People seem to be still be going crazy for coconut butter. For good reason though. It’s delicious and healthy but also comes with a hefty price tag. That’s why it seems bizarre to me that so many still choose to buy it, when you can make your own for less than half the price.
Before I show you how to make coconut butter, let’s go over some coconut butter faq’s for all those coconut butter newbies.
1.) Is coconut butter and coconut oil the same thing?
No, No, No. Peanut butter and peanut oil aren’t the same thing, right? The same goes for coconut butter and oil. Coconut oil is made up of all fat while coconut butter also contains coconut meat. This gives coconut butter a nutritional edge over coconut oil because it also contains some fiber and protein.
Like peanut butter, coconut butter is delicious spread on toast and added in place of butter in dessert recipes. Coconut oil on the other hand is great for cooking.
2.) Can I eat coconut butter all day long? It’s healthy, right?
Well…Sure, coconut butter is healthy. However, let’s remember that it is a healthy fat. 1 tablespoons still has 100 calories so I wouldn’t swap my dinner for a cup of coconut butter and think that my body will thank me. That being said, coconut butter is far more than just it’s calorie content. It’s actually supposed to aid in weight loss by metabolizing the fat effectively into energy and not storing it as body fat. To see an insane amount of health benefits for coconut butter and oil, check this out!
3.) What does coconut butter look like?
The consistency of coconut butter will depend on the temperature. It can be anywhere from thin and runny to “hard as a rock” solid. There is no need to keep coconut butter in the fridge. However if it’s really hot out and you prefer a harder coconut butter then pop it in there. On the other hand, if it is so hard that it’s preventing you from eating it, then heat the coconut butter in the microwave for a few seconds or in a water bath.
4.) What can I use Coconut Butter for?
My favorite way to use coconut butter is to spread it on toast or just eat a spoonful of it here and there. Careful, it’s really addicting! You can also use it in baking. It tastes delicious in cookies or vegan fudge. When coconut butter is in its liquid form, you can drizzle it over ice cream, granola, fruit, or cereal.
5.) How do I make coconut butter?
This is the real reason you are here, right? I’ve called a lot of my recipes “easy” but this one is the easiest, though I can’t really call it a recipe :D
Start by placing shredded and unsweetened coconut in a food processor and pulse. PS: This might work with sweetened but I haven’t tried it and not sure if I would like that sugary taste.
After the first few minutes the shredded coconut will start clumping together (as seen above), keep pulsing…
Several minutes later, you’ll see it turning into a smooth paste. You’ll have to scrape the side down several times at this stage. If you’re food processor starts heating up, give it a break. The coconut won’t go bad if you let it sit in the food processor for 5 minutes or 20 or an hour. Better to do this slowly than ending up with a broken food processor.
Just when you think that there is no way this will turn into coconut butter, it becomes nice an smooth. Due to the heat from your food processor, you will have coconut butter in a nearly liquid form. This actually makes it easy to pour out of the food processor and into your container. Pop it in the fridge to firm it up or drizzle it right away over your favorite vegan ice cream :)
I like my coconut butter best when it has a frosting consistency. Now that it’s colder my coconut butter is almost always hard. So I heat it in a water bath and then whip it with a food processor. It looks nicer and then you can spread it smoothly on anything and everything.
How to make Coconut Butter
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded and unsweetened full fat Coconut
Instructions
Please note that you this DOES NOT work with fresh coconut! Use only unsweetened, dehydrated shredded coconut or coconut flakes.
- Pulse shredded coconut in food processor for 10 minutes until smooth. Scrape down sides when needed and pause occasionally to prevent food processor from overheating.
- Store coconut butter in an air tight container.
Not sure which kind of shredded coconut to use? Bob’s Red Mill Shredded Coconut works wonders!
Now that you’ve made coconut butter, use it! I love using it for these Cranberry Nut Butter Cookies! So good :)
What is your favorite recipe that uses coconut butter?
This coconut butter looks so good! I would love to try baking it into Chocolate Chip Cookies! I have made Roasted Almond and Coconut Butter at home before and it was delicious so can’t wait to try this! Is it weird that I want to use this as a body cream? It looks so luscious and creamy!!! Pinned and tweeted!! :)
Not weird at all! It’s supposed to be really good for your skin. I’ve always just eaten it all instead of putting it on my body. I’d would end up licking it all off if I did :D Roasted Almond and Coconut Butter sounds amazing. I’ll have to try that too!
