Extending Butter – A War Time Rationing Trick
Extending butter was one way to combat food rationing. Food shortages and rationing of butter, sugar, coffee, tea and meat made it difficult to provide appetizing, nourishing and varied meals during WWII. But Canadian housewives, or “Housesoldiers” took up the challenge and through clever resourcefulness kept their families well fed.
Take butter for example. In 1942, families were rationed to 1/2 lb/adult/week with children being allotted half that amount. 
That meant a family of four, like ours would be able to get just over 1lb of butter per week. Considering that butter was the primary source of fat used in baking, cooking and spreading – this required some adjustment for many families. But most Canadians welcomed the rationing, because it was far better than finding “Butter Sold Out” signs at the grocery store which happened frequently before rationing.
Here’s an interesting radio clip from the CBC archives on rationing and butter tips .
While some families opted to “feast or fast” by only eating butter occasionally, others opted to “make more with less” by stretching their rations as far as possible. It didn’t take long for recipes and tips on how to turn 1/2 a cup of butter into one cup of butter to appear.
Here’s one version on extending butter from “How to Eat Well Though Rationed” by Josephine Gibson, 1943 Vital Publications which can be found at www.wartimecanada.ca
And here’s another suggestion that I tried at home. This technique simply involves whipping equal parts butter and lukewarm water. The end result is a twice as much butter with half the calories. It’s as firm as regular butter and should be stored in the fridge. It’s great for anywhere you’d usually add a pat of butter – but not so great for baking.
Extending Butter
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup water luke warm
Instructions
- Use hand mixer to beat butter.
- Gradually add water mixing the whole time.
- Beat until all the water has been incorporated.
- Pat butter into a mold or dish and store in a refrigerator.
- The butter will harden and take on the shape of the container.
Notes
Hats off to all those “Housesoldiers” who maneuvered through tough times and managed to feed their families as best they could.
For more war time recipes check out War Cake Recipes – one made with molasses and one made with brown sugar, a Tasty Vegetable Loaf, Old Fashioned Baked Beans and Applesauce Cookies.
Thanks to the Canadian Home Economics Foundation for its support in helping me share ideas for making home cooking easy and enjoyable!
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In 1970, a couple used this recipe in a cookbook called “How to Make your own Convenience Foods. ” That’s where I first saw it . you can still find copies of the cookbook on Google/Amazon. It uses sunflower cooking oil, or any light flavored oil and liquid Lecithin, to keep the water and oil from separating from the butter. !’ll try this recipe `