Do you dare to make homemade coconut butter?
Coconut butter is one of the spreads that I like the most. I love its natural sweetness and creamy texture, not to mention that it is a magical ingredient that makes any recipe instantly more delicious, especially desserts.
It’s so easy to prepare that you can make your own homemade coconut butter, and stop overpaying for this product at the health foods store.
I adore coconut and all the products derived from this fantastic fruit, but coconut butter is, without a doubt, my favorite one.
So if you’re looking for a dairy-free, nut-free, vegan, paleo, and keto-friendly butter substitute, this is a delicious, easy-to-make option.
Keep reading so you can find out all about coconut butter properties and discover a recipe that will only take you 1 minute to make.
4 Health Benefits of Coconut Butter
- Coconut butter increases your immunity. Being rich in lauric acid, it is an enhancer of our immune system. Did you know the best source of lauric acid after mother’s milk is coconut oil?
That said, I believe that it’s a great idea to consume coconut in our diets, in all its varieties.
- It is a potent antimicrobial due to its caprylic and lauric acids. It has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties that can fight countless infections from the common cold, Candida Albicans to Herpes virus.
- Coconut butter is rich in essential nutrients to maintain optimal health, such as proteins, nutritional fiber, potassium, magnesium, and iron.
- We can also use it in our beauty routine as a body or foot scrub, and as an ingredient in our homemade skin and hair masks. It is an effective moisturizer and exfoliant that gives our skin a smooth and glowing appearance. Besides, it helps to prevent dandruff and dry scalp.
Coconut Oil vs. Coconut Butter
We are more familiar with coconut oil than with coconut butter. We can find coconut oil on the shelves of almost all supermarkets and grocery stores.
On the other hand, coconut butter is a less common product, but you can find it for sure, in health food stores.
Both products smell and look similar, but they are slightly different, and they each have unique properties.
Coconut oil is made by cold-pressing fresh or dry coconut meat.
To make coconut butter, we puree the coconut meat, so the final product is rich in oil and nutritional fiber.
The coconut butter color is slightly whiter than the coconut oil, which tends to be paler.
Both are solid at room temperature and turn liquid when heated.
How to use it
It’s a very versatile ingredient that will add a plus to the nutritional value of your recipes. It’s delicious to take a spoon and eat the coconut butter straight from the jar. But if you like the coconut flavor, go ahead and add a tablespoon of coconut butter to:
- A hot cocoa cup
- Your morning coffee
- Smoothies
- Curries
- Ice cream
- Piña colada
- Oatmeal
- Yogurt
- Waffles
It’s exquisite spread on a piece of toast or fruit. I particularly love to spread some on apple slices and have them for a snack. Easy, right?
You can also mix your butter with other ingredients and make a more sophisticated spread. It combines perfectly with cocoa powder, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and if you want to add a sweet touch, you can add a little honey, stevia, or maple syrup.
You can also prepare some homemade candies mixing it with some cocoa powder and maple syrup.
And something you should know, it makes a big difference in the texture and flavor of your favorite desserts. It makes them even better!
Homemade Coconut Butter
Equipment
- Vitamix Ascent 3500
Ingredients
- 5 cups shredded coconut or coconut flakes Unsweetened
Instructions
- Add 5 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut or coconut flakes to your high-speed blender.
- Turn your blender into the highest speed settings. If you're using Vitamix Ascent 3500, you can also use the dips & spreads set up to prepare this butter.
- Blend for 1 minute using the tamper to press the shredded coconut toward the blades.
I make it in my Vitamix Ascent 3500. It’s a time saver since I need just one minute to get the creamier coconut butter.
But you can use any blender you have, and also a food processor will do the work.
Tips for the Best Homemade Coconut Butter
- Be sure you are using regular shredded coconut since low-fat types don’t work as well.
- If you add less than 5 cups of shredded coconut in your blender, you might need to stop and scrape the container’s sides. That’s why I recommend using a minimum of 5 cups so your blender can work smoothly.
- If, after 1 minute, your coconut butter doesn’t have the texture desire, you can blend it for a few seconds more, so it will get smoother and liquid.
- Since all the brands are different, you might sometimes find shredded coconut that struggles to turn into butter. If that ever happens to you, you can add a few tablespoons of coconut oil. I’ve tried, and this fixes the problem.
- Store at room temperature. It can last up to one month in your cupboards if you put it in a hermetically sealed jar.
- Your coconut butter is likely to become solid, depending on your house’s temperature when it’s cooler. Before using, you can warm it up in the microwave or place your coconut butter jar in a pot and heat it in a water bath for a few minutes until it softens.
How to make this recipe in a food processor
You can also make this recipe in a food processor. The steps and ingredients are the same. The only difference is that it’s going to take you around 20-25 minutes, depending on your processor’s performance. But you can still get a perfectly smooth and yummy homemade coconut butter. Nothing can stop you!
So, go ahead and try this recipe at home. Don’t forget to let me know in the comments how you liked it, and if you added it to your dessert recipes.
If you’re a coconut fan like me check these recipes:
The best Coconut Flour Chocolate chips cookies
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