This Vanilla Bean Banana Cashew Butter is perfect for the banana lovers in your life! Makes for a great toast topper or delicious by the spoonful. Vegan, Paleo, and Whole30 compliant.
Happy Christmas Eve! Currently sitting on our NEW COUCH as I write this post. Cue the Christmas tree, salsa girl, hand clap and heart eye emojis.
Who knew a new couch could make one so happy? This is adulthood, I guess. But I’ve been waiting for a new couch for quite a while.
When Drew and I live in Pennsylvania we had a couch and recliner set from my Nana’s old house. It was a pretty decent set and we were thankful to have that when we moved. Because we were poor, just graduated from college, kids. But then after four years we moved and brought it back with us to our apartment, which we lived in for a year. And then we moved it again into our new house, which we’ve been in for six months. So while that set has served us well it has started to show wear and tear from all of the moving.
Not to mention when you move into a new house it doesn’t feel like your own until you buy new furniture, because your hand-me-down set isn’t necessarily something you would have picked out yourself. In example of puffy, maroon leather –Real or not real? One may never know. It was a lovely hand-me-down, don’t get me wrong. But it was also extremely cold to sit on during the Michigan winters, and sticky in the hot summers.
ANYWAYS what I mean to say after I started rambling is just how incredibly thankful I am for this couch. Drew and I couldn’t wait to put it together when we got home the other evening so we found ourselves with two couches and two chairs in our small, square living room because we were too excited. Picture our new couch up close and personal with our TV, the coffee table and old couch behind it. Drew says we can just have stadium seating and now have enough furniture to hold my whole family (8 of us plus significant others). Ha.
We probably should have planned that a bit better, because getting the other furniture out is going to be quite a challenge now. But WAY TOO EXCITED to even consider going about moving furniture the smart way. You know what I’m saying?
As we were comfortably curled up on opposite ends of the couch, watching Game of Thrones, I just kept smiling, asking Drew if he loved it or not. And I just kept thinking to myself how grateful I was for this new couch – especially during this time of year. It’s easy to get wrapped up in shopping and the sales and maybe the pressure to gift but remaining thankful for what we have, no matter our circumstances, always helps.
Okay I’ve gone on WAY too long about this couch now so perhaps you want to transition into this new cashew butter flavor?
VANILLA BEAN BANANA CASHEW BUTTER
So yeah, you read that right – BANANA cashew butter. How, you may ask? Simple – just cashews, freeze dried bananas, vanilla bean and a touch of coconut oil (or ghee!).
Back in September at the Natural Products Expo I tried some of this flavored cashew butter from Abby’s Better Nut Butter where had had used freeze dried fruit for some of the flavors. I thought, “DAMN that is freaking genius.” And then I also recalled that Bakerita had flavored some of her nut butter concoctions with bananas – basically my dream come true.
So much thanks to Abby’s Better Nut Butter and Bakerita for inspiring this Banana Cashew Butter because I am now officially obsessed.
And if you need a (super) last-minute gift for this season, definitely whip up a batch. Super easy and quick.
Buy cashews in bulk to save some $$ and the freeze dried bananas I got from Trader Joe’s are really reasonable. Everything is processed in the food processor and it just takes a little bit of patience to process everything until it’s nice and smooth.
TIP: the longer you process the smoother and drippier the cashew butter will get. Some people like it thicker while others prefer it more drippy.
These weck tulip jars make for cute little “packaging” too.
If you like bananas and cashews, you will love this! Let me know if you try it out!
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Yield: about 2 cups cashew butter
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Ingredients
- 4 cups raw cashews
- 1 1/2 cups freeze dried bananas*
- 1 TBS coconut oil or ghee
- 1 vanilla bean pod**, beans scraped out
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and place raw cashews on a large baking sheet. Spread evenly in one layer, drizzle on oil Toast for 8-10 minutes. Let cashews cool on pan for 15 minutes.
- Place slightly cooled cashews in bowl of food processor and cover with lid. Process until cashews break down into tiny pieces. Scraping down the sides of the bowl when necessary.
- Add in freeze dried bananas and continue processing until almost smooth. At this time the mix may ball up, just continue processing until it smooths out. Time will depend on food processor and bowl capacity.
- Once the mixture has smoothed out, add in oil (or ghee) and vanilla bean. Process again until desired consistency is reached. The longer you process, the smoother and drippier the butter will be.
- Transfer Vanilla Bean Cashew Butter to 16oz jar with lid. Or divide into smaller jars. Store at room temperature, or fridge for longer period of time.
- Enjoy on toast, banana bread, in cookies, or maybe even straight by the spoonful…
Notes
*You can try dried bananas here but it will change the consistency of the butter slightly. I would think it would make it a little stickier. You can also try banana chips but I assume this will also change the consistency. You can find freeze dried banana chips at Trader Joe’s, or Amazon.
**To open the vanilla bean use sharp knife to make a slice down length of bean pod, then use knife or spoon to gently scrape and remove beans.
Recipe inspired by Bakerita and Abby’s Better Nut Butters
SOME OF THE PRODUCTS I USED IN TODAY’S RECIPE
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I’m taking a little bit of time off the rest of this week to slow down and take in the last of 2017 – Hope you guys have a great one!
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