Seven Cent Vegan European Butter Hack!

My mom and I recently tried both Miyoko’s cultured vegan butter and the new European style Earth Balance. We liked the flavor of both, but the prices are way too high for everyday use. We also tested both butters against Original Earth Balance to see how they did in baking, and you can see what happened in my review post.

The main difference between the regular and the European style Earth Balance is a bit of tartness to give it a cultured flavor. I use vegan lactic acid in several recipes to accomplish the same thing, so I did a little experimenting. It turns out that it only takes five minutes and $0.07 of lactic acid to turn regular Earth Balance into a pretty close copy of the much more expensive European style version!

To make it, let a 15 oz container of Original (or soy free) Earth Balance soften at room temperature on your counter for a couple of hours. You want it to be soft enough that you can mix in the lactic acid, but not at all melty. Scrape the Earth Balance into a small mixing bowl:

Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of lactic acid over it. (I like this amount, but you can start with less if you don’t want it to be very strong.)

Whisk together:

Scrape the mixture back into the container:

Cover and chill for several hours. You now have inexpensive European style vegan butter!

Enjoy!

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Seven Cent Vegan European Butter Hack

Turn Original Earth Balance into European style with a seven cent hack!

Course Flavored Vegan Butter

Prep Time 5 minutes

Servings 30

Calories 100 kcal

Author Deborah Mesdag

Ingredients

• 15 oz Original Earth Balance Buttery Spread
• 1.5 g (1/2 tsp) Vegan Lactic Acid

Instructions

1. Let a 15 oz container of Original (or soy free) Earth Balance soften at room temperature on your counter for a couple of hours. You want it to be soft enough that you can mix in the lactic acid, but not at all melty.

2. Scrape the Earth Balance into a small mixing bowl.

3. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of lactic acid over it. (I like this amount, but you can start with less if you don’t want it to be very strong.)

4. Whisk together.

5. Scrape the mixture back into the container, then chill for several hours to harden.