Raw Cashew Butter

Some of my favorite healthy lunches are apple slices with sharp cheddar cheese or Kerrygold Dubliner, and cashew butter with apples or bananas.

For a while, I was buying cashew butter from Whole Foods, but their cashew butter grinder broke, so I decided to make my own in my NutriBullet.  

It is possible to make cashew butter in a food processor, but you need a lot of patience, and I don't have a lot of that.  Plus, I only have a very small food processor that is probably not powerful enough to do the job. 

To make my cashew butter, I use certified gluten free raw cashews from Nuts.com.  When you use raw cashews, your cashew butter will be much sweeter than if you used roasted cashews.

Nuts.com used to sell 12 ounce packages of raw cashews, but now I buy a 1 pound bag, and use my kitchen scale to measure out the amount I need.  I have made cashew butter with organic cashew pieces, but I thought it was better with whole raw cashews.

So you might be thinking, this is just too much work, and why can't I just buy cashew butter at a grocery store.  Locally, I have never found cashew butter in a jar that is even half as good as the fresh ground cashew butter I make at home, or have bought from Whole Foods.  

Recently though, I read about Artisana Organics Raw Cashew Butter on the blog Elana's Pantry.  Earlier this week, I ordered it from Vitacost.com, and had it with some banana slices for lunch today.  Oh my goodness, this stuff is amazing!  It is sweet, just like my homemade cashew butter, but it is so much creamier.  My daughters are going to love it!  I got them addicted to cashew butter earlier this summer, and they are constantly asking me to make it.  Their favorite way to eat it is with slices of banana.  The only ingredient in Artisana Organics Raw Cashew Butter is organic raw cashews.  It is gluten free, organic, non-GMO, vegan and kosher.  It is made in a facility that processes tree nuts, but does not process any peanuts, gluten, dairy or soy.  Because I like my cashew butter salted, I added some kosher salt to the cashew butter I ate with my banana today.  Locally, I have seen Artisana Organics Raw Cashew Butter at the Whole Foods in Winter Park and The Fresh Market on Mills.  They both sell the jars and single serving squeeze packs.

If you would like to make cashew butter at home, here is my recipe:

Raw Cashew Butter

Ingredients

12 oz raw cashews
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions

Add the cashews to the cup of a NutriBullet.  Process until a nut butter begins to form, scrape down the sides, then process again.  Scrape down the sides, add the olive oil and salt, then process again until smooth.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

If you want to try and make cashew butter with a food processor, check out this post from The Healthy Foodie - A Whole Lot of Love! Raw Cashew Butter Love!

P.S. I also love to pair raw cashew butter with Taza guajillo chili Mexican chocolate.  The combination of the sweet cashew butter with the heat from the Mexican chocolate is pretty amazing.