Name: How to make cashew butter
Prep time: 1 min
Cook time: 2 min
Total time: 3 min
Ingredients: 500g of Cashews (approx 2 1/2 cups); 1/4 coconut oil (optional)

Cashew nut butter – go crazy for this easy to make delicious nut butter recipe that’s cheaper and healthier than the store brought kind.

While I was out and about on my lunch break I visited my local health food store. I’m fortunate enough to be situated by a busy town centre, where I have access to an abundance of stores, a shopaholics nightmare. Thankfully I’m not a shopaholic, a food-a-holic – indeed that I am. I went to the health store to replenish some household items – shredded coconut, medjool dates, sunflower seeds and some cashews. I’m completely nuts about nuts but not their extortionate price.

My favourite nuts are Cashews and Macadamia – both are relatively costly. My thoughts soon turned to the upcoming recipes I was hoping to make using cashews. Noone likes to waste money, especially hard earned cash on expensive items, that’s usually my line of thinking. Given the price of cashews and my trial and error in baking, just like every other cook, I decided to try my luck with purchasing some nuts to make cashew butter.

The best equipment + method used to make homemade cashew butter

Cashew are nutty and sweet in taste, well at least they are in my humble opinion. The results from making cashew butter were astounding, it’s definitely featured on my hit list.

I made the nut butter using my trusty high speed blender (Vitamix), similarly there’s the option of whipping the nuts using a food processor, although this is timely and I’m not sure if the motor could handle the duration of time it takes to yield results.

Having said that, I have seen many impressive results using a food processor, sadly the length of time it takes is less appealing. In essence a robust piece of equipment such as a vitamix, ninja or even a nut butter grinder such as a stone grinder is highly recommended.

To add oil or not to add oil to your cashew nut butter

I feel that is very much a subjective matter. It all depends on how patient you are with making nut butter, I personally like to add up 1/4 cup of coconut oil to make nut butter just to make the process quicker. It makes less than 3 minutes to whip up cashew butter using my vitamix with oil.

However, if you don’t want to add oil, that’s fine. It will take a little longer to make some creamy cashew butter, roughly 10-15 minutes. Just keep scraping how the sides of the blender at times and be patient.

How to make cashew nut butter in a vitamix

The Vitamix is a powerful, sturdy machine so needless to say it can handle a bit of chugging with some rough and rumble. I honestly believe it was made with that in mind.

The quantity used – I used 500g of cashews to make the butter; poured the nuts into the container, switched the machine from variable to high speed and used the tamper to push the cashew nuts onto the blade.

It’s so important to use plenty of nuts in order to see the best results, the Vitamix needs something to grab onto and breakdown in large quantities during processing.

The nut butter stage – After a minute or so the nut butter should form, what you’ll be left with is pure heaven in a large container. Thick, creamy and highly additive butter.

Keep in mind the texture is on the thicker side as cashew don’t extract oils like peanuts. You’d need a stone grinder for the nut butter to resemblance that ultra thin, creamy texture which is seen in stores nationwide.

Cashew butter nutrition

The nutritional properties in raw cashew butter are unreal, they might be on the calorie dense side, yet they are packed with a bunch of minerals. Selenium, copper and zinc are crucial co factors for enzymes.

Enzymes are a very important aspect of digestion, helping to breakdown the food we eat. Vitamin B5, B6 and B1 assist the cell structure and play a vital role in the metabolism of protein, fats and carbohydrates.

Another interesting fact about cashews is the soluble fibre (great for bowel movement) and phyto chemicals which protect against disease and various cancers.

The fats in cashew are a complete contrast the to trans fats which run rampant on supermarket shelves. Monounsaturated fats are what I like to call “friendly fats” that help to lower the low density lipoprotein (LDL) also known as the “bad fats” which attribute to cardiovascular disease. The “friendly fats” lower these “bad fats” keeping our heart fit and healthy.

Cashew butter uses

Cashew butter is extremely versatile and can be used in many things or ways

Cashew spread to apply to toast or bread
Cashew nut paste to add to savoury dishes i.e sauces
Adding the nut butter to smoothies or shake for additional fats or protein

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