Cashews have grown in popularity in recent years. This is in part due to them being rich in nutrients, fiber, minerals, and healthy fats. And they taste great!
There are a lot of recipes with cashew butter. It’s perfect for smoothies, making sauces, or alone for a healthy snack.
Store-bought cashew butter can be quite pricey. Different brands can vary in taste and consistencies.
Making your own cashew butter can save money and yield a fresher, better-tasting butter. It’s also easy and fun to do. Keep reading for our cashew butter recipe and tips on how to make it perfect.
1. Use the Right Ingredients
Raw cashews are good for a lot of different recipes. Making cashew butter is not one of them. They are too soft and will not blend very easily.
The best option is to buy pre-roasted and salted cashews. These already have a lot of flavor from the roasting process and the added salt will be a welcome taste to the finished butter. (If you want to avoid the added salt, unsalted roasted cashews will work.)
The only other ingredient you need is some type of oil. We like coconut, which you will need to melt first.
A good ratio is one tablespoon of oil for every cup of nuts. You can experiment with a bit less if you want to limit how much oil is in the finished butter. Also, you can omit the oil, but the blending process will take much longer.
The amount of oil also depends on how you intend to use the butter. If you are going to eat it as a snack, like peanut butter, creaminess is essential (take a look at these tips on using almond or cashew butter in place of peanut butter). If it is for smoothies or other recipes, you may be able to limit or skip the oil altogether.
2. Use a Food Processor
It is possible to make cashew butter in a blender, but a food processor works better. That is because it has a larger blade surface and a general area to blend the nuts.
Add the cashews and oil to a food processor and begin grinding. First, the nuts will appear crumbly, then they will start to clump together.
They also may stick to the sides of the processor. If this happens, stop it, and use a spatulate to push the cashew butter back down.
Keep pulsing until you get a smooth cashew paste. It should be runny enough for you to pour it from the blender without spooning it out.
3. Use Proper Storage
Store cashew butter in an air-tight container (glass is always good) and keep it in your refrigerator. It should store for at least two weeks.
You may be surprised to learn that cashew butter freezes well. This comes in handy if you want to make big batches but are unsure how fast you will use it. Simply thaw the butter for the next day overnight in the refrigerator.
Learn More About Cashew Butter
Now that you know how to make your own cashew butter, you can save money while enjoying a better-tasting, healthier food. Experiment with different brands of nuts, as well as ratios of butter to oil, to see what works best for you.
We hope you found this information on how to make cashew butter helpful. If so, be sure to take a look at some of our other cooking posts, as well as those on health, education, business, technology, and many other topics.
