Coconut Butter

In a previous lifetime I was a huge peanut butter fanatic, I could sit and eat a whole jar in one sitting and be perfectly happy. Nowadays I would feel slightly guilty about that! I've gone through many nut butter phases but right now I'm on coconut butter kick. I love coconut butter plain, I love it with flavors mixed in, I could eat it with anything! Unfortunately there is a very large price tag that goes along with the little jars of heaven. What is a girl to do? Well, she makes her own for a quarter of the price of course! It's so easy too!

You can mix it in with mashed acorn squash, use it as a topping for paleo cupcakes or doughnuts, eat it with fruit, mix it in with creamy soups to add extra texture and flavor, melt it and dip frozen fruit pieces and stick back in the freezer to make a shell, use it as a topping on ice cream. The uses are endless!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups shredded coconut (or as much as you like, I like to use about 6-8 cups so I don't have to make it as often. Buy it in bulk at Whole Foods)
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

1. Place one cup of the shredded coconut in your food processor and turn on. Keep it running until it turns starts turning liquidy. Then add the rest of the coconut and continue blending until it is smooth all the way through, scraping down the sides several times. In the end it will look like thick milk. Don't try to scrape down the sides while the processor is running, you might lose your spatula...
2. If it doesn't blend all the way, add the coconut oil and continue blending until smooth. It will have a slightly grainy texture.

*I like to get creative and add flavors according to my mood, my favorite being what I call midnight mocha madness. After the coconut butter is done I add a Tablespoon of cocoa, a half teaspoon of instant coffee, and 1 tablespoon liquid Stevia, then continue blending until it is all incorporated.