It's Butter, Baby!

Once we saw our new cream separator would work, we decided to try making butter. We put 4 gallons of milk, which is a whole day's work for our goats, and got about a half gallon of cream. The cream turns into butter by whipping the cream so the membranes covering the butterfat break down, the fat sticks together, forming butter.

We first tried using a hand mixer, which worked but was very messy! We then used a food processor, which also worked, though after a while the motor got hot and melted the butter! We had to add ice to the final batch.

Once the butter came out of the food processor, we soaked it in ice water to remove the last bit of buttermilk. We then scooped them up with an ice cream scoop and put them in the fridge. We weighed the butter with the barn scale. The half gallon had made a pound of butter!

After testing the butter on a piece of hot toast, we decided to make Scotch Shortbread cookies.
Here is the recipe:

1 cup fresh goat butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a hand mixer. Add vanilla and salt. Slowly add flour, one cup at a time, mixing to form a smooth stiff dough. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a foil-lined cookie sheet, or into shaped mini-muffin pans prepared with cooking spray. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool before removing from pan. Makes about 20 cookies.