Why Do People Put Butter in Coffee? (+ Recipe) (2024)

There aren’t many better ways to start your day than with butter coffee, and not just because of the caffeine content, but its butter and coconut oil boasts metabolism-boosting, appetite-quelling properties that make it worth including as part of your morning routine.

The ‘Bulletproof‘ coffee movement, in particular,has long championed the use of butter in coffee, and while having a pile of butter floating on top of your coffee might not sound appealing, its application does have some justification.

If you do find yourself liking the addition of butter to your coffee, then you’re in luck – making your own at home is much cheaper than store-bought bulletproof coffee.

Today I’m going to talk about how putting butter in coffee can help give you a good dose of healthy fats, while setting yourself up well for a productive day and en route to weight loss.

Let’s get into it.

What is Butter Coffee?

Butter coffee is simply black coffee with butter and coconut oil mixed in with the use of a blender. It has a beautifully creamy and sweet taste, with a slight foam at the top of it.

It’s also considered healthy, and many people swear by its role in weight loss(although this is still up for debate) and maintaining focus and productivity throughout the day.

It might feel counterintuitive for a drink containing butter to be considered healthy, but its healthy fat and coffee content actually makes it filling while also boosting your metabolism.

Not only is it simple in its ingredients, but also in its method. You don’t need a high-end espresso machine, nor do you need to perfect the art of using a foam wand.

Simple French Press, aeropress, or pour over methods will do just fine, making this a really accessible method of brewing.

It does however need a blender. Now, for a coffee recipe this might seem very odd, but stay with me. The idea here is to work the butter into the coffee and mix it in thoroughly. Stirring it in manually will leave behind large lumps in your drink. It will also leave fat and water content prone to separating. Instead, putting it through a blender will help it reach a much more cream-like consistency.

Its key ingredients are black coffee, grass-fed butter, and coconut oil. All of these are usually easily available in supermarkets, but if you do struggle to find them then you can get them online on sites like Amazon.

Butter Coffee vs. Bulletproof Coffee

It’s worth pointing out the difference here between butter and Bulletproof coffee. While they are very similar, there is a key distinction: Bulletproof is a brand of coffee. It’s championed by Dave Aspey, and has a big following, particularly with modern entrepreneurs and productivity gurus. It’s very similar to butter coffee in that it has grass fed butter, but it also uses a very specific coffee bean and MCT oil, which is a healthy fat that is claimed to have brain-boosting properties.

Our butter coffee is much more simple than that, and is a DIY version of the popular Dave Aspey drink. It’s coffee with butter and coconut oil. Nothing complicated.

Why should you have butter coffee?

People who swear by the drink have it on a daily basis and have some pretty compelling arguments for it. Here are four of the best:

#1. It Boosts Metabolism

While putting fatty ingredients like butter into a drink might seem counterproductive for a drink that claims to help with weight loss, the inclusion of coconut oil has been proven to do just this.

Coconut oil is a type of fatty acid chain called MCT, or Medium Chain Triglycerides. These MCTs have been shown to be metabolized faster than other types of fatty acids, which in turn leads to your body metabolising other ingredients at a much faster rate.

#2. It’s More Economical

I actually happened to buy a medium latte today and it cost me $3.50. Expand that over a year and you’re looking at over $900 (based on one per day, 5 days per week).

Latte fan? Find out about the differences between steamed and foamed milk.

Coffee spending habits are almost always used as a barometer for how much you can save over a year, but the reason for that is how it highlights such a seemingly insignificant but daily expense can build up to a lot. So it’s best to try and cut corners by making your own without depriving yourself of your morning caffeine habit.

Buying your coffee beans in bulk, as well as butter, means that you could cut that cost down to around one-fifth, while also cutting down your carbon footprint. Not only that, but you’ll be making it in line with how you like it. If you’re a control freak like me, then this counts for a lot.

#3. Curbs Sugar Cravings

We’ve all had the mid-afternoon crash, where all we’re craving is a coffee and something sugary, whether it be chocolate or a donut.

This feeling is largely caused by a dip in blood-sugar levels, further exacerbated by diets rich in sugars and carbohydrates. This is another good opportunity to mention coffee shop coffees – the majority of them contain heaps-upon-heaps of added sugar.

In contrast, grass fed butter makes homemade butter coffee high in natural fats. This matched with its low sugar content helps your body keep a much healthier and stable blood-sugar level. This calms the effects of the mid-afternoon crash, meaning you don’t have such an extreme craving for something sweet.

#4. It Has Healthy Fats

A common misconception about diets is the need for everything to be low in fat when the truth is that your body needs fats. It just needs them in healthy forms, and in moderation.

A diet that’s low in fat will be damaging to cell health. This can show itself in many ways, but one of the most apparent is the damage it does to your skin. With a low-fat diet, your skin will look old and dull. It will lose some of its elasticity, which means it’ll be more prone to damage. However, healthy fats help provide anti-inflammatory agents, which keep your skin looking healthy and nourished.

The coconut oil in butter coffee also has plenty of health benefits. Its saturated fat content helps aid heart health by regulating cholesterol and metabolism levels. It’s also been proven to have anti-bacterial and antifungal properties.

These four benefits come together to provide a drink that’s a metabolism-boosting, body-restoring, craving-quelling, delicious beast of a drink. One that you need to make part of your daily routine from now on.

Butter Coffee Recipe

Here’s a simple butter coffee recipe that hits all the right notes. It’s creamy, rich, and healthy.

The recipe is only a case of putting black coffee, a square of butter, and a scoop of coconut oil in a blender.

This recipe can actually be modified to try to replicate other coffee drinks. For something a bit more like a mocha, you can add cacao powder. Or if you prefer a vanilla latte then half a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring will easily help you achieve that unmistakable flavor.

Today though I’m just sharing a very basic recipe, with simple butter coffee as the core. Once you’re feeling brave then get ready to experiment.

Just be careful to avoid all of these common butter coffee mistakes:

#1. Shaking or mixing instead of blending

The blending for this recipe really is key. While it is true that with a lot of coffee recipes, a few stirs or shakes will make do, the same can’t be said for butter coffee.

We need the blender to thoroughly process the fat content in the butter. It needs to be thoroughly blended with the water content of the coffee, otherwise they will separate and the fat will simply sit at the top of the cup.

#2. Overdoing the butter or coconut oil

Follow the recipe above as closely as possible. If you like it extra creamy, don’t add any more butter or coconut oil. If this is your first time, then best to err on the side of caution and actually use a bit less.

Too much fat can be difficult to get used to, particularly for your stomach. Start with just a teaspoon of each and build up from there.

#3. Using cheap butter

Good quality butter is key to the overall quality of your coffee. The reason why both butter coffee and bulletproof coffee call for grass-fed butter is that its rich and healthy fat content is perfect for our needs.

Note, this is different from Bulletproof Coffee but still has some of the same properties.