# Baking with homemade butter?



## Silverstar7337

I have been making our own butter for a few months now and tried to bake with it this weekend. I weighed it with a kitchen scale and my cookies turned into tasty puddles! They did not poof up. I made the same cookies with store butter and they did not flatten out and came out perfect! How do you bake with your homemade butter? Is it possible?


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## Vickie44

I just got abook about cooking with fresh eggs milk butter etc . In the intro it says is quite different . I will take a look tonight and get back to you . I am sure some one here can advise us also.

My mother used to use half her butter and half shortening for cookies


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## Silverstar7337

Vickie44 said:


> I just got abook about cooking with fresh eggs milk butter etc . In the intro it says is quite different . I will take a look tonight and get back to you . I am sure some one here can advise us also.
> 
> My mother used to use half her butter and half shortening for cookies


Thanks! I have also heard of skipping the butter and using coconut oil... I may try that as well.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl

There's probably just more water in your butter. Fresh eggs will have more leavening power than old ones, and raw milk is not homogenized with a standard fat content. There are shortenings on the market now that are transfat free, but they're still an artificial product.


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## linn

I agree with Reddirt Cowgirl. You might want to try working more water out of your butter. I use homemade butter for cooking with no problem. Next time try adding a little less homemade butter to see if that helps.


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## madness

linn said:


> You might want to try working more water out of your butter.


As I'm new to butter making (just did my second batch this weekend), can you give a little more detail? Currently, I'm straining in a mesh colander and then kneading with my hands in a bowl of ice water, then a few squeezes in the air to make sure there are no trapped pockets of water. How do you get more water out?

(I wish I had enough to bake with! I'm only getting a gallon of raw milk every two weeks and skimming about 3/4 of the cream from that. But I'm hoping to be able to make all our butter this summer.)


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## linn

After I rinse the butter, I work it against the side of a bowl with a spatula or a butter paddle. You just keep pressing or kneading the butter while pouring off the liquid that works out of it. This sometimes takes quite a while.


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## Silverstar7337

RedDirt Cowgirl said:


> There's probably just more water in your butter. Fresh eggs will have more leavening power than old ones, and raw milk is not homogenized with a standard fat content. There are shortenings on the market now that are transfat free, but they're still an artificial product.


Oh no! We use our fresh chicken eggs from the yard too!! Could it be my butter and eggs? Grrrr I thought using my own stuff would be better 

Maybe no baked goods for us. Out waistlines would be happy though


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## RedDirt Cowgirl

linn said:


> After I rinse the butter, I work it against the side of a bowl with a spatula or a butter paddle. You just keep pressing or kneading the butter while pouring off the liquid that works out of it. This sometimes takes quite a while.


This part seems to take more time than all the rest. Japanese bamboo rice paddles are a good tool.
Using you own stuff should make for nicer baked goods than you can get from store bought. If your butter just is what it is, add a bit more flour to cookie dough; your cakes will be all the better for a lighter batter.


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## nduetime

I use my own butter and eggs as well. I think you just need to work the water out a little better. I use some antique butter paddles and a large wooden bowl. Try not to get it looking too greasy. I usually can rinse and press about three times before I start seeing clear water. That is what you are looking for when rinsing. then consentrate on pressing out as much water as you can.


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## BlackWillowFarm

Agree you have to work at getting all the water out of your homemade butter. I use a large bowl and a butter paddle to work it out the best I can. On the eggs, commercial recipes are based on 2oz eggs. If they're larger than that your recipe will be too wet. We weigh our eggs before we use them if it's a recipe like cookies that will be affected by it.


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## Vickie44

OP I got the booklet but it is not as detailed as I had hoped. Is mother earth news food and garden series fall 2011 . I did notice the cookie recipe for shortbreads calls for less butter then the recipe I use. I will go with above posts, try to remove more water and use either less or more dry ingredients. Thanks everyone


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## jwal10

I find it better to use less butter or eggs than more flour. Try to keep the ingredients equal to recipe. If the eggs are bigger and butter with excess water both, would be a problem. Use a large rounded bowl and press the butter against the sides to let water run down. Utensil needs to be strong to press hard. I use a butter paddle. All we use is butter, if your recipe calls for oil, just melt the butter. This will also evaporate the water if done slowly on low heat, woodstove works great....James


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## madness

RedDirt Cowgirl said:


> This part seems to take more time than all the rest. Japanese bamboo rice paddles are a good tool.


That's exactly what I was thinking of using! I don't have any official butter paddles, but the rice paddles looked similar enough.

I agree with everyone else that it's worth the trouble to make YOUR ingredients work with a recipe. I know our eggs are smaller than the ones called for in recipes so I adjust accordingly (weighing, like BWF said, is a good way to do this).


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## Silverstar7337

I'm making another batch of butter tonight and will try to work out all the water! How do you guys measure the amount to use? A kitchen scale? Do you have molds?


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## BlackWillowFarm

Silverstar7337 said:


> I'm making another batch of butter tonight and will try to work out all the water! How do you guys measure the amount to use? A kitchen scale? Do you have molds?


Yep, I use a kitchen scale. Best tool in my kitchen. I take a recipe and convert it from cups to ounces so I can weigh out the ingredients. Make sure the scale has a tare weight so you can set your bowl on it and set it to zero, then put your ingredients in to get the weight. Once you've switched your recipe over, you don't have to measure, just put the stuff in the bowl or glass and weigh it. I love it. 

After I'm done getting the water out of the butter I weigh it on my trusty scale, then add salt to taste. I usually add 1tsp to 1lb of butter. Then I get a long piece of waxed paper, maybe 18-20 inches and put a blob of butter on it near one end. Fold over the other end of the paper and slide/squeeze/roll the butter into a log, like a sausage roll, rolling it up into the paper. I found using a flat edge like a ruler helps to squish it all together as you roll. Then twist the ends of the wax paper like a piece of taffy. After that, I put it in the freezer to harden, then I put it in a zip lock freezer bag to keep. If I keep it for a long time, I vacuum pack it. 

I shoot for four ounces of butter in each log but I don't weigh it until I use it in a recipe.


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## jwal10

I measure by tablespoons or by 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 or 1 cup, liguid or solid. Butter can be heavier....James


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## happydog

Vickie44 said:


> I just got a book about cooking with fresh eggs milk butter etc .


Ooh, a cookbook about using fresh eggs and butter?? Both of which I'm drowning in, lol. Is it available on amazon?


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