Cashew Butter

2 cups cashews
1/4 tsp pure salt

• Add to your food processor or Vitamix and process until creamy.

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SIDE NOTES:

~ Cashew butter is delicious! In our opinion, it tastes the closest to peanut butter than any of the other nut butters. Keep in mind, it tends to be less oily, and a little more on the pasty side than some of the others. It’s creamy and spreadable at room temp, but a little difficult to work with straight from the fridge. To resolve this, you can either include a little oil in the recipe, or simply let it warm up a bit before spreading (we do the latter). If I’m in a hurry, I just open the door to the toaster oven, turn it on while the cashew butter container is sitting on the opened door (I store my nut butters in glass jars – don’t do this if stored in plastic) and it’s spreadable within a minute or 2.

~ We like our almond butter and pecan butter plain – no salt, but find that cashew butter and macadamia nut butter need just a little bit for the best flavor. This is a personal preference, so feel free to omit the salt if you’d like.

~ If using a VITAMIX, use the tamper to push the nuts into the blade area as it’s blending. Make note – If using the large, 8 cup carafe, I would increase this recipe to 3 cups (so there are enough nuts in the machine to get things going). I happen to also have the optional small carafe which works well with 2 cups of nuts. Either way, it will only take 1 or 2 minutes to process (depending on desired consistency – the longer you process it, the creamier it will get). If using a FOOD PROCESSOR, be sure to stop the machine occasionally to scrape down the sides. It will take longer, but just keep at it until it’s creamy – it will get there.

~ If you’re starting with raw cashews, I recommend either roasting them (on a tray in oven at 300 degrees for about 8 minutes, stirring once half way through), or germinating (soak overnight at room temp, then let dry at low temperature in dehydrator for a few days). Both methods make the nut more digestible, but the germinating method allows it to retain all of its nutrients and enzymes (whereas the heat from roasting destroys some of these benefits). If you like the idea of retaining nutrients, but don’t want to soak and dry yourself, you can buy pre-germinated nuts at www.livingnutz.com.

~ For best results, in my experience, these are the 2 most important things to know in regard to making homemade nut butters….

1 – It’s best if the nuts are just warm to the touch when you add them to your blender (or food processor). At this temperature (about 100 degrees), the nuts can more easily release their oils, creating a creamy nut butter with the right consistency. So – if you’re roasting, let them cool off (until just warm to the touch) before processing (if the nuts are too hot – right out of the oven, they will be reluctant to give up their oil and they are not likely to blend into a creamy consistency). Likewise, if the nuts are cold or room temp, just warm them up in a dehydrator for 5 – 10 minutes. If you don’t have one, put them in the oven set to the lowest allowable temperature, and let them warm up just for a minute or 2 (can leave the oven door open to prevent them from getting too hot if necessary).

2 – The nuts need to be bone dry (so if you’ve soaked them yourself, be sure to dry them thoroughly).

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FOR THOSE USING A VITAMIX (or other blender that allows use of a tamper)….

After making nut butters is the BEST time to make a smoothie. This puts the last remnants of the nut butter (stuck to the sides of the carafe) to very good use.  So yummy, and an easy way to clean the sticky butter out of the carafe.  Just add some milk, banana & berries – give it a whirl & enjoy  =)

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In case anyone is in the market for a VITAMIX, my distributor code is 06-004158 which entitles you to free shipping and I get credit for the referral (thx!).

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