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How to Make Creamed Honey at Home

Creamed honey is a thick spreadable honey that is easy to make at home. Best of all, you only need one ingredient….honey.

There are several ways to make creamed honey – you can use “seed” honey or crystallized honey.

creamed honey in mason jar

What is creamed honey?

Creamed honey, also called whipped honey, spun honey, and churned honey is honey that has crystalized with very small crystals.

One of the characteristics of raw honey is that over time it will crystalize. Some raw honey will crystalize quickly and some won’t crystalize for a year or more. There are many variables that contribute to how quickly raw honey crystalizes. Some of those variables are if the honey has been filtered or not and what temperatures the honey has been exposed to – before and after harvesting.

In order to make creamed honey, you need to use raw honey, not pasteurized honey. You should be able to find raw honey at your local farmer’s market. If not, call the county extension office and ask if there are any local beekeepers.

The difference between creamed honey and regular honey

The only difference between creamed honey and regular honey is texture. There is nothing added to creamed honey to make it creamy – to be clear there is no dairy in creamed honey.

What makes creamed honey creamy is the small glucose crystals. By breaking up large crystals and controlling the environment to encourage crystallization regular honey is turned into creamed honey.

a cup of crystalized honey with a wooden spoon

How to make creamed honey at home

Commercially made creamed honey can take up to a week to make and the temperature is controlled. Most of us don’t have that kind of time to babysit the honey and temperature for a week. This means that homemade creamed honey may not be as creamy as commercial creamed honey. But don’t let that deter you, just adjust your expectations.

Making creamed honey with “seed” honey

One way to make creamed honey at home is to start with commercially made creamed honey and use that to “seed” raw honey. Creamed honey can be found in most grocery stores right next to liquid honey.

The recommended ratio is 1:10, one part creamed honey to 10 parts liquid raw honey. Stir the creamed honey into the liquid honey and set in a cool place (the ideal temperature is 50F). Over the next few days stir the seeded honey and in time the liquid honey will start to crystalize with small crystals.

Once this jar is fully crystalized you can use some of it as your seed honey for the next jar of creamed honey. This way you’ll never have to buy creamed honey again.

It’s important to use liquid honey that isn’t crystalizing for this recipe to work. If there are large crystals in the honey, the creamed honey will not be smooth. If the only honey you have is starting to crystalize, you can recrystallize it by warming the honey.

whipping honey

Making creamed honey with crystalized honey

When honey crystalizes naturally the crystals are quite large which makes crystalized honey somewhat gritty in texture. You can break up those crystals and use it to make creamed honey.

I like to use my stand mixer with the whisk attachment for this job but the paddle attachment can also be used. Even though creamed honey is also called whipped honey, you aren’t actually whipping the honey. There shouldn’t be any air in the finished product.

The mixer is just breaking up the crystals to make them smaller. You could also dry the honey out and use a mortar and pestle to break up the crystals. I just find a stand mixer much easier.

To turn the crystalized honey into creamed honey, put 1 cup crystalized honey into the stand mixer with the attachment and mix on medium speed. You can add up to 1 cup of liquid honey if you want to make a larger amount of creamed honey. Mix the honey for 20 minutes.

You’ll notice that the honey will start to turn a very light creamy white color.

Turn the mixer off and cover it with a clean kitchen towel. Let the honey rest for a couple of hours and then mix again for 20 minutes. I like to do this three or four times before jarring the honey.

Once the creamed honey is made, put it in a clean, dry jar for storing. I like to use short wide mouth canning jars. Put in the refrigerator for at least two weeks.

whipped honey in mason jar

How to store homemade creamed honey

Regardless of how you make the homemade creamed honey, you run the risk of it separating over time, especially if your home is warm. Because of this I like to store creamed honey in the refrigerator.

If the creamed honey separates, the creamy white whipped honey will rise to the top. You can either stir it in or mix it in the mixer again.

Since creamed honey is just raw honey that has crystalized, it does not go bad and can be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature for years. That being said, if too much moisture gets into the honey it start to ferment – which doesn’t ruin it but it does change the flavor. If that happens you can always use the fermenting honey to make mead or fermented honey and garlic.

get set of creamed honey with biscuit mix in a jar and a mug with a tea towel

Using creamed honey

While creamed honey can be used in drinks or for baking, it’s thick and spreads easily making it fantastic for using on biscuits, crackers, or pastries.

