Enjoy this easy tutorial on How to Make Homemade Whipped Cream from scratch using just one ingredient – heavy whipping cream! Healthier than store-bought! Delicious served on my Maple Pecan Blondies or Black Bean Brownies.
I have to confess that I feel kind of silly writing up a homemade whipped cream recipe. It’s one of those things that you think everyone knows how to make, except that they don’t.
I mean, I personally went 25+ years without knowing how to make it… Totally clueless until my step-mom showed me how to create this same whipped cream recipe one afternoon.
At the time I had made dessert for family dinner. Probably something like triple fudgy brownies, slow cooker peach cobbler, or cast iron blondies – this was a few years ago so I don’t quite remember what it was.
But I do remember saying, “I’m sorry I didn’t bring whipped cream!” and she said, “Don’t worry, let’s make some!”
Since baking is a learned skill, and we all have to learn from someone, I’m sharing with you today what my step-mom taught me!
Homemade Whipped Cream Recipe
WHY you should follow a homemade whipped cream recipe?
Two words for you: hydrogenated oils.
They’re icky, they’re gross and they’re super bad for you. It’s also one of two ingredients we absolutely do NOT allow into our real food house. (The other is high fructose corn syrup.)
Unfortunately, the Cool Whip “whipped topping” that comes in a tub AND the stuff that comes in a can has one or both of these ingredients.
I know whipped cream isn’t something we eat every day, but it’s so easy to make, why not take a baby step and start making it yourself?
Which cream is best for whipping?
1. You’ll want to use heavy whipping cream. Not regular, not lite – HEAVY.
Most heavy whipping cream at grocery stores nowadays contains carrageenan, a dairy additive you should avoid because it’s known to cause inflammation. Do your best to find heavy whipping cream that doesn’t have it, but if you can’t, don’t stress out over it.
2. You need COLD heavy cream.
Not frozen, but you want it to be as cold as possible. This makes it possible to beat air into it and in turn, make light and fluffy homemade whipped cream.
3.You want your bowl to be cold too, but this is completely optional.
My step-mom made sure to chill the mixing bowl and beaters of her stand mixer in the fridge at the slightest inkling that she was going to be making homemade whipped cream. Maybe it was because it was summer. Maybe she did it because that’s how she was taught to make it.
Me though? Not so much.
I almost always make my homemade whipped cream recipe using my bowl that is 100% room temperature. My whipped cream hasn’t suffered yet, but maybe one day I’ll try her trick and see if it’s any more delicious.
What are the ingredients for Homemade Whipped Cream?
You really truly only need one ingredient to make this homemade whipped cream recipe, and that’s the:
- heavy whipping cream.
Note: Some recipes call for heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract, or even cream of tartar, but you really don’t NEED any of those to make whipped cream. You just need heavy whipping cream.
How can I flavor homemade whipped cream?
There are a lot of fun ways you can flavor homemade whipped cream and turn it into a really special treat for the family.
1. Sweeten it.
I’m not saying to go crazy here by adding tons of sugar, but you always have the option of adding sugar to your whipped cream to sweeten it a bit.
Most bakers will say to start with 2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar and adjust from there. You can also try different types of sugars to get different flavors of whipped cream…
2. Add spices
Adding up to 1 ½ teaspoons of various spices would be a super fun way to mix up the flavor in this homemade whipped cream recipe. Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, vanilla bean powder… these all come to mind as great flavors to compliment holiday baking.
3. Add extracts
Traditional homemade whipped cream calls for 1 tsp of vanilla extract, but what if you used almond extract or lemon or peppermint?! Imagine how much fun the whipped cream would be!
4. Add essential oils
I don’t keep many extracts in my kitchen because I prefer to cook with essential oils instead. Although, I don’t rabbit trail down the issue of quality very often, however, quality is vital when it comes to essential oils. I only buy oils from Young Living, who has an entire line of essential oils approved by the FDA for internal use (it’s their Vitality line).
Click HERE to learn more about essential oils.
How do you make homemade whipped cream?
- Pour the heavy whipping cream into the bowl of a stand mixer (I have this one), with a whisk attachment, or into a large deep bowl if you plan to use a hand mixer.
- Set the mixer on the high speed and beat the whipping cream until it begins to look more solid than liquid.
