Coconut butter is a convenient and healthy alternative to nut butter. Unbelievably delicious and versatile, it is used in innumerable recipes. This Tastessence post enlists 10 easy-to-make dishes that use coconut butter.
The Nut Battle!
Coconut butter is quite similar to any kind of nut butter (almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter, etc.) in texture; however, it is much healthier and sweeter than its counterparts.
Coconut is one the healthiest fruits Mother Nature has bestowed us with. Did you know that more than one-third of the world depends on the coconut for its livelihood? It is a primary ingredient in coastal cuisines, and the leaves and bark of the tree are used to produce a myriad of other items that contribute to the local economy.
Coconut oil and coconut butter are two important products of this fruit. Contrary to the popular misconception, the oil and butter are quite different from each other―do not assume that coconut butter when melted, turns into oil. It is not so. Coconut oil is used very commonly for the skin, for ailments, cooking, etc. Similarly, there are innumerable uses of coconut butter as well―one of the most fascinating ones being, its versatility in the kitchen. Off late, organic coconut butter has replaced other types of nut butters in a variety of dishes. Here we have enlisted 10 examples of the use of coconut butter in cooking.
How to Make Coconut Butter?
- Organic coconut butter is available at most convenience stores; however, it would be much simpler if you just prepare it at home. Coconut butter has a creamy, silky texture and tastes naturally sweet.
- At its simplest, it is prepared by blending natural coconut meat into a soft puree.
- To prepare the same, scrape coconut flesh and blend into a fine, fine puree. Do not blend it too much, or else it will lose its creaminess.
- You can prepare the same by blending coconut flakes and coconut oil as well. Buy some unsweetened coconut flakes and blend the same for about 10 to 20 minutes in a high-power blender.
- The flakes will be dry, so it will take a while for the butter to take shape. Have patience.
- After about 20 minutes, add some coconut oil to hold the mixture together. Blend again for a few minutes, and voila! It’s ready.
- After blending, what you obtain is a slightly liquefied version. You can keep it in the fridge to solidify.
- At room temperature, it is smooth and soft and very convenient to spread and mix. When it is kept in the freezer, it hardens considerably.
- To liquefy hard coconut butter, place the jar in a pan full of hot water and stir till you obtain the required consistency.
Delicious Coconut Butter Recipes
Wondering what to make with coconut butter? Fret not, Tastessence provides you with an array of recipes below.
Coconut Banana Bread
Ingredients:
- 4-5 bananas
- 2 eggs
- Coconut butter
- Coconut oil
- 1 cup of coconut flour
- Cinnamon or honey
- Baking powder
Procedure:
- Thoroughly blend the coconut butter, bananas, coconut oil, and eggs till smooth.
- Add the coconut flour, some salt, cinnamon/honey (or any sweetener), and baking powder. Blend again.
- Grease a baking pan or a loaf pan. Pour in the coconut-banana mixture and bake at 350°F, for about 45 minutes.
- Insert a toothpick to check if it’s done. If the toothpick comes out clean, remove it and cut into slices. Delicious, nut-free banana bread is ready.
- Spread some silky coconut butter on the bread slice and serve. It is a wholesome snack by itself.
Coconut Chocolate Fudge
It is one of the most delicious dessert recipes that involve coconut butter.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of coconut butter
- 1 cup of cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (or any sweetener)
- Sea salt (as required)
Procedure:
- Mix all the ingredients together.
- Heat a medium saucepan. Add this mixture and stir it carefully, on low heat.
- Keep stirring until the coconut butter melts and the other ingredients blend to form a smooth mixture.
- Pour the mixture into a well-greased square pan and refrigerate for about four hours. Cut into solid square pieces and serve.
Coconut Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:
- ½ cup coconut butter
- ½ cup coconut flour (or any pastry flour)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- ½ cup sugar
- 4 eggs
Procedure:
- Preheat the oven first, at about 350°F.
- Mix coconut butter and sugar well.
- Pour the beaten eggs, vanilla essence, and blend well. Add the flour and mix.
- Grease a cookie sheet. Place a spoonful of the batter on the sheet in the form of a cookie. Continue doing so for the entire mixture.
