Coconut & Pecan Butter

Recently I was on the peanut butter aisle at the fancy grocery store and they had these little $9 jars of coconut butter. I bought one to try it out... oh wow. YUM. As the name suggests it's like butter only it's made of coconut. And guess what, it has only one ingredient: coconut. Turns out, if you have a food processor it's really easy to make it yourself (and can be much cheaper). Just process unsweetened shredded coconut in your food processor until smooth. They have the shredded coconut on the baking aisle. Me being me I couldn't just make plain coconut butter - I opted to add pecans, honey, and vanilla too. You could do this with peanuts or any other kind of nuts you want. Lots of people have come up with their own recipes so just google it if looking for more ideas.

Tip: Coconut butter is solid at room temperature. If too solid just warm it up a little bit and it becomes very easy to spread.

1 cup toasted pecans (or whatever kind of nuts you want)

8-oz package unsweetened shredded coconut (about 2 2/3 cups)

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1/4 tsp sea salt

Toast the pecans in a 350-degree oven for about 10-15 minutes.

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor. I used a Cuisinart food processor. Run it for a bit, scrape down the sides, then run it some more until your butter is the desired consistency. I'd read that it can take awhile (15-20 minutes) to make a nice smooth butter out of shredded coconut but it didn't seem like that long to me. If it's too dry or not smooth enough, add a little oil.

Ok, you're done! Try it, add more honey or vanilla if desired. Put it in a jar and enjoy on anything you'd put peanut butter on.

Makes about 2 cups. Calories? Oh hell. Just assume it's the same as peanut butter (100 calories per tablespoon), though it's probably a little bit less.