Coffee Butter

A lot of links pop up on my Facebook page that I typically don’t pay any attention to, like Food 52, Food & Wine, and Tasting Table. They’re all great publications, it’s just that I like to get my recipes the old-fashioned way – from cookbooks.

But then, something popped out at me one day that I had to look into – coffee butter – published by Tasting Table. I love coffee, and I love butter, but coffee butter?!! To say the least, I was intrigued.

The recipe is from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen, and the article is written by Kristina Preka, published on April 14, 2017.

We’ve all made compound butters. Herb and wine reduction varieties are common on steaks, plus, back when I catered I made quite a few citrus and berry butters. However, I certainly have never thought to flavor butter with coffee.

This sweetened coffee butter is a “perfect spread over breakfast pastries like scones, croissants and English muffins.”

The author also suggests that an unsweetened version is good on steaks, which makes sense because coffee is often a dry rub ingredient.

So I set out to make coffee butter.

Coffee Butter
Yield: 1/2 cup

2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup ground coffee
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Cheesecloth
Flaked salt, for garnish.

In a tall airtight container, add the heavy cream and stir in the ground coffee until it’s completely mixed. Close the container with a lid and refrigerate overnight.

Strain the coffee mixture, making sure to push through as much milk fat as possible, while keeping out the sediment.

Discard the ground coffee and transfer the strained liquid to a food processor jar.

Add the sugar and kosher salt, and spin the mixture until the fat forms into butter and the liquid separates.

Transfer the mixture to a large piece of cheesecloth and wring out any excess liquid.

Transfer the butter to a small condiment bowl, garnish with flaked salt and use immediately, or store in the refrigerator, covered well, for later.

I’m not one of those “put-salt-on-everything” type of gals, but in this case it works!

And the coffee flavor is superb, even though the color of my coffee butter is lighter than what I saw online.

So if you love coffee, which is the only prerequisite for this recipe, you will love this sweet coffee butter!

Especially on toasted croissants!

By Published On: May 4th, 201759 Comments on Coffee Butter

About the Author: Chef Mimi

As a self-taught home cook, with many years in the culinary profession, I am passionate about all things food-related. Especially eating!

59 Comments

  1. Nadia May 4, 2017 at 7:36 AM - Reply

    Intriguing! Is it very smooth or slightly grainy?

    • chef mimi May 4, 2017 at 7:37 AM - Reply

      Smooth. Especially when it melts on the hot toast. You can just see the little coffee dots!

  2. Courtney Livingston May 4, 2017 at 7:56 AM - Reply

    This sounds amazing and seems pretty easy to make! I just might give it a try this weekend…

  3. Travel Gourmet May 4, 2017 at 8:25 AM - Reply

    Sounds really good. It reminded me of making brandy butter to go on hot mince pies at Christmas. As I love coffee I must give this a try!

  4. Kiki May 4, 2017 at 12:27 PM - Reply

    Oh wow! Why did I as a coffee junkie not think of that? I’ll have to try this.

  5. sippitysup May 4, 2017 at 1:16 PM - Reply

    I’ve had the unsweetened version you mentioned at a restaurant. It was too intense for my taste but a sweeter version intrigues me. GREG

    • chef mimi May 4, 2017 at 3:22 PM - Reply

      When I first played with rubs that contained powdered coffee, I used much less coffee. The restaurant’s recipe might have just been too darn strong. I prefer coffee strong, but in my cup! Except in this case… It’s pretty fabulous!

  6. Tasty Eats Ronit Penso May 4, 2017 at 1:40 PM - Reply

    I love compound butter and this one sounds amazing. :)

    • chef mimi May 4, 2017 at 3:23 PM - Reply

      It’s so good! I hurried through the cheesecloth process, which is why the butter might not look smooth, and maybe even look a bit watery, although it wasn’t.

  7. themarathonerchef May 4, 2017 at 1:44 PM - Reply

    Oh yum! Will have to try this!

  8. Tracey O'Brien May 4, 2017 at 2:21 PM - Reply

    I do love coffee! What a fabulous idea. Great post, thank you.

    • chef mimi May 4, 2017 at 3:24 PM - Reply

      Well it wasn’t my original idea, but I’m really glad I tried it! I’ll definitely make it for a holiday, or when I have company!

  9. anotherfoodieblogger May 4, 2017 at 4:25 PM - Reply

    Oh my gosh, I’m not a huge sweet eater but I definitely think I could manage some (OK a LOT) of this on my English muffin! What a great recipe!

    • chef mimi May 5, 2017 at 7:54 AM - Reply

      I went ahead and used the 2 tablespoons of sugar – usually i just cut back on sugar in a recipe without thinking about it. I think you could do less, but with the good, strong coffee I used, much less sugar might have resulted in something not quite as good? I’ll just have to make it again!

  10. Johnny Hepburn May 4, 2017 at 4:58 PM - Reply

    Even though I knew about making butter, I’d never have thought of this. This would be fab in cake batter.