- Bake in the oven for about half an hour.
- Serve delicious, golden brown cookies for tea.
Coconut Butter Cake
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of coconut butter
- ¾ cup honey
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 6-7 eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Grated coconut or berries (for garnish)
Procedure:
- Blend the honey and the coconut butter well.
- Add coconut oil, vanilla extract, and baking soda. Mix well.
- Now, take a high-powered blender and pour in the well-beaten eggs. Add to it the mixture above and blend very well until you obtain a smooth batter.
- Pour into a greased pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check if it is cooked.
- Garnish the cake with well-grated coconut. You may add cherries and blueberries or any other topping. The golden brown color topped with pristine white flakes and colorful berries is truly a sight to behold.
Dairy-free Coconut Ice-cream
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of coconut butter
- 1 cup of thick coconut milk
- Any fat-free sweetener, as per taste
Procedure:
- Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl and add to the blender.
- Blend on high power until the mixture is mushy.
- Place in the refrigerator until set. That’s it!
- Serve creamy dollops of dairy-free coconut ice-cream.
Curry Sauce
Ingredients:
- 2 cups coconut milk
- ½ cup curry powder
- ½ cup coconut butter
- ½ cup flour
- Salt (as required)
Procedure:
- Mix the butter and flour well. Add the curry powder.
- Heat the mixture in the saucepan.
- Slowly, add the coconut milk.
- Stir well. Make sure no lumps are formed.
- Add the required amount of salt and take off from the fire. A delicious, quick, and tasty curry sauce is ready, made much thicker and creamier with the coconut butter.
- Alternatively, you may use coconut butter in other sauces too, to finish off.
- You can thicken sauces by adding coconut butter, say in tomato sauce, mustard sauce, etc.
Strawberry Mousse
Ingredients:
- 1 cup strawberries
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup coconut butter
- 2 tablespoons gelatin
- 1 tablespoon of honey (or any sweetener)
Procedure:
- Whisk coconut milk and gelatin over medium heat until the gelatin is dissolved.
- Prepare strawberry puree. Stir in the cooled coconut-gelatin mixture.
- Now, add the coconut butter and honey. Mix well.
- Refrigerate for 4-5 hours, until set. Serve creamy, thick, swirly mousse garnished with sliced strawberries.
- If you are too lazy, you may solely blend the strawberries and the coconut butter. The texture of this butter is so creamy by itself, you will obtain a delicious mousse within no time.
Chocolate Coffee Coconut Balls
Ingredients:
- ½ cup coconut butter
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup ground coffee
- ½ teaspoon honey
- Grated coconut (to garnish)
Procedure:
- Warm the coconut butter and mix it with all the ingredients.
- Remember that you have to shape this mixture into balls. Therefore, the batter should not be of a thick consistency, but more like soft dough.
- Dip the balls into the grated coconut and freeze for about an hour. Serve delicious, chewy, chocolaty balls as an evening snack.
Coconut Fruit Smoothie
Coconut butter is basically used in smoothies to thicken them up and retain a creamy texture.
Ingredients:
- 1 and a half cups of chopped frozen fruits of your choice
- 1 cup coconut milk
- ½ cup coconut butter
Procedure:
- Take a high power blender and puree the chopped fruits till smooth.
- Add the coconut milk and give another quick blend.
- Finally, add the coconut butter and puree again. Do not blend for a long time, your smoothie needs to have the right texture.
- You may use sweeteners if you want, but frankly, it will not be necessary at all.
- Pour into tall glasses, garnish with a small piece of fruit or slivered almonds, and serve.
- You can make single fruit or mixed fruit smoothies. As shown above, you can use frozen kiwi slices, strawberry pieces, or bananas for individual smoothies, or else, you can use them all together, adjust the requirement of the coconut milk and coconut butter accordingly, and serve a mixed fruit smoothie.
- One of the very popular smoothie recipe using coconut butter is the vegan spinach-mango-coconut green smoothie.
- To make this, you’ll require a cup of fresh spinach leaves, a cup of frozen mango cubes, a few banana pieces, two cups of coconut milk, and a cup of fresh coconut butter.