Great & easy recipe! Thanks! First thing I thought of is Body Butter!
Thanks Stacey! You might actually be able to use it as body butter. Just lick it off afterwards ;) It’s so delicious!
might sound like a stupid question to you however, i’ve never made this and am keen, however cant find a recipe anywhere! that tells me HOW MUCH BUTTER
Hi James, I found that 2 cups of shredded coconut make 1/2 cup of coconut butter :)
I tried to make coconut butter with my ninja bullet RX and it burned the coconut butter before it even melt to butter. I followed the instructions for making it from the recipe in the book, which says to blend for 30 seconds interval but the butter burned .
I love this tutorial, Vanessa! I’ve always wanted to try making my own coconut butter, and you make it look so dang easy! Pinned. :)
What a great post, Vanessa! I’ve never even though of making my own coconut butter, so I love your instructions. I also love how you described the difference between coconut butter and coconut oil, very helpful! I can’t wait to see what baked goodies I can use coconut butter in. Thanks for sharing!
What a wonderful post Vanessa, love the step by step pictures. Everything is better homemade and I’m sure this coconut butter is no exception :)
So I think I’ve been doing it all wrong… I’ve been spreading coconut oil my toast. Oops! Your post is saving me from spending a fortune on coconut oil (well.. butter now that I know!) now
Haha, oh well…If you thought coconut oil on toast tasted good then you’ll go crazy when you put coconut butter on it. Enjoy!
I noticed that you said that you can use it in place of butter in dessert recipes. Is it a 1:1 substitution or do I need to use more/less coconut butter that regular butter in my recipes?
Hi Elizabeth,
I always sub it 1:1 in recipes, sometimes if the dough seems a bit drier then I add a tablespoon of coconut oil to it as well. It works really well if you replace it for other nut butters in a recipe too i.e. replacing peanut butter in a PB cookie recipe for coconut butter.
I like to make big batches of things. How long can I store this for? And what’s the best way? Thanks!
Hi Lisa, I keep coconut butter in an airtight container/jar and it will keep for at least a few months in the pantry. There’s no reason or need to refrigerate it. Just make sure you are sanitary about the way you use it to minimize the spread of bacteria. As much as I would love to eat the coconut butter straight out of the jar all the long, it’s not the best if you want to keep this around for awhile :)
Thanks for this. I keep buying coconut butter and it’s draining my wallet. I’m a coconut butter addict haha. The step by step guide is great!
Hey hey! Saw you through Vegan Community when we were tagged. This is a wonderfully educational post, really cool stuff. Thanks for sharing both the directions and your knowledge. :)
I will have to bookmark this for later! I use coconut oil a lot when I’m trying to sub for butter, but have never used coconut butter. I see that you like you drizzle it over your peach coconut ice cream – I have made a kiwi coconut ice cream before that I bet this would be great with, too!
I am definitely going to give this a try!!!! I love coconut oil and use it alot, I mean alot!!! This look and am sure it is sooo very easy. I will be making this very soon
i just tried, i processed it during like 25 minutes with few pauses, and coconut is still in flakes, do you use fresh shredded coconut ? cos i tried with the dehydrated i use for cooking and it doesn’t melt. I just add few spoons of coconut oil to melt it, not satisfaying :/ any tips ?
I use regular full-fat dried shredded unsweetened coconut that you can buy at any store for baking. Raw dehydrated coconut will not work. Also don’t use fresh coconut or low-fat shredded coconut.
NOW I see not to use raw or fresh coconut..after 45 minutes of processing.. what a waste of coconut..
Hi,, Thanks for sharing ;-) I was wondering why you say not to use fresh raw ???? I saw this once done in a juicer … Doesn’t it come out right ?
Hi Trish, Sorry for this response being so late. As far as I know, fresh coconut has too much liquid in it to make proper coconut butter. I’m planning on doing a tutorial on this soon though. In order to use fresh coconut you would need to blend/process the coconut then press out the the extra liquid through cheesecloth. Then take those remaining coconut flakes and dehydrate them either in a dehydrator or for several hours on low heat in the oven. Those flakes can then be used to make coconut butter.