  11. Zeba@Food For The Soul May 4, 2017 at 5:32 PM - Reply

    Looks just fantastic! Can’t wait to try and make it.

  12. Jeff the Chef May 4, 2017 at 10:33 PM - Reply

    Good Lord, that sounds fantastic!

  13. Liz May 4, 2017 at 11:29 PM - Reply

    Just wow! Thanks for sharing :-) You’re so right – worth stopping for.

    • chef mimi May 5, 2017 at 6:41 AM - Reply

      This was so much fun. I had to hurry and give the rest away or I knew I’d keep buying croissants!!

  14. Gerlinde May 5, 2017 at 12:12 AM - Reply

    What a great idea, I definitely have to try this one of these days . The Tasting Table has lots of good recipes.

    • chef mimi May 5, 2017 at 6:40 AM - Reply

      I should probably pay more attention. Sometimes those things are a nuisance!

  15. chezlerevefrancais May 5, 2017 at 11:13 AM - Reply

    This is really unusual Mimi. My mum would love this!

  16. chefkreso May 6, 2017 at 7:07 AM - Reply

    What an interesting spread, never had the chance to try something similar, sounds lovely!

  17. Kathryn Grace May 6, 2017 at 1:39 PM - Reply

    Ooooo, I especially like your reader’s suggestion to use it in cake batter. And I’m thinking I might see if I can’t make this work with my homemade peanut butter–our breakfast spread of choice.

    • chef mimi May 6, 2017 at 4:21 PM - Reply

      Well it’s a bit of work to use in baking; I’d just add powdered espresso to cake batter. Try it – it’s pretty wonderful!

      • Kathryn Grace May 7, 2017 at 8:13 AM

        [slaps forehead] Yes, of course. : )

  18. Laura @ Feast Wisely May 6, 2017 at 6:46 PM - Reply

    Love this idea Chef Mimi!

  19. Marisa's Italian Kitchen May 7, 2017 at 8:17 AM - Reply

    I’ve never heard of coffee butter before but it does indeed sound intriguing! I can only imagine how delicious it must be….will be adding this to my to do list!

    • chef mimi May 7, 2017 at 11:19 AM - Reply

      It would be a fun surprise for morning guests!

  20. Sofia May 7, 2017 at 5:09 PM - Reply

    Coffee butter! This must be sooo good. I have to make it. Mr H hates butter (to spread on bread. However he loves cooking with butter like French style),… which means all the better for me, the coffee butter would be all for me :D

    • chef mimi May 7, 2017 at 6:15 PM - Reply

      Hahahahahaha! I wish I hated butter on bread. I would have been spared a million calories over my lifetime!!!

  21. Culinary Flavors May 8, 2017 at 5:31 AM - Reply

    Ok coffee butter? That’s an amazing idea! I will definitely give this a try!

  22. camparigirl May 9, 2017 at 10:11 PM - Reply

    This is beyond brilliant! Will make this weekend. How did I never think of it??

  23. Liz | Bubble Tea For Dinner May 16, 2017 at 9:36 AM - Reply

    I’ve never made my own butter, it looks so fun! And the butter itself looks insanely good, I guess you know how much i love coffee! I want it on french toast, but honestly the possibilities are endless

    • chef mimi May 19, 2017 at 8:43 AM - Reply

      It is fun making butter – my kids gave me a kit once – I think I blogged about it. I was worried I wouldn’t have the strength to keep shaking the container of cream, but it takes seconds ! But the coffee butter was crazy good.

  24. Jhuls May 17, 2017 at 2:39 AM - Reply

    I think I could eat this whole thing!!

  25. Liucija Galinyte May 17, 2017 at 4:54 PM - Reply

    Great post, thanks for sharing! :)

  26. tivamoo May 19, 2017 at 8:38 AM - Reply

    It looks like ice cream… maybe should try home made coffee ice cream too! ^^

    • chef mimi May 19, 2017 at 8:39 AM - Reply

      Coffee ice cream is one of my favorites, but I’ve never made it at home!

  27. Jessica @ Citrus Blossom Bliss May 25, 2017 at 12:02 PM - Reply

    This really piqued my interest! I love coffee and I’m known to butter my breakfast toast from time to time…but I’ve never seen the two together! Amazing and I’m sure it tasted fabulous! It would be so good at breakfast time :)

    • chef mimi May 25, 2017 at 12:19 PM - Reply

      I know – it piqued mine as well! Can’t wait for you to try it!

  28. Rachel Alexandra May 28, 2018 at 8:08 PM - Reply

    This looks so good! Hopefully I can try it out soon!

    • chef mimi May 28, 2018 at 8:10 PM - Reply

      I’m so glad you actually checked it out! Isn’t it outstanding?!!

      • Rachel Alexandra May 28, 2018 at 8:22 PM

        Definitely! I had never thought of doing that before!

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