The Best Butter Substitute

5 from 1 vote

Regardless of whether or not you need a dairy-free substitute, vegan alternative, or if you have simply run out of butter, here are the best butter substitutes you can use instead of the real thing.

Prep Time15

Total Time15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 204kcal

Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Stand mixer

Ingredients

600 g Heavy cream use min 36% fat content cold heavy cream

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Whip cold heavy cream in a bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of your stand mixer using the whisk attachement
The cream will go through the following stages: 1. it will turn into whipped cream, then 2. stiff peaks form, and then 3. begin clinging to the beaters as the butterfat separates from the liquid. Then, 4. the butter will be solid with liquid on top.
Pour the liquid (butter milk) off of the top of the solid butter and put the solid butter in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and begin squeezing the butter with your hands to remove the rest of the buttermilk.
Place the butter into a bowl of ice cold water to remove any leftover buttermilk. You may need to do this a few times until the water is fairly clear.
For the best taste and consistecy, store the butter refrigerated up to 3 weeks.
Use it instead of butter 1:1

Notes

600g / 2.5 cups cream will make about 240g butter / 1 cup butter
For the best flavor and creamiest butter use a high-quality heavy cream with at least 36% fat
Use heavy cream, not heavy whipping cream. Heavy cream has a slightly higher fat content that is needed to make the butter solidify better
Squeeze out as much buttermilk as you possibly can once the butter is solid. You can also press the butter against the side of a fine mesh sieve with a rubber spatula.
Keep washing the butter off in the cold ice water until the water is almost clear. This is how you know that the buttermilk has been completely removed.
The water must be ice cold to wash the butter or it will melt the butter.

Nutrition