I saw your post in vegan community. This is a great post and very informative. My wife loves baking and now she has an alternative option. Thanks for this. :)
I love coconut butter on sweet potato. So good!
that sounds delicious! I need to try that!
How would you achieve this with fresh coconut? We live on an island and literally have 100s of coconuts laying around. Thanks!
Hi Meghan,
As far as I know it isn’t possible to make coconut butter out of fresh coconuts as it won’t have the right consistency. The coconut would need to be dried first in order to make coconut butter.
I like to make coconut cranberry fudge. Simply coconut butter, dried cranberries and maple to taste. Press in a pan and pop in the refrigerator. Also good with some dark choc chips mixed through.
Coconut Cranberry Fudge sounds delicious, Emily! Love how simple it is and the addition of dried cranberries :) Will have to give that a try!
this looks amazing!! and so simple!
i don’t have a food processor- can i use my vitamix for this?
Hi Rachel,
Yes, you can use your vitamix. You may need to scrape down the sides more often but it should definitely work :)
Can I use fresh coconut? Id love to try this and i can get the coconuts cheap all year round here where I live. Thanks :)
Hi Silivia, You would need to dehydrate/dry the fresh coconut first and I won’t be able to tell you exactly how to do that. I haven’t tried it with fresh coconut. If you figure out a way, please let me know :)
You’ll need a dehydrator to turn fresh coconuts into dehydrated coconut. It’s a kitchen appliance: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/s/dehydrator?ta=typeahead
Rayando el coco fresco y dejando secar al sol sobre una charola, se obtiene coco deshidratado q se puede utilizar en las recetas y estarás totalmente segura de su procedencia
Marisol, I love your post in Spanish.
I think that your suggestion of sun-drying the coconut flakes may work better than squeezing the flakes through a cheese cloth or old clean t-shirt to ensure preserving all that valuable coconut milk, oil, and nutrients. However, this would not work in the States because of the scarcity of sun, space and time.
In Colombia, S.A., we sun-dry bananas and plums. In USA, we buy sun-dried tomatoes. No liquid is ever drained from these fruits.
What a clever I idea for creating that healthy butter! Just think of using this butter in Chocolate cake *bamm* You’re in heaven! ;)
mmm yum! Didn’t even think about using in chocolate cake. Will definitely be trying that :)
Can you make it in a Vitamix blender? I don’t have a food processor. Are there any changes to the process if you do?
Hi Cyndy, you can definitely make this in a vitamix as well and it will even be faster! You might have to scrape the sides a few times though but that’s a small price to pay for homemade coconut butter :)
Hi,
Thanks for a great post, I was just wondering, how long do you think you could keep it for? Does it have quite a long shelf life?
Thanks!
L
Hi Lisa, Coconut Butter will keep quite long. I’ve always used it up within 2 weeks but if you keep in an airtight container and don’t keep it clean (no dipping a licked spoon back in it) then it should be able to keep even longer.
Hi Vanessa,
I’m presently living near an abundance of coconuts…yeeha
And since I’m on a healing journey, due to a cancer diagnoses…I have a Nutri-Bullet blender with me.
So I’m wondering what your thoughts are on using fresh coconut meats? I can get younger or older varieties. The only thing I can’t get here is dried, shredded coconut. Go figure???
Hi Seth, Lucky you for living near an abundance of coconuts! As far as I know it’s not possible to make coconut butter with fresh coconut unless you have a dehydrator. if you can dehydrate the coconut flesh (don’t fry or cook it) then you should be able to make it into coconut butter. Sorry, I wish it was easier :)
Where I live I get fresh shredded coconut. How do I get it dry without turning brown which happens if I toast or dry fry it.
I think you’ll have to dehydrate it first( no toasting or frying) but I’m not quite sure as I’ve never done that myself. I know you can’t turn fresh coconut into coconut butter, it definitely needs to be dried out first.
You’ll need a dehydrator to turn fresh coconuts into dehydrated coconut. It’s a kitchen appliance: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/s/dehydrator?ta=typeahead
i just made this in my nutribullet using bobs red mill unsweetened coconut and it was SO EASY! Done in about 2 minutes just blending, no scraping, no letting the blender cool down. Definitely recommend using the nutribullet. I also keep my glass jars from coconut oil and sanitize to use for food storage (perfect portion control+ no plasic!) so placed my coconut butter in one to store. Yum! Thanks for he great instructions!!!
