Vegan Cooking with TLC

Cashew butter is a great nut butter to use as a base for other recipes. I rarely use it as a spread, but it also works well in that capacity. Cashew Butter 4 cups cashews Pour cashews in a food processor .  Pulse 4-6 times. Process until cashews are smooth and creamy. Spoon in a glass jar. Store in the refrigerator. Note: I use organic ingredients whenever possible.

When I decided to make a pumpkin pie (recipe coming soon) for Thanksgiving I wanted a "traditional" crust for it, but I wanted it to be both vegan and healthy. I did a little research on various traditional crust recipes as well as vegan pie crusts and eventually decided I wanted to try replacing the "fat" in the crust with a nut butter. I particularly like pecan with pumpkin, so I decided to try making a crust using pecan butter. That meant I needed to make pecan butter. I looked at my previous nut butter recipes and did a little research on pecans. Then I came up with this. It worked really well! Tasty! I used what I didn't need for the crust (recipe coming next week) to make a salad dressing (if I can replicate it I will share it, but I didn't write it down at the time.) later and it was delicious! Pecan Butter 2 cups pecans Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pecans 5-6 minutes until lightly browned. Cool 5-10 minutes. Pr...

Just like I assumed for peanut butter, I assumed almond butter involved some intense, time consuming process. I was surprised to figure out just how easy it is.  It can add a step to a recipe because you have to make the nut butter before you can use it in a recipe instead of just opening a jar, but it's worth the effort, time, and planning.  Freshly made nut butters taste fresher and intenser than most jar nut butters. It also allows you to control what goes in a nut butter. The vast majority of nut butters only need one ingredient, the nuts.  Almond Butter 4 cups raw, unsalted almonds Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds on a sheet pan . Place in oven. Roast for 15-20 minutes until begin to turn brown shaking a few times throughout baking time to make sure they’re roasting evenly. Cool in pan at least until they are cool enough to handle comfortably. Transfer nuts to a food processor . Pulse a few times to make sure they’re even...

I usually only make hazelnut butter when I need it for a specific recipe. I'm not sure why because it also tastes good spread on bread, drizzled over fruit, or with chocolate. I suppose I just don't think of it unless I have a specific recipe in mind. It is a bit more work than peanut butter or almond butter, but it has a distinct flavor. Hazelnut Butter 4 cups hazelnuts Spread hazelnuts on a large sheet pan or cookie sheet with a rim. Roast hazelnuts at 350 degrees until skins begin to brown and fall off, about 10-15 minutes.* Remove from oven. Spread on a lint-free towel . Let cool until easily handled. Turn the sides of the towel over the nuts and begin to rub them together to remove as a much of the skin as possible.** Place in a food processor and blend until smooth and buttery. The hazelnut butter might seem a bit too liquefied, but it will firm up some once placed in the refrigerator. Store in an airtight container in the refrige...

When I first heard about the idea of making peanut butter at home, I expected some complicated process. After all, the conditioning about buying peanut butter started when I was young and it stuck. I suppose you could say I bought the marketing that peanut butter came in jars and I never questioned its origin or what it was. Once I realized how easy peanut butter is to make, I started making it on a regular basis. I'll confess I still sometimes buy commercially made peanut butter, especially if I'm not anywhere near the two stores that sell the peanuts I like to use to make peanut butter; however, I much prefer the flavor of homemade.  Peanut Butter 4 cups peanuts Pour peanuts in a food processor .  Pulse 4-6 times.  Process until peanuts are smooth and creamy.* Spoon in a glass jar. Store in the refrigerator. * There will be a point where it seems like they are just turning into a dry lump going round and round the bowl of the food proce...