• We are nerdy homeschoolers.   That means that we read a lot of books, we ask a lot of questions! and eventually we do a lot of projects and experimenting.  My second grader has been working her way through the Little House on the Prairie books.  One afternoon she asked me if butter really came from cows.  We watched several YouTube videos of milking cows, and even a few on churning butter.  My kids were fascinated with the old butter churns and what a laborious process the whole thing was.  Inevitably, they asked if we could make butter. I remember as a kid, making some in a Tupperware container and lots of shaking.  I seem to recall it taking hours.  Then I found, on the Internet, people making fresh butter with their stand mixers.

    This happy experiment was so easy, and the results were amazing.  I’m not sure I had actually tasted fresh butter before.  Which is amazing, considering I recall making some as a kid (perhaps I failed to actually make butter?) and that I lived in a huge dairy town growing up.

    I am so glad we tried this out.

    Your shopping list is huge!  You need, cream and salt.

    That’s it folks, two ingredients for your homemade butter.

    I used one full quart of heavy cream and a teaspoon of salt.  Both ingredients go straight into your stand mixer.  If you have the splash guards for your mixer you will want to use them!  Using the paddle attachment, turn that sucker on high.

    And now, unlike butter churners of yore, you watch instead of work.  Your cream will thicken into beautiful whipped cream.  Yum. But then, it begins to congeal, and separate. This is where I got worried. I thought I was doing something wrong.  Don’t be like me, and just realize that your butter is separating from your buttermilk!  So not only do you get fresh butter, but you get fresh buttermilk too.  Can you imagine your breakfast tomorrow, buttermilk pancakes and fresh butter?

    Keep churning that butter until it forms into a clump and sort of sticks to the paddle.

    Using a colander separate your butter from your butter milk.  Put the buttermilk into a container and into your fridge.

    Now you need to use your hands and squeeze out any remaining buttermilk in the actual butter.  You can also use the back of a spoon to press it out.

    When you are finished you can shape it into a stick, or put it into a container.  Fresh butter should always be kept in the refrigerator.

    Before chilling consider adding fresh herbs, fruits, or garlic for some amazing flavored butter.