Isn’t it just so easy to make? It’s so great and to think of all the money I wasted buying expensive store bought coconut butter at first! I always keep all my empty glass jars as well :) I don’t have a nutribullet but have heard great things. I’ll have to look into getting one. Thanks for the tip, Rebekah!
I used my food processor (which took about 10 minutes). I have a NutriBullet. I should’ve used it! Thanks for the idea. I’ll do that next time.
Vanessa,
My dear friend shared this with me. I just read it on my lunchbreak and honestly enjoyed the posts as much as the recipe(s).
You are so kind and obviously thoughtful in your responses. The recipe …much appreciated too.
Thanks and God bless you!
Thank you, James. It’s always encouraging to hear such kind words :) I”m glad enjoyed looking through the recipes. Let me know if you try any of them!
The other day I bought a coconut that had been in the ‘reduced’ rack.
It had no liquid in it. I cleaned it and tried to make coconut butter.
I bet I have close to an hour of blending time! I finally gave up.
What I have is something like a dry mush… if that makes any sense.
What can I do with that?
Help!
Hi Maija,
You won’t be able to turn fresh coconut into coconut butter. It needs to be dehydrated first. It’s easiest to just buy shredded coconut at a grocery store for this :)
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly!
I’ll find something else to do with this mush and
start over with dehydrated.
Thanks so much for this recipe! I’ve been buying coconut butter on a regular basis, and finally decided to make my own. I processed for about 8 minutes and it was liquid. I poured it into my jar, had a taste, and it was a little grainy. Huge disappointment. Would it have gotten even more smooth if i had let it go longer? Thanks for your advice.
Hi Cari, When it is in liquid form you can try some and see if it still tastes grainy to you. If it does, then keep blending. If you aren’t satisfied with the coconut butter you made then just put it back in your food processor and process again. Each food processor is different so the times might vary a bit.
Now here is a weird question. Can you use this in homemade lotions as well as food recipes or should I stick with coconut oil?
Hi Clara, I haven’t used it personally as a lotion (I just tend to eat all of it) but I’m sure you can. It might not soak into your skin though the way coconut oil does though. Check out this link though She talks about her beauty uses for coconut butter. She uses it for foat soaks, baths, night cream, body scrubs,etc. All things I really want to try now :)
Thanks for the recipe, was going to try to make this but the only coconut they had in the store was sweetened.. Will this work?
Hi Connie, I’ve never made coconut butter with sweetened coconut before. I have heard from a few people that they were unsuccessful using sweetened coconut. It might be that the sugar or oil content is different. It’s up to you if you want to try it. Personally, I would try looked for unsweetened coconut to make sure I don’t have to toss it all. Have you maybe checked online? Most health stores carry unsweetened coconut.
What if I don’t have a food processor?
Hi Michelle, Do you have a high powdered blender like a vitamix or nutribullet? If not, I’m afraid there’s no real way to do it without a food processor. You could try with a regular blender but I can’t guarantee that it will work since the blades and power of ordinary blender just isn’t up to par.
I’ve been pulsing mine for about 20-30 minutes and it still hasn’t clumped together/ or started to get smooth.. Am I doing something wrong? I used unsweetened shredded coconut bought from bulk barn.
Hi Sloane, I’m not sure. Where you using a food processor? It really shouldn’t take that long…
How perfectly simply, which makes it so perfectly awesome! I’m going to buy some coconut today and I like the idea of one of the commenters of roasted almond and coconut butter! Sounds yummy! Mmmmm…..:-)
I tried this idea and it worked out perfectly! I added a tiny bit of sea salt to give it more of a salted-butter taste, and it worked out well. I was looking for a vegan butter recipe that didn’t require the use of destructive palm oil, and this is it! Thank you for such an amazing idea!
I can’t wait to try this. I’m thinking about using my nutribullet to make it. Also, how do you think it will be added to a cup of coffee?
