilk to make Samin Nosrat's buttermilk chicken. Double yum!

Delicious! Clear and concise instructions. I made my second batch yesterday. I have frozen the butter before and that works well (wrapped thoughtfully). I only wish I could source more varieties of cream and culture. The last batch was cream and yogurt from grass fed cows. I would love to try a raw dairy product for my next batch.

just a note for international butter makers, I believe 60 degrees = Fahrenheit not Celsius. this Canadian wasn't sure at first

Freezing does not kill bacteria. It only puts them in hibernation. You will suffer loss of quality if frozen for a long time, but if used in a timely manner, freezing is a great way to store cultured butter!

Hi, The one thing I would point out, is that if you used highly pasteurized cream (which is still a good product), it WILL take longer to get the butter to "emerge" from a food processor, and/or whisk mixer.I use Heavy Cream purchased from Sam's Club, and the price/quality is worth it to me. But, that cream can take about 10 or more minutes to become butter, and this is with the whisk attachment at the highest mixer setting.

I made sure my fermented cream mix was at 60 degrees for the separation stage but I couldn’t get the butter to break in my food processor because it was producing too much heat and melting the mixture. I was stuck with a thick creme fraiche with a few tiny curds for a long time so I threw everything in the fridge to re-chill and switched to a hand mixer to try again. It took about 5 min with the hand mixer and then all of a sudden I had solid butter broken out of the buttermilk like magic!

Crème fraîche or Mexican crema also make wonderful cultured butter. No need to add yogurt or buttermilk, because they are already cultured. I live in Mexico where I can buy crema from a local ranch. It makes the best butter!

This is a fabulous recipe. It’s the only cultured butter I use now- about half the price and just as good. However I did learn that the type of cream is everything. After 3 successful times making this recipe, I used a mass market cream that never turned to curd. I ended up with a big batch of, essentially, creme fraiche. Not a bad thing but not butter. I then purchased another quart of the cream I’d previously used and again it was perfect. Amaze your friends - make your own cultured butter!

I used the small bowl of my food processor and processed in 3 small batches. It was so interesting to see the transformation! I used buttermilk in place of yogurt because I had a fresh, tasty bottle on hand. So delicious! What a satisfying little project.

I also used storebought cultured buttermilk as the starter in place of yogurt. SO. GOOD. Thank you for the great and clear instructions!

@Frank. Yogurt and Buttermilk both have pH levels of about 4.4, so 1/2 cup should be fine.

You could place about have the mixture in a quart jar and shake hard until butter forms, probably a few minutes. Then repeat with the other half the mixture. Then follow the washing instructions. The key will be to have plenty of air/room in the jar so your cream can slosh around and the fat can clump. You can also make whipped cream with this method, just stop when it is the correct temp. Good luck.

I've made my own cultured butter several times now and always by hand—just a whisk and a bowl. It's obviously more work than by machine, but it's less work than you might think! It takes maybe twice as long as making whipped cream by hand to give you a sense of the timeline. And you can take breaks. :)

Made this recipe using KA stand mixer and an IP for fermentation on yogurt setting (8hrs). #1 the butter is VERY good. But also, since it was in the mixer I had a taste of the whipped cream before it turned to butter (hello best whipped cream ever). If you used a stand mixer: don't walk away. When the butter separates out, the mixer will sling milk everywhere. I made a double batch, so I made ricotta with leftover buttermilk. Also very yummy.

Did anyone add oil to make it spreadable when cold?If you did, what oil did you use and did you like it as well?

I've made this quite a few times now and it has come out very good. I've done it starting with Skyr and greek yogurt as the cultured starter and now am using the cultured buttermilk as a starter. Comes out great With a pint of cream, I get ~ 6 ounces/170g. I refrigerate for a day or so after the bench culture. Hand mixer is easy, but a food processor with the dough blade is super easy.

I now know to look for “pasteurized” cream, not “ultra-pasteurized”. Much more flavor in the finished butter.

I just made this today. I used very thick plain greek yogurt and heavy whipping cream in my stand up mixer. I found that mixing on high about 10 minutes and using the pulse for about 3 minutes was enough to get a butter ball, I intermittently poured out the buttermilk during this period. When the butter ball was formed I added the cold water to wash and put it on pulse for a minute, drained the water off and formed it into balls with a bowl over ice as it hardened buttermilk separated.

Nota bene : the "liquid max" line on the food processor bowl is there for a reason. I made a huge mess.

I no longer buy butter. After trying the small food processor at half recipe, the mixer with a paddle, and whisk I’ve discovered that the whisk is most effective. I do wrap (tent) saran wrap around the bowl and mixer to protect from spray. b-milk. This prevents mess. Maybe even consider taping. Xtracts most bmilk this way.

Quickly made a full batch. I was curious if the buttermilk from the (first) half batch would work as well as the yogurt. It did! This makes me think of building your own sourdough: adding to, using, and adding to again. Beautiful!

Did it! This was so cool — so fun! I make yogurt with a culture from New England Cheese Making, so it was a Bulgarian yogurt and organic heavy cream from the co-op. With things that I’ve never made before and have no concept of, I typically make a half recipe. Whole recipe next time!

just to be sure, use a food processor and not a standing mixer, correct?

This was super fun! My food processor is small so I just used a hand mixer. Made my family's traditional Christmas scones before I processed and used 1/3 cup of the "clotted mix" in them. Next year using some of the whipping cream to serve with them AND the finished butter.

I also used buttermilk for the culturing. I had trouble with this recipe until I chilled the butter briefly after the draining step and then again after the wash. I was able to wash and dry it much better without the butter getting worked into the towel, which meant better texture due to less residual buttermilk.

wonderful! I will use more yoghurt next time, maybe leave it out longer, to develop more of the subtle tang.

Seemed right & I have done this successfully before, but when I thought it done & started rinsing, mixture quite soft and hard to handle. Mixed for more than 3 minutes. Not sure what was wrong.

This recipe worked perfectly. It really did only take 2 or 3 minutes of processing until the butter broke. The butter is delicious and so is the buttermilk.