I’m not a big fan of vegan margarine I prefer a more simple approach. I came up with this simple recipe about 10 years ago and it really stands up for all your butter needs. I have included a few variations depending on the type of butter needs you have for instance salted, unsalted, or flavored. This process is so easy you don’t even need a blender! But if you want to emulsify the ingredients better you can use a blender or small food processor but it works well without. The spider is easy to spread stays spreadable firm in the fridge. It’s also great for baking! If you plan to use it for baking substitute the cold press robust flavor olive oil for refined light olive oil which has less flavor. What type of oil do you use are very important since only certain oils firm up properly for this recipe. So if you want to experiment with different oils just know that each one has a different hardness in the fridge. Olive oil is very soft in the fridge and coconut oil is too hard in the fridge so by combining these half-and-half you get the perfect spreadable butter!
- Ingredients
- 1/2 cup virgin unrefined coconut oil
- 1/2 cup coldpressed robust flavor olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon nutritional yeast (omit this for baking butter)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt I use pink salt
- Optional 1/2 teaspoon natural vegan butter flavor extract
Directions : Add all items to a small container that holds 1 cup I use a little 8 ounce mason jars. You also can use any size jar or container and don’t measure the oil but simply add half of each oil if the container is twice the size of one cup then double the salt and nutritional yeast. Once you’ve added your oils and seasonings to your jar stir well and close lid. Place jar in freezer for 10 minutes set a timer as you don’t want to forget. After 10 minutes the oil will be firmed up just enough to give one final mix to make sure that the salt is well distributed. Then place jar in fridge raider and you’re done. The oils will stay soft but firm in the fridge indefinitely. If you eat out on the counter it will melt so keep in fridge when you’re not using it.
So if you plan to use this butter for baking I do not recommend adding the nutritional yeast or the butter flavoring. You may also want to leave out the salt and just mix the oil’s. But if you plan to use it to spread on toast and cook with I recommend using the salt and flavors. This butter is also amazing melted over popcorn. As for the butter flavoring this is a little extra thing to get that extra butter zing but it’s completely unnecessary. My daughter always loved when I used it but I prefer the more simple taste of the nutritional yeast. Butter flavoring can include toxic chemicals so be sure to find a natural brand and if you’re vegan make sure it’s a vegan brand. Frontier used to have a natural vegan butter flavoring and you can most likely find this at a health food store like whole foods. Nutritional yeast is a healthy powder that includes be vitamins protein and other wonderful nutrients. It has a very buttery and cheesy flavor. I use the powdered form for this recipe they also have flakes available. If all you have are the flakes you can simply place them in the blender or a mortar and pesto and grind them to a powder. The powder will distribute into the oils better than the flakes.
Health Coaching & Healthy Recipes 