Homemade Coconut Butter
I love coconut butter. You will notice that in many of my recipes, I use coconut butter instead of coconut oil. Why? Because it has a richer flavor and a better texture than coconut oil. But coconut butter is both expensive and hard for some people to find. The solution? Make your own. But be sure to read the comments at the end of the post. It is good, but it isn’t exactly like Artisana coconut butter, my favorite.
I have seen a lot of posts on making your own coconut butter. I was pretty convinced that homemade coconut butter (made from dried coconut) could never be as good as the brand I like to use which is made from raw coconut. But this post, coconut butter, inspired me to try. I will walk you though the steps.
Homemade Coconut Butter – Visual Instructions. Recipe Follows.
Place dried coconut in food processor. I have a 12 cup processor. If yours is smaller, you can adjust and make two batches.
After 2 minutes
After 4 minutes
After 6 minutes. The oils are starting to release.
After 8 minutes it is looking pretty good.
After 10 minutes it is pretty liquid.
Pour it into a clean jar and let cool. Don’t worry, it isn’t hot, just slightly warm. As it cools it will harden.
Conclusion and Tips
I must admit, I was pretty impressed. It hardened (see first picture) after sitting at room temperature for a bit. It looked like coconut butter and it tasted pretty darn good. And I am very picky about the qualities of my ingredients. What I didn’t like was that it is grainy. Even after a turn in the high speed blender, I could never get the beautiful smooth consistency of the Artisana coconut butter I was comparing it to. But in a pinch, especially in recipes that the consistency would be covered up by other textures, it could work. And oh my, it is a fraction of the cost. My 16 ounces of dried coconut made over 2 cups. Probably the equivalent to a 10 ounce jar of the Artisana.
Note: My food processor is a 12 cup KitchenAid. It is a work horse. It didn’t even bat an eye at making this. But all food processors are different. Keep an eye on yours while running it this long.
Coconut Butter
MAKES 1 Cup
Coconut Butter
- 16 oz dried, non-sweetened flaked coconut
- Place coconut in food processor.
- Process until smooth. (See above photos)
Kaylene wrote on October 11, 2012
Thanks for this recipe it is great. I have been wondering how to make it. The step by step photos are very helpful.
Mexie wrote on October 3, 2012
If you would like to use fresh coconut, what you need to do is process it to flakes, then dry it in a food dehydrator, and finally reprocess the dried coconut to achieve coconut butter. I’m going to try this using the dehusked coconut available at the Asian Market.
melinda wrote on October 1, 2012
wondering if i could toast the coconut then make it butter for a different flavor?!
Susan wrote on October 1, 2012
Because this is a raw site, I have not tried that. You are free to and report back but know that toasting is not the most nutritious way to consume. Cheers!
Dan wrote on September 17, 2012
I’m curious as to why you say it won’t work with fresh coconut? If I had my heart set on using fresh coconut, what would I need to do? Is it a moisture thing?
Susan wrote on September 17, 2012
Hi, Dan, This recipe only works with dry coconut. If you use fresh, you will get a coconut puree, not coconut butter. Cheers!
Steve Winter wrote on November 11, 2014
I found a nice shortcut for drying/dehydrating fresh coconut to make coconut butter. I take the shredded meat of 3 coconuts and put it in a Pyrex/glass dish and microwave it for 30 minutes on high. Then I take it out and put it in the oven at 180 degrees F for about an hour. Any clumps of shredded coconut should be dry and crumbly. The microwave step saves you about 4 hours of oven time. You want to get all the water out of it, otherwise it might go bad as you are storing it in the pantry. Then I blend it up in the food processor and pour it into jars and store in pantry. You can add 1/4 or 1/8 teaspoon of salt at the end of blending if you want. Check out my website for tips on shredding coconut right in the shell to save time.
Enjoy
Dana V. wrote on February 4, 2015
Sure, you may be saving time, but unfortunately, microwaving strips nutrients from food. One would be defeating the purpose of going through the effort of making such a healthy treat only to devalue it or deplete it by using a microwave. Eek. Not good. 🙁
Susan wrote on February 4, 2015
Hi, Dana, Highly confused by your comment. We do not suggest microwaving anywhere on this blog. Are you replying to another commenter?
Daniela wrote on August 23, 2012
Hi, Susan. The only ingredient is coconut meat from freshly opened coconut. Nothing more, nothing less. Could it be that the coconut was wrong? In my location is impossible to buy coconut butter so I am no able to compare how it should taste. However, after making it was all right (I guess). I would like to prepare it according to you recipe but I don’t have food processor, so I try this alternative with juicer. Thank you.
Daniela wrote on August 21, 2012
Hi, Susan. I tried to make coconut butter with my Omega single gear juicer according to the video I saw on youtube. In the end everything seemed all right. I put the jar with coconut butter to the fridge and after four days I wanted to use it. However, it was totally sour. Could you tell me, please, if there are some special requirements for storage of coconut butter? Thank you in advance.
Susan wrote on August 22, 2012
Since I don’t know anything about the video, instructions, ingredients, etc. I can not tell you what went wrong. This recipe lasts for weeks. Cheers!
carol Prichard wrote on August 20, 2012
Susan
I tried to make coconut oil with my Angel twin gear juicer. I bought Fresh shredded coconut from the local market, I live in Vietnam dried it in the dehydrator. put it through the machine it jammed after awhile, worried about breaking my machine I gave up on thT idea.
I got the idea from you tube but he used an omega single gear juicer. What little product I did get I was very happy with though. he also made coconut butter. I love this guy. The both of you are my kitchen gods.
CaiHong
Michele wrote on August 16, 2012
I tried Artisana coconut butter for the first time last week (had their Cacao Bliss awhile back + fell in love). Will definitely have to try making my own as well.
Michele
short girl, long island
Maria Carolina wrote on August 7, 2012
Hi there this looks fantastic! Just one question: Can I make this with fresh coconut?
Susan wrote on August 7, 2012
Hi, Maria, It won’t work with fresh coconut. Cheers!