How To Make Coconut Butter

Heather Dessinger

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How To Make Coconut Butter

Do You Love Grass-Fed Butter?

How about almond butter. Or peanut. Or almond-sunflower-pumpkin seed with a touch of hazlenut? DO YOU JUST LOVE BUTTER?

Well then, scoot right up next to me. Today we’re going to make a creamy, dreamy coconut butter that is infused with brain building fats, immune boosters and micronutrients for radiant skin, weight management and stretch mark prevention. Oh, and it is UH-mazing. I put a smidge on a spoon during Christmas Bakefest 2011 and ended up eating half the jar. Since it was **supposed** to go into a recipe I had some damage control to do. Lucky us, it is so easy to make!

But What Can I Do With It?

Good question! You can use it to make fudge with only 5 minutes active time, as a dairy free replacement for butter in recipes, or as a dip for fruit, or to make buttercream frosting and/or mini-melts (oh yes, recipes coming soon!). It also makes a great first food for little ones and a filling snack for toddlers/preschoolers. I’m thinking it would go great in these peppermint patties, too. Yum!

Are You Ready To Get Started?

Alrighty, let’s go over our ingredients! For about 1 cup of coconut butter, you’ll need:

  • 3 cups finely shredded dried coconut OR 4 cups coarsely shredded*(Bob’s Red Mill is not recommended for this recipe because their drying process seems to take more oil out than other brands. You CAN use it, though – just be ready to add a little more oil!)
  • 1⁄2 – 1 1⁄2 tablespoons coconut oil (optional – I like the texture more so I add some)
  • optional flavorings: vanilla, honey, dried fruit, cinnamon, carob, cacao

And now, the ‘How To”!

Step 1: Place Dried Coconut and Optional Coconut Oil in the Food Processor

How To Make Coconut Butter

Note: If you decide to add oil figuring out how much to add can be tricky. Your butter will be very runny when it is freshly made but will harden over the next few hours. How much it firms up depends on temperature of your house, humidity in the air and other factors. Play with the ratios and see what works best for your environment – you can always add more oil in after it has solidified if you’re not happy with the end product!

Step 2: Blend For A Few Minutes Until Shreds Begin To Stick Together (2-3)

How To Make Coconut Butter

Step 3: Scrape Sides Down And Blend 2-3 More Minutes.

How To Make Coconut Butter

Continue blending until it’s uber-runny (about 10-15 minutes total blend time)

Voila! Coconut Butter!

How To Make Coconut Butter

Add in optional flavorings if desired

Step 5: Pour Into a Clean Glass Jar

How To Make Coconut Butter

Easy peasy, right?! Now you have one more butter to love!

Special note: Just like coconut oil, coconut butter hardens significantly if room temp is below 76 degrees. To use simply warm it slightly.

Order the highest quality coconut oil here.

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About HEATHER

Heather is a holistic health educator, herbalist, DIYer, Lyme and mold warrior. Since founding Mommypotamus.com in 2009, Heather has been taking complicated health research and making it easy to understand. She shares tested natural recipes and herbal remedies with millions of naturally minded mamas around the world. 

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96 thoughts on “How To Make Coconut Butter”

  1. Well I could eat coconut oil out of the jar so I am SURE I will love this also! Thanks for sharing Heather!

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    • Nope :(. When you make coconut milk, the oil goes into the milk. You need the oil in the shredded coconut to make coconut butter.

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  2. Haley Barb – It is! The Artisana stuff at the store is smoother but this is more affordable and I can’t tell the difference when I use it in recipes 🙂

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  3. Haley Barb – It is! The Artisana stuff at the store is smoother but this is more affordable and I can’t tell the difference when I use it in recipes 🙂

    Reply
  4. Yum! I love coconut butter but rarely buy it because it is expensive. Good to know that it is so easy (and inexpensive!) to make.

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  5. Yum! I love coconut butter but rarely buy it because it is expensive. Good to know that it is so easy (and inexpensive!) to make.

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  6. OMG I am freaking out! I can’t wait to try this! We go through a jar of the Artisana every 2 weeks I think!!! Thank you!

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  7. OMG I am freaking out! I can’t wait to try this! We go through a jar of the Artisana every 2 weeks I think!!! Thank you!

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  8. Renee Rodriguez Kohley – What’s your fave way to use it? I think the Artisana is much better straight off the spoon but this is fabulous to use in recipes (and more affordable!)

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  9. Renee Rodriguez Kohley – What’s your fave way to use it? I think the Artisana is much better straight off the spoon but this is fabulous to use in recipes (and more affordable!)