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Lisa, I don’t have a nutribullet but have heard from others that making coconut butter with it is a breeze. I’ve also never added coconut butter to my coffee (I’ll have to try it out tomorrow morning) but have heard it’s supposed to be really yummy :)
I make my own Granola using peanut butter and honey mixed into raw oats. Next time I am going to use coconut butter with the honey instead
I am definitely intrigued; thanks for the great post! Really looking forward to trying this in a pie crust….. mmmm lemon meringue with coconut! !!!
Just curious – – I am a sweet coconut lover too (as well as ANYTHING coconut, sweet ot not). How would it turn out if I used a bag of sweetened baking “angel flake” coconut? Sweet coconut butter or ….? Thanks for this WONDERFUL post!!!
Hi :) I’ve never tried making coconut with sweetened coconut flakes before…so I’m not sure how it will turn out. Let me know if you give it a try and how it turns out :) I might just have to try it myself then :)
I started this last night but did a larger batch. I’ve had to stop twice to let my processor cool down. I am at the middle stage, and its taking forever. I had to stop to come to work and will resume later this evening. Came back and read this I guess I should split the batch in to two smaller ones and then it will come together a bit faster. What is the shelf life of this butter and do you store it in the fridge?
Hi Rachel, yes, the more you try to make it longer it may take. It really depends on the strength of your food processor. Coconut butter has a long shelf life, up to 3 months. Just make sure to be sanitary about it. No licking the spoon and then scooping more of the coconut butter out :) It’s hard not to! You can also just keep it in the pantry. You can keep it in the fridge but it not necessary. Hope it turns out for you :)
I make my own coconut oil and I use it all over my body. I use it in my hair to. I mix it with olive oil and vitamin E oil, just to make it smell nice. I also do a lot o baking with coconut. Cocount bakes, tarts and rolls. Thanks for information . I am going to try it
I’m confused as to exactly WHAT kind of coconut to use. I bought some Let’s Do…Organic 100% Organic unsweetened finely shredded coconut for baking to make some muffins and had tons left over. So I decided to try the coconut butter recipe. After I poured 4 cups into my processor I read that it’s reduced fat. Is this why it NEVER creamed? lol I think I had it in there for 15 mins and nothing happened.
Hi Amy,
Yes, reduced fat coconut flakes won’t work. I’ve learned that the hard way too :( Hope you get a chance to make some coconut butter with full fat coconut flakes :)
Hi Vanessa.
Can I use the blender?
Thanks
Silvana
Hi Silvana, You can try using a blender for this. You’ll probably need to scrape the sides more often so that the coconut doesn’t get stuck underneath the blender blade.
What kind of food processor do you use? Does it work for nut butters, dairy free milks, etc.? Thanks!
I could not wait to try this recipe with my new Nutribullet! But something has gone wrong. I have been processing for over an hour on high, and when I tasted it, it was horrible. The mixture was very dry and gritty. After reading the other comments, I still don’t understand what could have gone wrong. I used Bob’s Red Mill unsweetened shredded coconut. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I may just dump this batch and try again another time because this recipe looks amazing.
Hi Kimberly, mmm not sure what happened. Did you maybe try to use too much coconut at once? I’ve only heard good things of people using a nutribullet. If you haven’t already dumped it then maybe try removing half of it and give it another go?
I must have a weak processor…I’ve been in my kitchen for literally an hour…and still have no butter to show for it. :( I think I might finally be getting close. Your pictures are so beautiful! I hope it turns out so I can make fudge. Lol
I have been blending and blending and blending to the point where I have a headache from my food processor and it’s still not turning to butter. Any suggestion?!?
Hi Kim, what kind of coconut did you use? It needs to be full fat and not dehydrated. Bob’s Red Mill works well or the big coconut flakes usually work the best.
Thanks for the recipe, I’m planning on making it as soon as I finish the jar I bought.
It’s important to know that coconut oil is the healthiest oil for heating and cooking. I use it for stir fries, curry of all kinds, baking, etc. and my husband makes the best crab cakes fried on coconut oil. It doesn’t have a strong coconut taste at all.
Enjoy and thanks again!
I’m looking forward to trying this for my son! He loves to lather his toast with butter, but he loves coconut, so I think this will be a great hit with him!
I bought the Bob’s red mill that you suggested from Amazon and I used a good processor…but I never got a butter consistency. I ended up putting 4 table spoons of coconut oil in the processor and the flakes started to “butter” up. The flakes were really small and dry…so I don’t know if they changed the product or not.