Creamed honey also makes a really great gift in a jar. Add a pretty label and maybe even a jar of homemade baking mix.

Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page. We always appreciate your feedback. You can also save the recipe for later by pinning it or clicking on the heart in the lower right hand corner.

Yield: 1 pint

Creamed Honey

whipped honey in mason jar

Creamed honey, also called whipped honey, spun honey and churned honey, is a thick spreadable honey that is easy to make at home.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup crystalized raw honey OR
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon whipped honey
  • 1 cup liquid raw honey

Instructions

    1. Put 1 cup crystalized honey into the stand mixer with the attachment and mix on medium speed. You can add up to 1 cup of liquid honey if you want to make a larger amount of creamed honey.
    2. Mix the honey for 20 minutes. You'll notice that the honey will start to turn a very light creamy white color.
    3. Turn the mixer off and cover it with a clean kitchen towel. Let the honey rest for a couple of hours and then mix again for 20 minutes.
    4. Repeat one or two more times before jarring the honey.
    5. Put the creamed honey in a clean, dry jar for storage.
    6. Store in the refrigerator for two weeks. After two weeks it can be stored at room temperature but might start separating.

Notes

**If you're using whipped honey as seed honey, use a 1 to 10 ratio - 1 1/2 tablespoons whipped honey to 1 cup liquid honey.

If the creamed honey separates, the creamy white whipped honey will rise to the top. You can either stir it in or mix it in the mixer again.

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whipped honey dripping on biscuit

Thanks for sharing!

Andrew

Tuesday 24th of January 2023

One of the ingredients in the recipe is the very thing I'm trying to make. What am I not getting here? I need whipped honey to make whipped honey?

Angi Schneider

Monday 6th of February 2023

Yes, you need whipped honey to seed the new batch. The article explains what to do if you don't want to buy whipped honey to seed the new batch.

Machelle

Saturday 10th of September 2022

Your directions say to use a 1:10 ratio creamed honey to liquid honey, but your recipe has is using a 1:1 ratio (1 cup: 1 cup). Which is correct? Thanks

Ayla

Sunday 22nd of January 2023

You should never let the spinner container fill up that high. Open your tap and start tapping off your fresh honey into a settling tank before the honey reach the frames.

Peter Mundy

Tuesday 1st of November 2022

@Angi Schneider, I am a home Beekeeper with around 20 hives, some times when I am spinning the frames to extract the honey the bottom of the spinner and frames touches the raw honey and it goes creamy I have just discovered that if I heat the creamy honey it separates with the natural honey sinking to the bottom of the bucket and the creamy stuff floating on the top when it all cools the creamy stuff is a thick layer on the top that you can either scrape most of it off or decant the heated honey from the bottom if you have a tap in the bucket, my question is: What can I use the thick creamy stuff for?? it has a little bit of wax in it which won't hurt you but it would be a shame to dispose of the creamy leftovers. Regards Peter

Angi Schneider

Wednesday 21st of September 2022

The 1:10 ratio is for using creamed honey as your starter. The 1:1 ratio is for using crystalized honey as the starter. I've clarified the recipe card. Thanks for pointing that out.

BillieJo

Monday 11th of April 2022

What is crystallized honey and where can I purchase it? Thank you

Angi Schneider

Sunday 24th of April 2022

Any raw honey will eventually crystalize. Check your local farmer's market.

R

Wednesday 6th of April 2022

Thank you for this. Why do we need to let it rest and re-wip, rest then jar?

Angi Schneider

Sunday 24th of April 2022

It ends up settling some so re-whipping will probably be necessary.

Charlene

Friday 17th of December 2021

How do I remove the gritty texture? Doesn’t seem to smooth out. Thanks for any tips. Charlene

Angi Schneider

Monday 3rd of January 2022

The grittiness will vary depending on how large the crystals are. If it's very gritty try whipping it more. You can also remove the smoother portion that tends to separate on the top and use that to seed honey that hasn't crystalized yet.

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