    Reply
  10. My 2 1/2 year old eats it plain or spread on toast or in her soaked oatmeal. I melt it in a little cup in the bottle warmer for the 8 month old to make it runnier and add some breastmilk. I used it for first foods for both girls – they loved it! I eat it mostly in soaked oatmeal. While breastfeeding I would scoop it out of the jar in the middle of the night feedings for extra good calories 🙂 Or spread on toast.

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  11. My 2 1/2 year old eats it plain or spread on toast or in her soaked oatmeal. I melt it in a little cup in the bottle warmer for the 8 month old to make it runnier and add some breastmilk. I used it for first foods for both girls – they loved it! I eat it mostly in soaked oatmeal. While breastfeeding I would scoop it out of the jar in the middle of the night feedings for extra good calories 🙂 Or spread on toast.

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  12. Renee Rodriguez Kohley – Love it! I actually revised Nourished Baby to include this recipe last week. It is an INCREDIBLE first food. Go you, smart mama!

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  13. Renee Rodriguez Kohley – Love it! I actually revised Nourished Baby to include this recipe last week. It is an INCREDIBLE first food. Go you, smart mama!

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  14. I *love* butter!!! I eat veggies with my butter, rather than the other way around 🙂

    Thanks for the recipe! I’ll be sure to try it out this weekend!

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  15. MUST get a food processor for my self. We tried this last month in our poor blender and I think I almost blew it up!

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  16. MUST get a food processor for my self. We tried this last month in our poor blender and I think I almost blew it up!

    Reply
  17. This looks awesome and is perfect timing! I’m going to make some tomorrow for a dairy free frosting on hubby’s birthday cake. I’m also intrigued by the idea of using it as a first food for babies and calorie supplement for nursing mothers. I’m 32-ish weeks and feel like I can’t fit enough food in my tiny stomach to satisfy my need for quality calories, definitely going to be using up some of this! It looks like this coconut mana stuff I love, but creamier.

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  18. Going to try this..but I did find Coconut butter at an Indian store..it was way cheaper than a health food store, and actually happened to be the same brand!

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  19. Heather- I love your posts. Thank you. We eat a ton of coconut oil, but I’m always looking for ways to add more of those good fats. Great idea.

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  20. Thank you so much! I have a gallon size container of shredded coconut I got from Tropical Traditions, and a brand new 5 gallon container of coconut oil. I will be making this soon!

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  21. I tried this with shredded coconut and had trouble with it. After like 30 minutes it still hadn’t become butter in my nice cuisinart food processor. We put it in the blender, which helped a little, but didn’t try adding oil. Do you think oil would have helped? Any other suggestions? My food processor couldn’t handle that again.

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  22. Thanks for sharing Heather! I attempted this a few weeks ago with the remains from my coconut milk (just experimenting)… it started to turn, but never got smooth/creamy. I think adding the oil and processing longer (I only did about 5mins) might help next time. Or just starting with fresh coconut shreds ~ lol!

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  23. Michelle Merritt – The high water content makes it too soupy. It’s possible to use fresh coconut, but you’d have to peel the brown skin off the flesh, pulse it in the food processor, bake it until dry, and then start the process. Takes about 4 hours vs. 15 minutes, but if you have the time I say go for it!

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  24. Kristine Winniford – it is one of the most awesome things a pregnant/nursing mom can take because it’s the only known source of lauric acid (a potent antiviral that is being tested for it’s ability to kills HIV-related viruses) other than breastmilk. Boosting your lauric acid intake boosts the levels in your milk. Coconut oil is hard for me to get down straight, but I LOVE this stuff!

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  25. What do you suggest as the best way to warm it up? We used to by the Artisana stuff, and the lady at the healthfood store said to warm it in the microwave. Guess they don’t teach about microwaves in training…

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    • Wow, I guess not! I usually just put my jar in a bowl of hot water (making sure the lip is above water level so it doesn’t seep in.

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  26. Okay I made this today and THEN made the citrus fudge. YUM. I know what you mean about eating half of it w/a spoon. I ate several bites before assembling the ingredients for the fudge. Thanks for sharing!

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  27. This couldn’t have come at a better time! My sons 4th birthday is this Sunday…you mentioned making a frosting out of this…do you have a recipe you use?

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  28. This couldn’t have come at a better time! My sons 4th birthday is this Sunday…you mentioned making a frosting out of this…do you have a recipe you use?

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  29. Yum, Yum! I can’t wait to try this. I was just looking at some at the store yesterday – and the price was absurd! I left wondering how to make it… thanks for reading my mind 😉

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  30. Oh!! I can’t wait to run home and make this!! I have a poor quality itty-bitty food processor that I dont think will do the trick… do you think a blender will work?

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  31. You had me at butter cream frosting. Oh, yum! Do you have a recipe for that yet?

    I love making almond butter in my food processor. It tastes so much better when I make it that I don’t think I’ll go back to store bought jars (unless I’m feeling lazy! xD ).

