Homemade Cashew Butter is one of the healthiest homemade nut butters and if you haven't tried it yet, creamy cashew butter tastes great! Enter into the picture Chocolate which takes creamy homemade cashew butter up to the next level.
This cashew butter with chocolate is easy to make and uses a few simple ingredients from the recipe for cashew butter. Ingredients include roasted cashews, coconut oil and chocolate chips. It makes a great snack because it is healthy, gluten free, dairy free and is healthier than store bought. Cashew butter with chocolate makes a great homemade chocolate spread. If you have never tried nut butter made of cashews you will love cashew butter.
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Cashew butter vs. Peanut Butter
Aside from the fact that cashew butter is made from cashews and peanut butter is made from peanuts, these two ingredients may look similar but they are part of completely different plant species.
Peanuts are part of the legume family and grow from plants while cashews grow on trees. The cashew tree makes cashew seeds which if left unpicked also grows into a pseudo fruit called the cashew apple.
It's not really a fruit but it looks like an apple. It has a sweet and sour taste and is often used to make alcohol like wine. Believe it or not, the cashew apple is edible and reduces high triglyceride level that is associated with increased risk of heart diseases. (see more in the article).
Is Cashew Butter Healthy?
Any homemade nut butter is healthier than store bought. The reason is that homemade nut butters, like cashew butter do not contain fillers and saturated fats or excessive amounts of added oils. Products with excessive amounts of saturated fats are unhealthy and are linked to heart disease and other chronic health conditions.
Making a Chocolate Spread from Homemade Cashew Butter
This chocolate cashew butter recipe tastes almost like Nutella or chocolate hazelnut spread. If you love Nutella, then you will love this chocolate cashew butter, minus the saturated fats and palm oil. All you need is a food processor and 10 minutes.
You can use this chocolate cashew butter as a spread on toast, to make cookies, top ice cream or spread on cookies with milk.
This recipe was inspired by this almond butter recipe, which is also a great nut butter if you are looking for a natural healthy homemade nut butter.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a healthy and hearty muffin, try chocolate peanut butter muffins, they are great!
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Ingredients
You don't need a lot of ingredients to make cashew butter with chocolate. In fact, if you don't want to add the chocolate, don't. You'll need:
- raw or roasted cashews (salted/unsalted)
- coconut oil
- chocolate chips
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions on How to Make Cashew Butter
Making homemade cashew butter is easy. If you use roasted cashews, you will have a roasted cashew butter. It doesn't matter whether you use roasted cashews or raw cashews. Both taste delicious. You can also use both salted and unsalted cashews to make this homemade cashew butter with chocolate.
Place cashews in a food processor and turn the food processor on high. Leave the food processor running.
Trust the process.
You will see the cashews go from a ground up state to a chunky state and then form a ball. Add the coconut oil.
Once the cashews turn into a smooth paste, stop the food processor and take an opportunity to scrape the bowl with a spatula. Add the chocolate chips and turn on the food processor. Keep it running until the mixture is smooth and runny. Store in an airtight container.
Top tip
You cannot use a mini food processor to make nut butter because it is not powerful enough.
Use a full size food processor, trust the process and give it 10 minutes.
Substitutions and Varitions
Here are a few ideas to make your nut butter different:
- Nut - use any kind of nut, almond, hazelnut, cashew, peanut, etc.
- Chocolate - omit the chocolate for a plain nut butter or substitute a different type of chocolate like white chocolate
- Sweeten - add maple syrup to sweeten your nut butter, although the chips make it sweet enough.
I do not recommend using Cocoa for this recipe as it will make your nut butter taste chalky.
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. This almond butter recipe requires a food processor.
A rubber spatula will come in hand to scrape the sides of your bowl and measuring spoons and cups will come in handy to measure your cashews and coconut oil.
This page contains affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Storage
Store the cashew butter in mason jars on the counter if you will consume it within a week. Leaving the cashew butter on the counter for longer periods might result in it turning rancid.
Otherwise refrigerate it. Note that when you refrigerate it it will harden because it doesn't contain added fats that store bought nut butters contain. Refrigerated almond butter will last you 4 to 5 weeks.
I have never frozen peanut butter or cashew butter before, so I can't say whether almond butter will hold up to freezing.
Food Safety
Note that the storage guidelines provided on this page and site are estimates from personal experiences. We are all adults and as an adult you are responsible to ensure that the food you eat is safe to eat. Since, I'm not a food safety expert, you are responsible to review your local guidelines on food storage prior to storing any food left-overs.
Remember to:
- Not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
For Canadian Guidelines check Government of Canada's Food and Safety Guidelines, see more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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Recipe Details
Cashew Butter with Chocolate
Ingredients
- 2 cups cashews raw or roasted, salted or unsalted
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Place cashews in a food processor and turn the food processor on high. Leave the food processor running.
- Trust the process. You will see the cashews go from a ground up state to a chunky state and then form a ball.
- When you get to the ball state, add the coconut oil. This will help to emulsify the cashews.
- Once the cashews turn into a smooth paste, stop the food processor and take an opportunity to scrape the bowl with a spatula.
- If you don't want to add chocolate, just turn on the food processor again and keep it running until the mixture turns into a smooth runny consistency. Remove and store. If you are adding chocolate go to next step.
- Add the chocolate chips and turn on the food processor. Keep it running until the mixture is smooth and runny. Store in an airtight container.
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