One of my readers recently posted on the Little House on the Prairie Living Facebook Page that she was making homemade butter from powdered milk. I thought this was a fantastic idea and I asked if she would share what she did with the rest of us. I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I will have to give it a go this week! Thanks Gwen for the post!
So the other morning I woke up thinking…if you can make butter from milk, why can’t I make butter from powered milk? Well, most powdered milk is non fat, so it makes it harder. Then I discovered a full fat milk NIDO by Nestle…but I did not have any on hand and I wanted to make butter without going to the store!
The recipe. 3/4 c. powdered milk, 1/3 c. water, 1/4 c. oil(coconut, olive, sunflower, ect). You can also add yellow food coloring, salt, and butter flavoring if you want it.
Picture of the ingredients.
Add the powdered milk to your food processor.
Add the water and then the oil.
Blend for a few minutes. Check and see if it’s starting to thicken. Keep blending until its starts getting thick, checking every 3 minutes or so.
After a few minutes it should look like this. A fairly thick, margarine look.
Thee steps are optional, add in butter flavoring…
And yellow food coloring if you want. You would also add salt at this point.
Looks, smells, and tastes like butter. Yum!
This recipe will make about 3/4 cup of “butter”.
Thanks for sharing this recipe with us Gwen! I’m excited to try it this week! This reminded me of when I make spreadable butter. I use homemade butter and then whip in light olive oil so it stays in a spreadable condition even when I put it in the fridge.
This also reminds me… if you ever have an idea for a guest post or if you have an idea for a recipe or a post that you want me to make, just contact me and let me know! I’ve had a couple requests for various posts this week that I’m working hard to get up. I love to know what you want to read about! Just use the contact form on this site to send me a message or just send it directly to [email protected]
I am SO going to try this today!! Thanks for posting!
what about a recipe with ‘powdered butter’ …. thank you..
This seems to be a solution for that “fake” butter stuff that you buy?..I’ll bet it tastes a whole lot better & it has to be better for you!?…Thanks…I would have never thought of doing this!!!
Yes, I’m thinking this would taste like margarine but much better for you! No hydrogenated oils!
Just tried this for first time…I had bought a box of powdered milk and my kids did not like so been trying to find other uses for it…this is AMAZING, it taste great..the food processor did not work well, I just put it back in jar and shook til thick, then placed in fridge. Just used powdered milk , water, and vegetable oil with a dash of salt.
You can use your blender too thats what I do.
I tried this twice; and each time it tasted awful, as well as a tough texture. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. I used Non-Fat dry milk from the LdS cannery, and olive oil. Any ideas?
Mine tasted great…but I only used powdered milk, water and vegetable oil with a dash of salt….did not like how food processor was working so I placed it back in jar and shook ( my family took turns shaking, LOL) for like 20 minutes then placed in fridge when it started to thicken.
I’m wondering if the olive oil gave your butter the awful taste. Maybe try it with a different oil.
I had the same results as Linda. It was awful. I would not try this again. It never thickened much and the taste was just terrible.
If it doesn’t get thick then try blending it on a slower speed for either longer or not as long,remember not all blenders are the same, and if it doesn’t taste as well as you were hoping try adding more or less of the salt and butter flavoring.
yes, I had to add salt and did not like how food processor was doing so i put it back in jar and we took turns shaking…turned out GREAT !!
I noticed that there are two recipes for this. Is it 1/4 c powdered milk and 3/4 c oil or is it 3/4 c powdered milk and 1/4 c oil? I would love to try it, but coconut oil is very expensive and I don’t want to have to throw it away.
I saw the difference in the amount of milk and oil too. The recipe in the picture has a different amount than the recipe posted below it. Which one is it? 1/4 c powdered milk or 3/4 c. ? 1/4 c. oil or 3/4c ?That could be why a couple of other people posted that theirs did not turn out well. I plan on trying it, but not sure which recipe is correct.
looks like 1/4 milk and 3/4 oil by the picture
This idea looks awesome! have you tried it with the NIDO? I wish I could make fresh butter 🙁 working on getting the land. Right now we are living in a rv so a cow is not really an option lol. I would love to know if you tried the Nido if that works I will invest in a blender/food processor 🙂
Hi, I have tried it several times and it always turns out…I did try with the NIDO and it was still good…not like butter from the cow (we have made it that way too). But in a…I don’t want to go to the store and want butter kinda way. Or the world is coming to an end and I need butter!!! Hope you do try it again and tweek it for you. If coconut oil is too expensive, start with vegetable oil. I buy my coconut oil in 5 gallon buckets, so it is way cheaper! And it is the only oil I use…just use what is right for you!
where do you gget coconut oil in a 5 gallon bucket? What is the cost?
