While making bread in a bag with my children today, we decided we should make some homemade butter, too.  It’s so easy to make and I had just bought some heavy whipping cream, so why not, right?  …Wrong.

We went to the refrigerator to fetch the whipping cream and it was gone – my husband used the cream to make soup last night and I totally forgot. Being that heavy cream is the key ingredient in butter, that idea was out… until my eyes landed on a small bottle of breastmilk in the refrigerator!

We put the ounce of brestmilk in a clean jar and shook it to see if we could get butter.  Surprisingly, after about 6 minutes of shaking, we did!

breastmilk butter

Breastmilk contains an appropriate amount of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins.  It starts out as colostrum during the first few days after delivery, then gradually changes to mature milk.  3-4 days after delivery, breastmilk will appear rather thin and watery and will taste very sweet.  As the days pass, Mother’s milk will be thicker and creamier.  And that is the composition for breastmilk butter. 

how to make breastmilk butter

How to make breastmilk butter

  1. Chill 2-4 ounces of freshly expressed breastmilk in the freezer for 5 minutes or in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes. 
  2. In a freshly cleaned jar (with a lid), add the breastmilk.
  3. Screw the lid on tight and shake furiously for about 5-8 minutes, until you have butter.
  4. Drain off the remaining liquid and serve the butter on crackers and bread — or use in your favorite recipes!

*In the first picture, we used 1 ounce of breastmilk because I didn’t want to waste it!
  In the second picture, I used 4 ounces.

1 Comment

  1. this recipe has saved my life!!! so simple and easy to make when my family is in a rush for dinner time. my husband has refused to buy in store butter ever since i gave him my first batch. thank you so much for sharing ☺️ i wish you would have instructed adding some sugar and salt to the jar of milk because it did take some trail and error to get the most satisfactory taste!

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