Homemade Cashew Butter

We love using various nut butters (especially homemade cashew butter) in the recipes we make at home. Making your own nut butter is a 'nice to do'; it's not necessary, but if you do consume a lot of it then it may work out a lot cheaper for you if you do the homemade version.

This cashew butter is like liquid blonde gold and is very easy to make, providing you have access to some specific equipment. We’ll go through the ins and outs of the stages of creating this delicious homemade cashew butter spread below.

This homemade cashew butter is completely natural, with only one other ingredient added in; salt. That’s all you need. It’s that simple. So let’s get to it and also show you what you can use it in - like these Almond Butter Cups for a spin on the traditional versions.

This how to make cashew butter recipe is amazing! Here are some reasons you'll love it and some things you need to consider before making it:

Easy - recipes don't get easier than this. You really don't need much and it's great watching the transformation from whole nut to creamy spread.

Fun - the eternal question is why make it when you can buy it? Well, there's absolutely nothing wrong with purchasing ready made - we often do! But it’s also fun to make your own. It can often be cheaper to do so if you get the nuts at a good price.

Ingredients - making homemade cashew butter yourself is simple and requires limited ingredients. You can do various adaptations, but what we're trying to say is you get to choose what to put in. This is naturally expressed cashew butter which doesn’t have any additional fat added (such as palm oil) to set it.

Versatile - this cashew butter can be used for anything from smoothies to fillings in desserts.

Step-by-step guide - use our step-by-step photo tutorial showing the texture of each stage of how to make homemade cashew butter.

Cashews - cashews are cashews, what else is there to say? The only considerations nowadays are where they are produced and how, but basically they are usually graded. Cheaper ones are usually broken and smaller, whereas more expensive ones are whole and large. Both work the exact same here.

Salt - you’ll need a little salt, this just enhances the flavour of the nuts as they cream and brings out that super roasted flavor.

📖 Customizations

We know you'll want to customize our homemade cashew butter recipe so here are some recommendations:

Nuts - You can use this same method to make any nut into nut butter. Some nuts such as almonds can be a little unwilling to give up their oils and as such you may find it useful to add a little neutral oil to get them going.

Make it crunchy - If you like crunchy nut butter you can reserve some of the roasted cashew nuts before processing the rest. Chop them into small bits and stir throughout the finished cashew butter to make a crunchy version. Or you can just add the chopped cashews to the processor and pulse them into the finished nut butter.

Flavorings - There are countless add ins you can use to make your nut butter your own. Try adding spices like cinnamon or cardamom, or a pumpkin spice mix. You can also add vanilla or any other extract you like. Or make it extra luxurious and add some cocoa powder for an ultra-chocolatey cashew butter. Or why not try this Chocolate Almond Pecan Butter instead.

🥣 Equipment needed

There are two ways you can make cashew butter:

Food processor

• We currently have a magimix 4200XL food processor, it processes things wonderfully well and we would recommend it, but you can also use pretty much any food processor as long as it has a fairly powerful motor.
• We would not recommend a mini chopper; if you are going to make nut butter, you need enough space for the amount of nuts used and it will need to run constantly for about 5-8 minutes.

Blender

• It is absolutely possible to use a blender to make cashew butter or any nut butter. BUT there is a limitation, it usually requires a very powerful motor as blenders usually require liquid to blend successfully.
• We would only recommend this option if you have something as powerful as a Vitamix. We would not recommend using a stick blender either for the same reason, you need to blend for a longer period of time and this may burn out your motor.

Pros - The good thing about Vitamix is you can start it chopping slowly and gradually increase the speed.

Cons - It’s definitely more of a pain to get the cashew butter out of a blender jug with the blades at the bottom; at least with the processor they are removable and there's a wider area to scrape.

Roasting stage

1. Lay all your raw cashew nuts on a baking sheet.
2. Roast them in the oven preheated to 180^oC/350^oF for 5 minutes, remove them, toss them around and return for another 5 minutes until they are golden brown.

Stages of making homemade cashew butter

3. Add the roasted cashews into the processor bowl with the salt.
4. Processing first creates a cashew flour.

5. As the cashews break down they start to release more of their natural oils.
6. The natural oils start to clump it all together, it can often create a ball, don’t stop here.

7. The stuck together lump keeps getting blended and as the paste heats up with the blades of the processor, more oils are released. Don’t stop here.
8. Keep processing until it becomes a smooth liquid and flows around the processor bowl, it will have a glossy sheen to it. That’s it!

Here are some suggestions for how to use homemade cashew butter. It is really quite versatile and can be used in both sweet and savory recipes.

• Spread it on toast/english muffins for breakfast or a light snack with banana slices and honey.
• Use it in smoothies instead of peanut butter for an extra creamy touch.
• Use it in pancake batter instead of tahini in these Chocolate Pancakes.
• Use in stir fry sauces.
• Add it to dressings for salads.
• Add it to a curry to bring out a nutty creamy flavour.
• Make snacks like these soft and chewy Cashew Butter Granola Bars.
• Make a sweet snack like these Dark Chocolate Cashew Butter Cups.
• Make a breakfast like this Coconut Tahini Pistachio Granola.
• Make a baked oatmeal such as this Tahini Cherry Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal.