For years now I've been making my own homemade spread consisting of 1 pound butter whipped with 1 cup oil. But with the recent threads about butter and cholesterol, I wondered if there was a way to reduce the fat content of my homemade spread to make it more like the "lite" spreads found in the supermarket.

I looked online and found a few recipes. One, from Better Baking.com, called for the addition of one full cup of water. Another, from Tammysrecipes.com combined 1/2 c. oil & 1/2 c. water to the pound of butter. The Laurel's Kitchen recipe used only 2 T. water, but added 2 T. dried skim milk & 1/4 tsp lecithin. On Recipe Link.com, I found an adaptation of Laurel's Kitchen called "Gloriamarie's Better Butter" that called for 4 T. water, 4 T. powdered milk, & 1 tsp. liquid lecithin.

I decided to play around with these recipes. Two weeks ago I combined one pound of butter, one cup of oil, & 1/4 cup of water. The water addition was not noticeable at all.

So a few days ago I pushed the envelope. I added 1/2 cup of water, 4 T. dried skim milk, & 1 tsp. liquid lecithin. The result was very creamy and easily spreadable, just like the soft margarines sold in grocery stores. The added benefits were the lower cholesterol count (because of the vegetable oil & water), the lower salt content (because of the oil, water, & using some unsalted butter), and the lower calorie/fat count (because of the water). It had a true butter taste because of the real butter, no artificial flavorings or additives. All in all, I'm very satisfied with this product. I'm hesitant to add more water, although I suppose it's possible. The Better Baking recipe got good reviews, but I'm not sure I could successfully incorporate an additional 1/2 cup of water.

The Better Baking recipe called for the mixture to be whipped in a food processor, but I was afraid the large quantity of liquid ingredients would overflow my FP. Laurel's Kitchen said to use a blender, but I didn't think a blender could mix everything correctly. So I used my electric hand mixer & a large, deep bowl. If I had a stand mixer, I'm sure that would do a superior job.

Even Better Butter

1 pound butter

(Notes: I used 2 sticks salted & 2 sticks unsalted, resulting in an extremely lightly salted finished product. However, that's what I wanted. People who aren't on a salt restricted diet can use just regular salted butter.)

1 cup vegetable oil of choice (a light flavored oil works best)

1/2 cup water (room temperature)

4 tbsp. dry skimmed milk (optional)

1 tsp. liquid lecithin (optional)

Whip softened butter until fluffy. While still beating, dribble in the oil. Dribble in lecithin & beat. Stop every once in a while to push down mixture with rubber spatula. Dissolve dried milk powder in water. While still beating, dribble in the water mixture. Stop every once in a while to push down mixture with rubber spatula. The mixture will be very fluffy.

Transfer mixture to a container and freeze for about 20 minutes to firm it up. Then keep refrigerated. Do not leave at room temperature for very long, because it might break down & separate.

This makes a perfect spread and can be used for topping freshly cooked vegetables. I've even used it when frying or scrambling eggs in a non-stick skillet.