Warning before you even read further. When you make this it’s going to be rather liquidy in the pan and you’ll have to have patience because it takes at least 24 hours to fully set. The only piece of equipment you’ll need is an immersion blender. It’s my favorite kitchen tool and it gets used often. Go buy one right now if you don’t already have one!
Now that my PSA is out of the way…
I grew up in northern Wisconsin and butter has been a big part of my life. We put butter on everything. However, if you’re trying to eliminate animal product from your diet those butter substitutes come with a large price tag and a lot of weird chemicals. I’ve been making my own vegan butter for a while now but it’s either rock hard coming from the fridge or a soupy mess sitting on the counter.
All oils and rock hard from the fridge. Why? Coconut oil has a melting point of 75* F and cold just as quickly. 
This spreadable version is 50% liquid. You could use water instead of a nut milk but that cuts some of the flavor.
It’s been my mission to make a vegan butter that doesn’t have anything weird in it and cuts the fat/calories at least in half. Why vegan? No added cholesterol to my food intake. Not even considering the animal element to it, it’s better for your body to cut added cholesterol.
I looked at the ingredient list on the back of Brummel and Brown yogurt butter and realized that it’s basically vegan anyway with the first ingredient being water. I didn’t want to mess with getting or making yogurt so I tried ingredients I had readily available. In order to get oil and water to combine you need an emulsifier, I used granulated soy lecithin, and the liquid needs to be solidified somewhat to mimic the consistency of yogurt. Tapioca starch sets and keeps set better than corn starch and it’s a good ingredient to have available. I’m not going to bore you any further so here’s the recipe for a truly spreadable refrigerated vegan butter.
- 1 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 2 tbl nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (1/4 if using table salt)
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk (or other nut milk)
- 3 tbl tapioca starch/flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1 tbl soy lecithin (I use granules)
Melt your coconut oil in a sauce pan. You don’t need it hot, just melted. Add in nutritional yeast and salt. In a separate dish mix together the soy milk and the tapioca starch. Pour mixed milk/starch into oil in pan and add the lecithin. Heat over medium heat and use your immersion blender immediately. You’ll see the mixture coming together and getting thicker quickly but heat until bubbles form on the sides of your pan, about 2-3 minutes. Pour into glass container or split into several, cover, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
You’ll be tempted to check on its status after an hour or two but it will still be liquid. It needs a long time to set up and cure. Give it the full 24 hours.
*Please don’t use turmeric to try to make your butter yellow. It doesn’t work and it only makes your butter a 70s bus color. There won’t be health benefits from the microscopic amount of turmeric you’d be ingesting in each serving of butter anyways.
*Because this is made with coconut oil it won’t do well on the counter. Keep it in the fridge and it will last, if you don’t eat it all, for at least 2 weeks.