- If you’re using flavors, turn the mixer off and add them at this time.
- Continue beating until the whipping cream holds its shape and resembles stiff peaks when the attachment is pulled out of the whipped cream. Be careful not to over-beat the whipping cream. If you do, the whipped cream will lose it’s structure and not be as stiff.
Tips for serving a homemade whipped cream recipe
- Homemade whipped cream is best enjoyed immediately, although I’ve kept it in the fridge for a few days and the kids haven’t complained.
- Still, I recommend making this no more than an hour or two ahead from when you plan to serve it – the morning of serving AT MOST if you’re looking to impress people (a la Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner at the in-laws house).
- If you’re like me though and your plans to impress simply mean the kids putting their own plates in the dishwasher, feel free to make it the day before. I won’t tell anyone. 😊
What to serve with homemade whipped cream
- Healthy Homemade Pumpkin Pie
- Berry Pie
- Apple Slab Pie
- Slow Cooker Blueberry Cobbler
- Healthy Homemade Chocolate Pie
Homemade Bread
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Enjoy this easy tutorial on How to Make Homemade Whipped Cream from scratch using just one ingredient – heavy whipping cream! Healthier than store-bought!
- Prep Time: 10-20 minutes
- Total Time: 57 minute
- Yield: 6 Servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Optional Ingredients for Vanilla Whipped Cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
Instructions
- Pour the heavy whipping cream into the bowl of a stand mixer (I have this one), or into a large deep bowl if you plan to use a hand mixer.
- Set the mixer on the high speed and beat the whipping cream until it begins to look more solid than liquid.
- If you’re using flavors, turn the mixer off and add them at this time.**
- Continue beating until the whipping cream resembles stiff peaks when the attachment is pulled out of the whipped cream. Be careful not to over-beat the whipping cream. If you do, the whipped cream will lose it’s structure and not be as stiff.
Notes
** It’s perfectly fine and delicious to flavor homemade whipped cream, but remember the more ingredients you add, the heavier the cream will be and the harder it is to whip enough air into it. Err on the side of caution, especially with heavy liquids like honey and maple syrup.
I often make myself a small batch of whipped cream to have for dessert. I just make it in a tall glass and use my immersion blender with the whisk attachment!
Ooh – I’ve never tried it that way before. Brilliant!
My husband’s secret weapon dessert is whipped cream with berries. Sometimes he shaves chocolate on it or adds chocolate chips, but usually it’s just whipped cream and berries. The kids go bananas, and I’m a huge fan myself. It’s also great for last minute entertaining. My husband usually drinks his coffee black, but every now and then he adds cream, so we usually have a small carton on hand.
How does this compare to Cool Whip in the tub? I live overseas and have been desperate to try to make recipes calling for “one tub of Cool Whip” but I can’t buy it here!
Also, how do you avoid turning it into butter??
Hi Jessixa! You can substitute this for one tub of cool whip easily! I don’t remember how many ounces a tub of cool whip is, but 1 cup of heavy whipping cream will give you about 2 cups of whipped cream.
And you avoid turning into butter but stopping when the peaks are JUST stiff. If they’re stiff and you keep going to make them stiffer, you get butter. 🙂
Oh, and if you beat it a little too long just add a little sweetner and pretend you were aiming for butter cream frosting :). It doesn’t taste bad 🙂
Nice save!!
Organic whipping cream usually doesn’t have extra stuff in it but it’s expensive. Horizon’s is at most stores I’ve seen. Dairymen’s (not organic) is a regional brand (Ohio) that I’m pretty sure does NOT have extra stuff in it,
I love making my own. I’ve read that you can freeze whipped cream, especially in individual servings. I’ve frozen it in one batch but I don’t remember how well it stood up because it wasn’t for company, just us :). I usually lightly sweeten mine with regular sugar and add a little bit of vanilla. I like the ideas of trying the spices.
I love to make chocolate whipped cream! I use it to top my triple chocolate cream pie or sometimes we like to just whip it up to dip our fresh chocolate chip cookies in. Just be careful not to turn your whipped cream into butter 🙁 Don’t ask me how I know this…
LOL – I’ve come close myself!! Also, great minds think alike. I made chocolate whipped cream too, and it’s getting it own post!