I realized this afternoon I needed to make Extended Butter, so I thought I’d do another tutorial.
This recipe came from a book I found in a thrift store in Colorado…yes, I *am* a thrift store junkie. The name of the book is Make Your Own Convenience Foods by Don & Joan German. My copy is from 1978, but everything is still relevant…possibly more relevant now than ever before, as we face supermarket shelves lined with preservatives, artificial dyes, & chemicals. This book offers quick and cheap ways to make chemical-free foods.
The reason I make Extended Butter is not so much because I need to extend my butter, but b/c I have been on a quest for how to make butter more spreadable straight from the refrigerator. I wanted the convenience of a tub of spread w/o having to use margarine. For those of you who regularly use butter as a spread, this recipe will prove to be a money saver, I am sure!
Set your butter out and get it to room temperature.
In your blender, mix:
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp liquid lecithin
5 oz water
(you can see the cover of the book in the background)
When your butter is room temp, add it to the blender, and blend until smooth.
As you can see, the spatula stands straight up in it. It has a whiter appearance than pure butter, but that hasn’t seemed to bother anyone in our family. The book does suggest that if the lack of color bothers you, you can add a bit of carrot juice. Doesn’t seem worth it to me.
Now, all you have to do is transfer it to a container. We keep ours in an old margarine tub…just seems like the logical place for it! 😉 Then, it just goes in our refrigerator, ready to be pulled out w/ the meal.
*1/10 Note: I get a lot of hits on my website for this butter tutorial and thought I probably ought to give an update as I no longer make extended spreadable butter.
The reason being twofold:
1. I’m just not convinced the use of soy lecithin is a good idea. Until I feel better informed about the subject, I’d rather not be purposely adding it to my foods.
and 2. I decided that it was just as easy to simply keep a butter dish set out on the counter or try to plan ahead and set butter out ahead of time when it is needed. I make so many other things from scratch, this is one thing that isn’t necessary.
If you read through the comments, you will see there are people who have tried making butter spreadable with olive oil and have gotten great results. Someday I intend to try doing that instead of using the lecithin.
I’m thrilled so many people have visited the website via this tutorial, but didn’t want to be misleading since extended spreadable butter has ceased to be a part of my family’s diet.
EllaJac says
Very intriguing! I’ve never seen that method. Is the lecithin from soy? Hubby avoids soy (and his diet actually restricts ‘vegetable’ oil – would olive oil work?). We use a butter bell or crock to keep the butter fresh at room temp… though these days room temp is chilly (and a bit less spreadable!)!
Raisingarrows says
Yes, it is soy. I’ve never tried olive oil, but it would be worth it to try it!I have a very small kitchen, so I like being able to put the butter in the refrigerator and pull it out as needed.
marriedtothefarm says
I too like to put my butter in the fridge. I’ve been making it with just butter and veggie oil. I’ve had a little trouble with it getting a hint of mold on the lid before we’re done with it. I never thought of adding lecithin, thanks.
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Deedee says
Hi Amy! I do an even simpler version with olive oil. I take one cup of butter (approx 1/2 pound) and one cup of light olive oil. Leave the butter out till soft room temp. Put in a mixer or blender with the oil and blend till smooth. Pour into a crock or container and use straight from the fridge. This stretches the butter to double, cuts the saturated fat and has no questionable additives in it. Just oil and butter. Hope this helps make it simpler for you.
Amy says
Deedee, I had quit making this altogether and just using the butter straight. I think I’ll try your version! Thanks so much!
Gloria Gaske says
I have added avocado oil but am still trying to get the amount right.I tastes lovely.I am letting my butter softened and then I will add a little more oil this time.I only tried a small piece of butter with a few drops and it is still a bit too hard.I haven’t heard of adding lecithin and I won’t be either.When I heard someone talking about it they said only to add cold pressed vegetable oil.
Chris says
Did you know that you can get sunflower lecithin? It’s kind of expensive, but much better for you. What I like about the extended butter is the reduction in calories due to the addition of water.
I have the original book this recipe is in. However, the recipe calls for 5 oz of water, but says 1/4 cup plus one tablespoon, that’s really only 3 ozs. Did you use 1/2 cup plus 1 T water?
Amy says
No, I didn’t know that! Thanks for the heads up. Since I usually only pay attention to the ounces, I’m positive I used the 5oz.
S. L. Soltes says
Thank you so much for this! We are anticipating a move and I accidentally packed my copy of Make Your Own Convenience Foods and put it in storage, which I only realized when I went to make the butter.
Someone else on this thread mentioned sunflower lecithin, which I will look into. Overall, when one thinks about the proportion of 1 tsp of lecithin to around 27 oz of mixture (8 oz oil plus 16 oz of butter, plus 3 oz of water) the amount seems pretty insignificant to me. But I will look for the sunflower kind.
Once again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Mercy Audiss says
I have bought sunflower lecithin, since I cannot use soy.
Melanie says
I avoid soy too so I use sunflower lecithin and olive oil. ?