Made this using a mini food chopper and a Ninja smoothie cup. I couldn’t get it quite as smooth as yours, but it still worked just fine. Thanks!
I use coconut oil in my coffee some of my cooking but I never heard of the coconut butter I can’t wait to make some like tomorrow morning. Thanks
Do you know if this will work for buttercream frosting? (Softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla). Was planning on substituting the regular butter with the coconut butter…. Would it be a 1:1 substitution? Will it hold up the same as refular butter? Thanks :)
Hi Aimee, I actually have never tried using coconut butter in a frosting. I have no idea why I’ve never thought of that but it sounds absolutely delicious!I did find this though recipe for a coconut butter frosting though. Hopefully that will help. It doesn’t have any comments so I’m not sure if it’s good but let me know if you try it. I would love to hear how it turns out :)
Hi, I live in coconut land of Indonesia. It’s always hot here like summer all year round. Would my coconut butter set? Another questin is I always freeze my leftover coconut otherwise they’ll go bad. Can I use my frozen coconut or do I need to toast them a bit to reduce the water content? If I use high power blender, how long does it take to get the coconut to turn into butter?
Thanks
Hi Ima, The coconut needs to be dehydrated first before turning it into coconut butter. You can do that my toasting them at very low temperature in the oven for 6 hrs. Hope that helps you make Coconut Butter!!
WOW! Thank you for sharing. I will make is as soon as I can get the coconut 😊
Hi Vanessa, can you use fresh coconut meat to make the butter instead of dried shredded coconut. I am from the Caribbean so its really easy to get a couple of dry coconuts and split them open for the meat.
Hi Anand,
In order to make coconut butter you will need to use dehydrated coconut. Using fresh coconut meat has too much liquid and won’t turn out the way it should. You can shred your fresh coconut meat and then bake it at a low temperature in the oven for roughly 4 -6 hrs. If you have a dehydrator that will work even better. Hope that helps ;)
thank you will definitely try it.
I have the same kind of coconut that you linked to, but it says it is dehydrated? And it seems rather dry. I’m confused because I am used to working with sweetened coconut which is definitely more moist. I put it in water to “fluff” it up like it said on the bag, but it never worked. Just stayed shredded and never came together. Do you do anything to your coconut before you put it in the food processor?
Hi Anna, Dehydrated Coconut is exactly what you want to use to make coconut butter. Don’t add any water to it. It just takes some time for it to come together. It really all depends on the power and speed of your food processor.
I am happy to read your article.
Thanks for share the article.
Thank you so much.
I don’t have a food processor, but I own a ninja blender and an immersion blender. Would either of these work?
Hi Jamie, I’ve never used a ninja blender before but I remember other readers telling me that they made coconut butter using it and it working out beautifully ;)
Thank you for the reply! If I were to buy a food processor, do you have a recommendation on a size/brand? I cook for myself and meal prep each week
I use a Kitchenaid 9 cup food processor right now. However, if you are cooking for yourself then I think a 7 cup food processor would work great for you!
Okay I’ve tried this before in my Vitamix which I make TONS of nut butters in with great results and it DID NOT work. My coconut would not turn into a butter consistency at all and I kept trying and trying and even added some oil to it to try to smooth it out…no luck. What gives? Did I use the wrong type of coconut flakes? I would LOVE to figure this out…
Hi Ashley, Sorry to hear about that. A vitamix should be able to handle making coconut butter without any issues. What kind of coconut flakes did you use?
I use this stuff: http://grocery.harristeeter.com/pd/Harris-Teeter/Unsweetened-Coconut-Flakes/7-oz/072036982674/
It needs to be noted in the first part of the recipe – in a very visible manner – that you cannot use fresh coconut for this. Like others here, I tried it and failed, wasting a significant amount of time and electricity trying to process fresh coconut. Not everyone reads the comments before they try the recipe. I will do something else with the coconut, but was very frustrated that this was not made clear in the recipe. It simply says to use coconut – not dried coconut.
Hi Sue, So sorry you had that experience. I falsely assumed that from the pictures and the shredded coconut I linked to that it would be assumed that dehydrated would be the only one. Thanks for pointing that out though. I’m make a note and changing that now.