Making healthier "butter"

I love butter on my bread but it is often just too hard to spread and the bread crumbles away... Margarines are easier to spread, but tastewise they are not so nice. If you want to have the great taste + easier spreadability (is that even a word?) make your own "butter": it's easy, probably a lot healthier than shop-bought butter-based margarines and also a lot cheaper.

And what's best, you can experiment with different oils: I've tried rapeseed oil and cold-pressed sesame oil this far, and I want to try at least extra-virgin rapeseed oil (which is one of my favorites) and of course extra-virgin olive oil. If the oil is strong-tasting, I recommend using half some neutral tasting oil such as rapeseed or sunflower oil. If you want to maximize the butter taste, choose a neutral-tasting oil.

You can mix your "butter" in a jar you plan to keep it (best: no dishes, except the whisk). Just make sure your jar doesn't contain any smells from its previous contents or you might get a spread tasting like herrings or jalapeno (unless that's the point =). The recipe's amounts are measured in grams, as oil, butter and water have different densities. The ingredients will mix together more easily, if they are at room-temperature, otherwise you might get clumps.

1 part butter, at room-temperature
1 part your favorite oil (or a mixture of oils, see comment above), at room-temperature
0.5-1 part water
salt

Cube the butter. Add the oil and mix them together e.g. with a hand-mixer. Add water. Mix until smooth. Add salt according to taste. You can also add flavorings at this point: garlic, herbs... At this stage it will be quite runny, but after it has been cooled down in the fridge, it will resemble soft butter. Keeps at least 2 weeks if refrigerated.

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