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  32. wow, who knew it was this easy??!! thanks! Now I know what to do with the unsweetened coconut flakes I bught in bulk from amazon. 🙂 I have made a yummy paleo granola (from paleo parents) and now I have more options… love it, thanks!!

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  33. Just made this. I made some changes, because, as my husband has noted many times, “you never stick to a recipe.” This is what I did.

    3 cups coconut
    3 tsp vanilla
    2 tbsp raw honey
    sprinkling of sea salt
    1/3 c crispy almonds
    2 tbsp coconut oil

    it was wonderful! a little thick, more like almond butter in consistency. I would add more coconut oil next time. Thank you so much for the idea Heather!

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  34. My hubby has been doing tons of research on coconut oil and has been taking Tblspns of it daily. Would love to make butter so Bee would take it too!

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  35. I’ve tried several times to make coconut butter, both with dried shreds and with a fresh mature coconut. Neither worked. You mentioned having too much moisture in the fresh coconut-that hasn’t been my experience. Even with coconut oil added, it isn’t turning into the lovely cream you pictured. It’s still clumps of shreds and I’ve been processing for 30 minutes already, in a good food processor.
    Guess I’ll have to give up and buy the stuff. 🙁

    Reply
    • Hi Vanessa! The problem with fresh coconut is that oil and water won’t mix. To get the smooth, creamy blend of the oil and meat you have to dry out the water. So sorry you didn’t have success using coconut shreds. Can you describe how it turned out? Maybe I can help.

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  36. I know nuts can be difficult for babies to digest. Is coconut difficult for babies to digest as well? Or is it not that kind of nut?!

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    • Coconut is very different from tree nuts. In fact, coconut oil is the only food we know of other than breastmilk that contains a potent anti-viral called lauric acid. I would use it as a very first food, but I was definitely giving it to my little ones very early on. Even now at 4 and 17 months they stand by the counter with their mouths gaping like baby birds when the see me start a batch 🙂

      Reply
  37. i tried making this today using Let’s Do Organic unsweetened coconut(finely shredded) with my ninja blender. it didn’t work! 🙁 i think i blended it at least 30 to 45 min. it was just a fine powder. i even tried adding a little coconut oil on the chance that it would start to form a smooth like paste. it didn’t work and i’m sad! 🙁 i realllly do not want to pay $10 for a jar of Artisana when this is something that should be simple to make. any suggestions?

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  38. What kind of food processor/ blender are you using. I have burned up my Cuisenart 12 cup food processor, a generic ice grinder/margharita maker, and now a Ninja food processor. Unless you have suggestions I give up. I have now wasted money on appliances, and I have no results.

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    • Goodness, I am so sorry! I just use a regular old food processor. Are you in a very cold climate where the coconut is chilled while blending? Perhaps if so it might be to warm it up a bit before blending and by all means turn the processor off and give it a rest every few minutes to let the motor cool down if needed. I’ve never had this problem in making coconut butter but that’s would I would try.

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  39. Aw man, this looks so nice! I’ve made it years w/o a food processor using instead a fork for mashing, mortar/pestle, etc. but I don’t think any of those would do for making this…. hmmm.. it looks too good not to make!

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    • Hi Julie! I think the problem may be the water content of your fresh coconut. The coconut I used was dehydrated. Hope that helps!

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  40. I am so in love with this and desperately want to make some to have on top of…well, everything! But, like others who have posted, I’m having problems getting mine creamy. The first time I tried, it was coarse and grainy. I suspected the coconut….too dry. So this time I tried some that looked more moist. I have 2 cups in my food processor and have slowly added more and more oil. I’m up to 5T and 30 min processing and all I have is a grainy paste. If I let it set (which I’ve had to do in order to let my food processor cool down and quit smoking!) the oil separates…but I just can’t get that creamy blend of yours! Can you tell me what brand coconut and coconut oil you use?

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  41. I have tried to make this twice and have tried to make my own nut butter. I use a Ninja and never have gotten it to the final stages. I worked at it for at least 30 mins before giving up each time. I have given up!

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  42. I really love making this, I get bulk shredded coconut at one of our natural food stores and I have a cheap food processor, and I get smooth coconut butter in less than 5 minutes, for those that are having problems, I would suggest trying a different kind of coconut, I’m thinking if you buy the kind that they sell at the grocery store that may be the problem, I was just at the store today and looked at the coconut as I wasn’t going out to the natural food stores, and I could definitely tell the difference and left it on the shelf, also feel you machine if it feels hot turn it off before it gets too hot not only will this kill your machine it could cause a fire,

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  43. Has anyone experience it turning a light orange? Have a vitamixer but it still took awhile. Had to stop, let it cool down and go back to it. It seemed as it heated up it began to turn orange.

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