I know you can purchase it from Tropical Traditions in the 5 gallon bucket here: http://tinyurl.com/c36328r
What’s wrong with just using real butter?
Nothing! This is just a way to make a substitute if you would absolutely have to.
Have you tried this on toast…..
I’m wondering if the water content of the recipe will turn the toast soggy ? This is a problem I find with some of the commercial margarines (especially the one that claims to taste like real butter)
Thank you
Mine is great on toast, that is the first thing i tried, did not make soggy, but I chilled for a while before using , also i only used shake method , did not like how thin food processor was making it.
I was just wondering if the butter flavoring available today is the same that was linked to cancer several years ago? I don’t recall if that was taken off the market or not. Can’t remember what exactly the chemical is called,but I think it was identified after many incidences of cancer showed up in people that came into contact with it at popcorn packaging factories.
Butter flavoring (like in the picture) and the stuff they flavor popcorn with are 2 different things. Plus those workers were exposed to massive amounts of the stuff. You can usually find this kind in the spice aisle or Wilton makes a butter flavoring that they sell with cake making supplies.
How much salt do you use? Teaspoon? Tablespoon?
Do you think this would work with canned milk ? instead of the powder
I just tried this recipe for making butter and it sure is yummy.I live in the Philippines and it is very hard to find cream ,that is why I tried this recipe .
This is something I have never heard of before, and find fascinating. I will indeed try it. I foresee many experiments to come with cooking with it.
I made i and added the butter flavor sxtract and salt still taste like powdered milk and you can’t melt it only spread it on bread etc. any idea’s? . don’t know if you are suppose to keep on the counter or refig?
Is there a homemade butter flavoring? Cause I can’t find it anywhere
Can you find out from your friend what type of Nido by Nestle milk you use to make butter? Is it whole powdered milk. What type of milk do I use
there is so many different types. Carol
Hello, Can you tell me what milk to buy from Nestles for making butter there are so many do I buy is it Whole milk? Carol
How much oil did you use? the picture says 3/4 c oil and you have written 1/4 c oil. Would like to make it but that’s a big difference in oil. Thanks!
I just found a pin on how to dry milk. The recipe used half and half. My question is, would you still use the oil?
I made this is fantastic nobody notice it I made cheesecake all from my food storage I made my sweet condensed milk and evaporated milk from powdered milk and my cream cheese from my yogurt that I made from powered milk so delish.
I am not buying butter again ever thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
What if you don’t have a food processor? What if you don’t have electricity?
One poster said put ingredients in a jar and shake.
Can you use this ‘butter’ recipe for making brownies or cookies??
Instead of butter flavoring, salt and coloring …I had some butter popcorn flavoring shaker powder (found in the chip and snack row at grocery store) it worked perfectly! The taste of the butter was outstanding. We now use it on everything. We even bake with it. Example cookies, breads and cakes. The only thing that did not work well with was a butter based recipe for pie pastry. (I am not referring to the graham crumb type but the type for fruit pies.) Tried it several times by seasoned pie makers and same results. But… considering that everything else worked…. I am pleased with the results.
I wanted to know if the cream you used is the same cream that can be collected after boiling milk. A heavy layer that settles on top after it boils and cools down.
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What is the butter flavoring.
It may be flavour of the butter. For example: peanut butter or the regular one. Although I had the same question but even I’m not confirmed abt the same.
I noticed several comments that the texture was grainy and awful tasting. This may help. Not all milk powders are the same. Low temperature powders such as those from Honeyville Grain for example, will not work. High temperature powders such as Carnation will work. Additionally, high temperature processed powder used for bread making wont work for drinking, butter or cheese making. Yes, it’s different yet again. High temperature processed is not the same as high temperature powder. If any one knows exactly all these difference, I hope they will share. I’m still trying to get my head around it myself.
Where there is a will there is a way! But consuming free oil is detrimental to health. I suggest spreading bread and other things with avocado.
That’s a good idea if you have avocado.
And what if you have no avocados and no way to get any??
This is a great idea at least for those times when nothing
else is available; although some comments said they’d be
using only this recipe in the future.
Thanks a lot.
Please can this butter be used in making cakes?
I made this recepie, it is not that soft like in the picture, to soften more do I need to add more water? Or oil?