Coconut Butter

It's all coco-loco to me!

Coconut oil & coconut butter are different things. The coconut oil is just the fat or oil extracted from the coconut flesh which has been dried (cold pressed extracted makes it 'raw' coconut oil - which I use) . The cacao butter is derived from the cacao bean which is the bean where chocolate comes from.  When the cacao bean has been roasted it becomes a cocoa bean or if ground it becomes cocoa powder. I first discovered
coconut butter when going through my favourite raw blogspot  - rawmazing. So this recipes is really Susan's (from rawmazing) and she got it from someone else too. So let me share it with you all.

See photo's below of cacao butter & coconut oil.

I love the fact that it is cheaper than coconut oil and can be used in so many similar recipes.  The coconut butter is the dried flesh (desiccated coconut) processed in a food processor until it breaks down, a little like a nut butter. The coconut butter is meatier, denser than coconut oil and is great for things like raw cakes, raw slices and anything where you might need a bit of substance. The coconut oil is lighter in texture and will give you a softer texture when used in a raw cake or slice recipe.

If you find it hard to get coconut oil, then the coconut butter can often be substituted in most recipes (not all).

Makes  = 375gm jar

4 cups desiccated coconut

Place the desiccated coconut in a food processor and blend. Stop and remove lid and scrap down sides when necessary. It takes approximately 8-10 minutes in a domestic food processor (depends how sharp your blades are and how fast you motor is) or 2 minutes in a Vitamix according to my friend Miranda. 

The first time I made it, it worked in 8 minutes. This time I made it and I found it wasn't breaking down into a paste and kept creeping up the sides of the food processor. I added one table spoon of coconut oil and that helped to make the mixture more wet and less dry and stopped it from creeping up the sides. Then it turned into coconut butter and I saved my poor machine! So handy tip if by 10 minutes it's not working add a little coconut oil (or you could try almond or macadamia oil).

Please note: keep an eye on your food processor, make sure the motor doesn't get too hot. If it does give it a rest and go and have a cup of tea or pull some weeds in your garden for 10 minutes!

After 2 minutes - still looks like desiccated coconut, slightly more moist perhaps.

After 4 minutes - slowly binding together and breaking down.

After 6 minutes - now turning into paste-like.

Creeping up the sides - just stop it and scrap it down, you may need to do this several times.

After 8 minutes - now paste-like.

Coconut butter - After 10 minutes - thick & wet paste.

Cacao butter - is the fat derived from the cacao bean which is the bean chocolate comes from. It is what gives chocolate it firm and fatty texture. 

Coconut oil - is just the fat or oil extracted (cold pressed if it is 'raw' coconut oil - which I use) from the coconut flesh which has been dried. 

The final product - Coconut Butter!

Store in the fridge to keep it fresh.

It does set hard so to use it simply put the jar in a bowl of boiling water and leave it for a few minutes. It doesn't take long until it is soft and spoonable or spreadable. It's best kept in the fridge to keep it fresh and to prevent it from going rancid, especially in the warmer weather.