Homemade Roasted Cashew Butter

If you follow my blog, you know about my deep love for peanut butter. You probably also know about my recent experiment with sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) which turned out amazing. Today, I decided to play around with a new butter- cashew butter.  I've seen cashew butter in the grocery store before but it's always so expensive and contains more ingredients than I deem to be acceptable in a "natural" nut butter. 

I chose to experiment with cashew butter because I absolutely love the taste of cashews. I am really excited to say that the recipe was a huge success and turned out perfectly creamy and flavorful. The key to its "deliciousness" is the flavor you get from roasting the nuts. I bought raw unsalted whole cashews at Whole Foods and roasted them myself. The grocery store will probably carry roasted and salted cashews, but I strongly recommend roasting the raw nuts yourself to get the most flavor into your cashew butter.

This recipe makes a ton of cashew butter- probably about 20 servings worth. I'd suggest putting it in a tupperware and storing it at room temperature until it's gone (which may not be very long since it's so yummy!)

You can use the cashew butter just like you'd use peanut butter or almond butter. It's delicious when spread on toast or crackers, you can put it on an apple or banana, or even try it swirled around in plain Greek yogurt for a protein-packed breakfast. Whatever you do with it, I know you are going to love it. :)

Cashews are a superfood because they provide heart-healthy monosaturated and polysaturated fat which are known to help lower bad cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Cashews also contains flavanoids which are said to lower the risk of many cancers. Additionally, cashews contain high amounts of copper which help provide the body with energy and help aid in flexibility in joints and muscles. 

Ingredients:

3 cups raw unsalted cashews

1/2 tsp. sea salt

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Place cashews on foil-lined baking sheet

3) Roast nuts in oven for 12 minutes (stirring around halfway)

4) Place roasted cashews in food processor and add sea salt

5) Pulse a couple of times until cashews are crumbly

6) Process cashews for 10 minutes stopping after every couple  of minutes to scrape the sides of the bowl

**You may be tempted to add oil or water to the mixture because it looks very dry initially. DON'T DO IT! The mixture will get thick and creamy and will eventually turn into cashew butter, I promise! Just be patient and you'll see. **