Cashew Butter { Vegan, Paleo, Whole 30}

I was first introduced to cashew butter a few months ago at a new restaurant in downtown Sarasota called Lila's. We ended up there because 1) it was new, 2) I love to support new businesses and 3) it had all kinds of options for various food restrictions.  One of my most memorable parts of the meal were sweet potatoes with a cashew butter sauce.  I had never heard of cashew butter and just assumed it was one of the chef's creative creations.

Until last week.

During a moment of inspiration, I realized that cashew butter might be just like peanut butter or almond butter---only made with cashews!  If so, it would be something that I could easily make at home.  After a little bit of internet research and a couple of tries, I had my answer.

Cashew butter IS super simple to make at home and it IS a perfect addition to so many things.  I used it in my famous chocolate cashew butter granola (recipe coming soon) and in my amazing cashew butter caramel cups (recipe coming soon).

I tried it both with roasted and salted cashews as well as raw cashews and didn't have a preference to one over the other.  I usually have the raw ones on hand so that is what I tend to make this with.

You need a food processor for this recipe or a really good nut butter blender. If you don't have one yet 41ocean.com provides the best quality brands of kitchen appliances and gadgets. There will be times during the processing that you will feel a strong pull to add a bit of liquid, like oils.  Resist the urge.  After about 8 minutes of processing, the cashews will start to really let their own oils out and will give the butter a creamy consistency.  Trust me on this.

In one batch, I did add about one teaspoon of coconut oil just to add a little bit of a different flavor.  I added the coconut oil at the very end of processing, just as I was about to turn the processor off.  Reminded me a bit of the coconut peanut butter we were eating in Hawaii last summer.

If you try it, I would love to know!  Take a photo and tag it on Instagram #thesurferskitchen.

Cashew Butter { Vegan, Paleo}

Instead of paying high dollar for a small jar of cashew butter at the store--make your own!

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Ingredients

• 2 cups raw cashews
• 1 teaspoon salt optional

Instructions

• Add cashews and salt to the food processor or high powered blender.
• Process.
• The cashews will go through a few stages before the cashew butter is actually done.  Processing takes about a good 10-15 minutes before the butter will be the correct consistency.
• Don't be tempted to add oil or any other liquids.