- Blend the spinach, mango, and banana, add the milk and butter, and blend again. Serve in tall glasses with a sprig of mint or a sprinkling of cardamom. You’ll thank the Gods for this yummy, creamy, rich, healthy, and luscious smoothie!
Coconut butter-flavored Rice
This one is certainly unusual! Coconut oil is widely used to fry and cook, but not many of us are aware that coconut butter is a good alternative as well.
Ingredients:
- 1 finely-chopped onion
- 1 clove of minced garlic
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 3 tablespoons of coconut butter
- Salt and pepper (as required)
- Roasted cashews (for garnish)
Procedure:
- Use liquid coconut butter for this recipe. Actually, even if you use the solidified butter, it will melt in the pan, of course, but using liquid butter is a quicker option.
- Take a medium sauté pan and add 2 tablespoons of coconut butter. Add the chopped onions and garlic.
- Stir quickly. Do not let the onions brown, they need to look translucent.
- Add the required amount of salt and pepper. In fact, add very less pepper; the rice needs to have the rich coconut flavor.
- Stir the rice into this mixture and mix well to coat well throughout. You can use any kind of rice, from long grain basmati to jasmine rice.
- Stir for five minutes and take off from heat. Now, add the remaining one tablespoon of butter and stir well. Since the rice is hot, the butter melts immediately and the mixing ensure that the rice remains glazed.
- Transfer to a plate and serve hot, garnished with roasted cashews or well-chopped cilantro leaves, accompanied by any spicy curry.
- In this recipe, we have used cooked rice directly. If you do not want to do so, you can use rice grains. All you have to do is, use 2 cups of coconut water. Add rice grains to the onion mixture as usual, add coconut water and mix, and simmer for 15 minutes until done.
- The dish is truly a sight to behold in itself – pale yellow buttery rice infused with the deep brown of the cashews or the herbal radiance of the cilantro! Believe me, you’ll feel like royalty.
Miscellaneous Recipes
Some more interesting, easy-to-make recipes are given below.
◆ Scoop out the butter from the jar and eat it directly, just like that. Yes, it’s delicious! It will melt in your mouth!
◆ Melt dark chocolate and stir in some coconut butter. You have a healthier alternative to Nutella! Or, spread some coconut butter on the chocolate pieces, pop them in your mouth.
◆ You can drizzle liquid coconut butter literally on top of anything. Drizzle it on top of macaroons, chopped fruit, frozen smoothies, biscuits, pancakes, etc. In fact, drizzling warm butter on cold foods gives them a glazed texture.
◆ You can use coconut butter for a quick stir-fry. Melt some coconut butter in a frying pan. Add the veggies you desire, sprinkle the required spices, and finish off with another dollop of butter. Yummy!
◆ Toss coconut butter with fruits to make a gooey fruit salad. Mix it in smoothies, soups, and curries to make them thicker.
◆ Use coconut butter in combination with other ingredients to make endless number of desserts―truffles, bars, cakes, biscuits, cookies, fudge, bread, muffins, crisps, candies, sorbet, etc.
◆ Blend coconut butter, water, garlic, and olive oil to make a chunky, egg-free mayonnaise. Use it as a dip for fries and chips and raw veggie platters.
◆ Blend coconut butter, coconut flakes, eggs, and squash to make flour-less coconut pancakes.
◆ Add coconut butter to your breakfast dishes―fruit salad, oatmeal, cornflakes, porridge, etc.
◆ Roast unsweetened coconut flakes until they are of a medium brown color, and then prepare coconut butter. Spread this butter on bread toast, tortillas, dates, raspberries, sandwiches, and biscuits.
◆ Mix molten coconut butter with mashed potatoes and garnish with parsley.
◆ Blend fruit puree and coconut butter and make luscious popsicles!
There is no limit to the recipes wherein you can use coconut butter. From appetizers to entrées and from main courses to desserts, the uses and benefits of coconut butter are numerous. And, how about some experimentation? Make coconut butter at home and put on your creative thinking caps to cook as many delicious dishes as you can. Good luck!