How to Make Coconut Butter

Coconut butter is a lovely vegan alternative to dairy butter, and can be used in such a variety of recipes – but it’s very, very expensive to buy. Homemade is cheap, easy, and well worth trying!

I usually make a batch when I want to make these chocolate coconut bars, but coconut butter also makes a great icing for cookies (or cakes and cupcakes, when mixed with some other ingredients). It solidifies at room temperature and holds things together nicely, much like coconut oil, but rather more flavourful.

If you’re a fan of coconut, it’s delicious on toast, especially with a bit of raspberry jam. You can blend cocoa powder into the butter for chocolate coconut butter, or add spices like vanilla, cardamom, and cinnamon. It’s flexible and can easily be adapted however you like.

Scroll to the bottom of the post or click “skip to recipe” above to see the recipe card with full ingredient measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

Just the one – coconut! You may want to add some coconut oil, see Tips for more on that.

Method

Add the coconut to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Blend on high speed for a few minutes, until the coconut starts to break down.

Once the oil begins to release from the coconut, it’ll start to move up the sides of the blender and stick slightly. Scrape down the sides with a spatula or butterknife as frequently as needed. This is what it’ll look like after about five minutes.

If you find that the coconut seems very dry at this point, now is the time to add some coconut oil. About a tablespoon will do it.

Continue blending, leaving the small opening of the food processor open to allow any steam to escape. After about ten minutes in total, you should have a smooth coconut butter that drizzles easily.

Pour the finished butter in a jar or other airtight container and store at room temperature for up to two weeks, or longer in a cooler house.

Tips and Notes

Different types of coconut all blend a little differently, and some can be a touch dry for coconut butter. To make up for this, you can add a tablespoon or so of coconut oil. It should go in at about the 5-minute mark, once the butter is heating up and the oil will melt – but only add it if things seem dry and very crumbly, and you’re not seeing much oil release from the coconut.

Just about any food processor can be used for this recipe. I have the cheapest full-sized version on the market and it works fine, if a bit slowly. I’m not sure about other types of mixers or blenders, like a bullet blender, but it might be possible to use another tool.

Please not that coconut butter does solidify at room temperature, and may need to be softened or melted before use. I place the jar over a radiator before using, but you can zap it in the microwave briefly, or heat carefully in a dish of warm water.

Don’t try to reduce the recipe! Any less and it won’t blend in a standard food processor. You can add more coconut to make a large batch, but not less. It only makes about a cup in the end anyway, not that much.

You can use any size of shredded or flake coconut to make coconut butter, as long as it’s unsweetened and raw.

More Coconut Recipes

• Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars (made with coconut butter)
• Three Ingredient Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream
• Coconut Panna Cotta
• Blueberry Almond Muffins
• Rainbow Veggie Coconut Dal

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