I choose to make this cashew butter than peanut butter because of its greater benefits to health. Cashew contains heart healthy fats which are the same found in olive oil and it is also one of the good sources for anti-oxidants. A Chinese concept on foods suggests, ‘Organs are boosted by foods of the same shapes’. So it has been said that cashew is good for kidney as walnut is good for brain. How does this sound to you?
Whichever, let me make it clear that this is not the type of food that I have to trade off between the taste and healthiness. This cashew butter is rich in flavor and mildly sweet, the biggest minus perhaps is its higher price.
With a processor, I bet every one could make this nice cashew butter at home. I have already served it as sandwich spread, dips, and an ingredient in broth for noodles. Possibly, I will also have it mixed into the paste for satay and curry, with varied amount of sugar or even honey.
If not cashews, how about other nuts like almond, walnut, hazel …. ?They are also excellent sources of protein and fiber.
- Ingredients
- 250g cashews, unroasted and unsalted
- 3 tbsp olive oil (or softened butter)
- 1 tsp kohser salt
- sugar to taste (optional)
- These amount of ingredients yields only 1 cup of cashew butter.
Preparation
1) Soak cashews for about two hours and discard water. This would help activate the dormant enzymes in cashews which are highly beneficial for digestion and nutrition. Click here to learn more from Divina Pe, author of sense-serendipity.com, about why nuts have to be soaked and also an informative post on how to prepare nut milk.
2) Pat dry cashews. Line cashews on a dish (or on a piece of parchment paper). Preheat oven for 10 minutes. Brown the cashews at 150 degree C for about 15 minutes, check through oven window constantly at the last 5 minutes to make sure they will not be over-toasted.
3) Remove dish from oven, place it securely on countertop. I don’t stir the cashews but flip them one by one to the other side, which helps yield nice browning on both sides. Actually I am quite amazed by my patience in doing such. Be careful when having the first encounter with the hot cashews. I fan them with my hands for a while before touching them. Then, toast the flipped cashews for another 10 minutes.
4) Let cool the cashews. Pop them in blender, add salt, one table spoon of oil, pulse for half a minute, after which the cashews shall form sticky chunks. With a spatular, level the chunks and add remaining oil. I thought I would need four table spoons of oil, but it turns out that three table spoons (2 tbsp olive oil plus 1 tbsp butter) is satisfactory.
5) Pulse again for half a minute, stop the machine and you shall see the mixture sticking to the sides of the blender. Scrap it down from the sides. Repeat this step three or four times to attain your preferred creaminess (the mixture shall be slightly grainy). I would suggest making a thicker paste because you may then thin it according to you requirements.
For storage, put the cashew butter in an air-tight container and keep it in fridge preferably not more than a month.
If your processor is capable of blending dough, wake it up and give it this nice assignment. Enjoy!.
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Recipe Category: Paste and Seasoning .
- 16 comments
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This looks great! I love cashews and have bought cashew butter many times and the consistency was always too hard, I will make it at my own from now on!
That’s such a beautiful butter. I can just imagine the beautiful flavour and taste. Wow….you are just amazing!
I bet this would be an awesome alternative to the same ol’, same ol’ peanut butter. I can already taste this on my morning toast. YUM!
What an interesting idea! Bring a brand new perspective in using cashew nut!
Oh yum. These are gorgeous. Thank you so much for showing the process. I really don’t have a food processor. Made a mistake by buying a ktichen aid which I don’t use that often. Thanks for the link. Cashew and other nuts is a great alternative to peanuts. A lot of people have peanut allergies. This would be one of my assignments to do.
Cashew butter. VEry interesting. this is something I would do!
If cashew is good for kidney as walnut is good for brain, then I must try making some walnut butter from your recipe to increase my thinking power!
Wonderful. You can’t really buy cashew butter here in the UK. I’ve got to try this.
HH
My colleague had told me about how he would make Cashew nut butter spread every time he comes back from India with his stash of Cashew nuts. I have always wanted to try this. Thanks for sharing – your cashew butter looks so beautiful.
I’ve never heard of this until now. What a great invention! Love it!
Hi Every One,
Thanks for all you kind words.
One more thing to share, I might have taken too much cashew butter on one single day, spread, dips, noodle broth, and my throat became a little bit dry cause ultimately it is a toasted food. After having a glass of honey, I feel pretty fine now. So do watch out for the amount in one single meal. Take care and thanks again for visiting.
I love nut butters…..I would enjoy this with a sprinkling of chili pepper I think
this is something new to me. it sounds and looks super yummy. love the nuttiness.
I bet this tastes better than peanut butter!
hello
thanks for the great recipe
I used roasted macadamia nuts and macadamia oil plus a little organic sugar to sweeten. It came out a little wet, so will add more nuts, (my blender is not the best)
Tasted great, our kids love it
This is one of those foods that you just don’t realize how easy it is to make until someone shows you.
I love cashew butter, but haven’t made my own yet. It’s on the list!