When coconut butter blew up in the vegan blogosphere a few years ago, I was honestly kind of appalled. Like, seriously, y’all are losing it over this product that costs about $11 a jar, and you expect your readers to buy it in order to try some of your recipes? You are clearly out of touch with reality.
My disgust was undoubtedly magnified by the fact that at the time, I was working as a home organizer/glorified maid for an extravagantly wealthy nonworking “artist” who seemed to legitimately get off on eating food that the lowly commoner couldn’t afford. Seriously, it seemed like every item in this person’s cupboards was artisanal, organic, and purchased from obscure foodie boutiques.
It’s not that I don’t ever fork over absurd amounts of money for edible commodities; I definitely do. I also feel good about eating things that are healthy, environmentally friendly, and ethically sourced. But I truly loathe the whole “lifestyle” thing, where marketing teams set out to convince you that exorbitantly priced products are essential to your glowing, healthy, natural image.* You just don’t need coconut butter or goji berries or camu powder or anything else that costs, pound-for-pound, more than gold. These things are not essential to a healthy and satisfying vegan diet, and I think it does everyone a disservice to act like that’s the case. So I found the rampant use of coconut butter on many vegan food blogs slightly rage-inducing, and never even considered purchasing a jar of it myself.
I had pretty much blocked the stuff out of my mind until I came across a tutorial this spring for making coconut butter at home. It seemed like it would be an incredibly simple and incredibly cheap endeavor, so I figured I’d give it a shot and get a taste of how the 1% eats.** And hey — it totally worked! As it turns out, if you have access to cheap desiccated coconut (bulk bins are a good bet!), you can make yourself a jar of coconut butter for just a couple of bucks. Pretty cool, right?
So what do you do with this stuff? It’s obviously ultra decadent and tastes great by the spoonful, drizzled onto sweet potatoes or ice cream or blended into dessert smoothies, but my favorite use for it is as a 1-to-1 substitute for coconut oil. I used to avoid raw dessert recipes, many of which call for a ton of coconut oil, which my stomach doesn’t handle well. Anecdotally, I find that coconut butter, which retains all the fiber of dried coconut, makes those dishes a little less hard on my stomach. It doesn’t hurt, either, that homemade coconut butter is much cheaper by weight than coconut oil! I’ve also taken to using it to replace store-bought vegan butter in cookie recipes with great success. Just keep in mind that coconut butter naturally has more texture than coconut oil, so you might not want to use it in desserts that require an ultra-silky texture.
- 12 oz. unsweetened, shredded desiccated coconut (~4.5 cups)
- Put coconut in a food processor (or blender).
- Blend on high for about 10 minutes, scraping down sides occasionally, until completely smooth. The length of time will vary depending on the strength of your food processor or blender. As with nut butters, you'll notice that the mixture will go through stages: first it will be crumbly, then it will become a thick paste, and finally, it'll turn into a relatively smooth liquid. Just be patient and keep blending until it reaches that final stage. You don't want to burn out your food processor's motor, so as you blend, pay attention to the warmth of your blender's motor. If it gets really hot, just take a break for a few minutes and let it cool down slightly before doing more blending. Repeat as necessary!
- Store in an air-tight jar. As long as you're careful not to drop crumbs or any other foreign objects into it over time, you don't need to refrigerate it. If you do refrigerate it, or if your pantry stays pretty cool, it will solidify. If this doesn't suit your needs, you can soften it by placing the entire jar in a bowl of hot water for half an hour or so.
*This is just one of many reasons I will never get a cookbook contract!
**Just kidding! I know the 1% eats a steady diet of the flesh of newborns. It’s actually the 6%ers who bathe in hot tubs of coconut butter.
13 comments
Veganopoulous says:
Sep 7, 2014
This is so great. I feel exactly the same way about nut butters (once in a rare while I might buy some if they’re on sale but I usually always make my own). And now I’m reading this and thinking damn why have I never made this?! I have a jar of unopened coconut butter in my pantry that I bought only because it was on sale, only after discussing with fellow vegans where we could find it cheapest. Aaaaaand now I see I could have saved myself $10. Just like yacon syrup which is $30AUD for a wee sized jar… I guess it’s clutter if I’m not using it but at that price I’m kinda tempted to stick it in a time capsule or something.
claryn says:
Sep 7, 2014
Yes!!! I mentioned on some post a while back how I saw some $30 jar of almond butter at Whole Foods. Like, seriously?!
I’ve never actually tried store-bought coconut butter, though, so maybe I’m totally wrong about this DIY thing and it actually does cure cancer, cleanse your soul, AND make you shit magic hippie crystals. 😉
We should probably all stock up on yacon syrup and sell it off for a huge profit in 5-10 years.
lysette says:
Sep 7, 2014
Yes! “Artisanal”-emphasis on anal- drives me crazy too. Every X-mas my three siblings are overjoyed I make them jars of coconut butter. In return they spoil me with wolf stuff. Quietly,I strum my fingers together whispering, “you have no idea how cheap coconut butter really is.”
claryn says:
Sep 7, 2014
Hahahahahaha. Yes!!
FoodFeud says:
Sep 7, 2014
Look at you go! DIY for the win.
Caeli @ Little Vegan Bear says:
Sep 7, 2014
I haven’t tried coconut butter but have seen it around the traps. Dessicated coconut is soooo cheap, I don’t understand how they are charging so much for it! As you say, it’s so easy. Same with nut butters and nut milks!
claryn says:
Sep 16, 2014
Yes! Agreed. At least nut milks are fortified, I guess? Some day I will get my hands on a really heavy duty food processor and never buy a jar of nut butter again. I can dream, right?
wendy says:
Sep 9, 2014
I saw a different recipe for it using coconut flakes rather than dessicated coconut, so I’ve been planning to make that. The flakes are reasonably priced too. Same method, just process the hell out of it until it’s butter. I don’t know (yet) if the flakes end up with less texture, but I’ll let you know.
claryn says:
Sep 14, 2014
Yeah, I’m sure flakes would be fine — and I like the idea that they might leave you with a better texture. That said, coconut flakes aren’t stocked in my grocery’s bulk bins, so I’ll be sticking to the cheaper shredded stuff!
Laura says:
Sep 11, 2014
I’m very happy you posted this! I hate that coconut butter is so expensive, and this is ridiculously easy sounding (and cheaper for sure!)
claryn says:
Sep 14, 2014
Yay! Thanks for stopping by, Laura 🙂
Aristic Vegan says:
Sep 11, 2014
I have had it on my whiteboard to look into making my own coconut products and was SO happy to see your post! We feel the same way about “health food items” and make our own nut milk, butters etc. I am so excited to buy a coconut and give this a try, thank you for sharing your experience!
claryn says:
Sep 14, 2014
Yay! I hope you like it! Just note that the instructions call for dried coconut; I haven’t tried making coconut butter with a fresh coconut myself.