Yes, you can make your very own yummy spreadable butter. How wonderous, you are thinking...
Indeed...but first the back story!
Butter versus Margarine.
The big debate right?! Well, I grew up eating margarine and honestly thought there was no difference between them in taste or otherwise, except that one you couldn't spread! Well, cut to a few years ago when I started to get a little more health-aware and trying to cut out certain processed foods, chemicals and additives where I could... in particular trans fat, which margarine contains - so I decided to swap to butter. 'Just eat real food', is now my basic food mantra! Don't get me wrong, I am not obsessive and don't stress about eating junk at times, but just try to keep making small and better choices and changes where and when I can. Baby-steps and all that. So, margarine was out and butter was in. Funnily though, I now couldn't touch margarine with a ten foot pole, just based on taste alone - can't believe how different they are! And how much a palette can change...
So, taste and health-wise, butter was my new best friend... except for the small issue of spreadability. Canberra being the climate of extreme temperatures that it is, leaving it out on the bench just didn't seem to work. Either it was so hot here it melted into a greasy puddle, or so cold during winter that it was like trying to scrape a block of ice. In fact the temperature in the fridge was probably warmer, haha!
So I started buying spreadable butter sometimes but not only was it a lot more expensive but... gasp... most of them had trans fat in them too! Sigh. Anyway, we persevered with the butter variations but a few months ago some clever friends mentioned on Facebook that they make their own spreadable butter by mixing it with oil.
Stop.the.press! MAKE YOUR OWN!?! What a radical yet 'why on earth didn't I think of that' idea!
Of course over the last few months making spreadable butter hasn't been the top of the priority list but I was so keen to give it a go when I could. I did a bit of googling and found a hundred variations of the idea so I made a recipe ratio that seemed like it would work and gave it a shot! TOO EASY, people! So I thought I would record it here on the old blogaroo in case anyone else wants to try it and save on both money and chemicals...
One variation I found online was some used canola oil to mix with it, while others preferred the health benefits of olive oil. Some said though that olive oil when chilled in the fridge went too hard. I would much prefer olive oil too so decided to combine them both for hopefully the best of both worlds! Also, I used light olive oil so the butter didn't taste too olive-oiley! Some said to add water too but that was a bit too whacky for me!
The ratio I came up with was -
- 500 grams softened butter
- 1.5 cups oil (1 cup extra light olive oil, 1/2 cup canola oil)
Then the process was just -
- Beat the butter in a bowl for a couple minutes until whipped/lighter colour
- Slowly add the oil while still beating - it will become quite liquid, like a pancake batter
- That's it - pour into containers to chill overnight! (I used 2 x 500ml glass Pyrex containers)
The whipping also adds air/volume so your butter goes even further. Good for the grocery bill too!
Anyway, I excitedly chilled overnight and in the morning - hey presto - light, easy to scrape and spread, yummy buttery-tasting butter! Woohooooooooo!!!
Ok, ok, maybe I am just a leeeettle too excited over this but what can I say? Finding something that benefits my family in both health and dollars and practicality = yeeha! Not to mention a satisfying conclusion to an ongoing butter saga, haha!!! No more ripping up fresh bread or hacking at hard butter blocks. It only took a couple minutes to do, so it's very easy to make up a few tubs to last...well.... not too long in this house with our toast and sandwich-loving horde!
Alright, alright, if I talk about butter any longer, I'm sure every reader is going to boycott this blog so I will stop now. But go on... give it a go!! ;)
Yours in buttery-spreadable goodness xx
Edited to add: As this is one of my most popular posts, I thought I had better update it (over a year and a half later) to say that we still make and eat our spreadable butter this way - it's the only way we have our 'spreading' butter now! Still easy, delicious, and convenient. The only thing I wanted to change here is that we now make it with only olive oil (1.5 cups), and not canola or similar. I try to avoid all those more processed vegetable oils these days. Here is a starting article on why. It works fine with just olive oil... a little bit harder straight out of the fridge but still spreadable (and much more spreadable than straight butter would be! Just wanted to add that little update in case it helps anyone wanting to avoid canola/vegetable oils too. x
Ooooh I've been meaning to try this for ages, I've just bookmarked this post to come back to! I think the whole concept of margerine is gross - you know it's grey before they add colouring?? Ick! Give me the real stuff anyday! But my partner gets annoyed that the butter is too hard and scrunches up his bread... really must try this!
ReplyDeletei know - margerine is scary stuff!! let me know how you go when you try it - hope it works for your family too!
DeleteAhh Kate, I love how you can laugh at yourself in your posts - it's truly entertaining. And let me just say, I obviously need to get a life too because I totally think this is the greatest invention ever! I am so going to try it. We buy spreadable butter and yep, I'm sick of paying so much for it. Great post! (Sarah - goodytenshoes)
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I think you may be getting a little Pioneer Woman on me here :P
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed, working away at something that has been bugging you.
Might need to look into that margarine thing. I hardly eat any myself but the kids do have it a bit. Hmmmm...
hahah - combining 2 ingredients - not quite ready to start my own cooking show, lol!!! ;) yeah, have a google on the margerine thing and see what you think... i guess its just one of those things that its probably worth avoiding it if you can but its just one of many similar food products so do what u can, you know? hard to avoid processed stuff completely!
DeleteOver excited... I think not! We try to keep our butter in the cupboard, however, it's only good for a like month or two of the year. (Rock hard in the winter, and choosing not to have a microwave it's not easy to soften up the butter in the summer when it has to be refrigerated!)
ReplyDeleteWill deff give this a go!!! Thanks for the tip Kate.
oh i know - i dont want to microwave the butter either! lol yeah its so hard to get the butter at the perfect consistency isnt it, esp all through the year! let me know how you go w it :) we are loving our perfect butter solution, heehee!
DeleteIf you want a variation you might substitue the canola for coconut oil? It has a delicious flavour, and is an excellent, very healthy oil. It is pricey so it might not be as frugal as you're going for. It also has a very low melting point so would probably work well in creating a soft spread.
ReplyDeletethanks nic, might look into that - might be a dumb question but does it have a coconuty taste?
Deleteyes it does....so if you're not into coconut...might not be a good thing. But if you are.... :-)
ReplyDeletewell i DO love coconut - really love it in fact - but just not sure coconut and vegemite toast would go so well, lol!!!
DeleteOur flat is freezing cold, even in the summer, and leaving the butter on the counter is the same as leaving it in the fridge. I love the concept of spreadable butter but don't like all the additives so this recipe is just what I was looking for. I made this today, using half and half olive to sunflower oil because I only had regular olive oil on hand. I can't wait to try this in the morning for my boys breakfast. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeletejust found this comment, sorry I did not reply earlier - how did it turn out for you? we are still loving it around here!
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