A unique Vitamix nut butter (that tastes like banana bread)
Homemade nut butter is the reason a lot of people buy their first Vitamix.
It’s certainly a favorite thing to make in ours.
Why? Because it’s:
- Easy.
- Healthy.
- Delicious.
This particular nut butter is all those things, but it’s also a little outside the box on flavor.
Whip up some of this fabulous Monkey Butter today. And add it to your family’s go-to Vitamix recipes tomorrow!
Ice cream inspiration
I really wanted to come up with a unique nut butter flavor.
I’ve seen tons of chocolate almond (we have one), sweetened peanut (yup, us too), and even some espresso/nut combinations.
But I wanted to think outside of the box. So I looked up what my local ice cream shop was serving up. They had tons of creative flavors!
One of those flavors was banana bread. We have an extremely popular recipe for vegan banana bread on our site and I know the ingredients by heart.
I just needed to get the flavor of cinnamon, vanilla, and banana into a nut butter and I’d have a winner.
But blended banana sounded too much like a smoothie to me.
So I thought back to our apple cinnamon walnut butter (one of my absolute favorites) where we used dried apples to achieve that appley taste.
I used the same concept and used dried bananas to get that concentrated banana flavor.
And I gotta say, this stuff is mouth-wateringly good! Feed it to all of your monkeys… best served after jumping on the bed 🙂
Recipe
Monkey Butter
A banana-bread-like nut butter packed with flavor
Cashews, Cinnamon, Peanuts, Vanilla,Ingredients:
- raw cashews - 3 cups (375 g)
- dry roasted peanuts (see tips above) - 1 cup (125 g)
- pure maple syrup - 2 Tbsp. (30 mL)
- vanilla - 1 Tsp. (5 mL)
- cinnamon - 1.5 tsp. (4 g)
- OPTIONAL: coconut oil - 1/3 cup (66 g)
- banana chips - 1 cup (84 g)
Instructions:
- Add all ingredients into your Vitamix container except the banana chips
- Use your nut butter preset x3 or ramp from variable speed 1 to 10
- Blend on high for 3-4 minutes
- Use the tamper to push the ingredients from the corners into the blade
- Your Vitamix will make a low chugging sound when the butter is done
- When smooth, add your banana chips and blend for 30 more seconds
- Spread on everything
- Snap a pic and tag #lifeisNOYOKE
- Enjoy!
Useful tips for Monkey Butter
Don’t be afraid to use some elbow grease when blending. Nut butter needs some help getting into the blade. If you’re tempted to make a smaller batch, make sure you have a smaller Vitamix container (like a 32-ounce). For the 64 oz. container, you need at least 4 cups of nuts.
We used peanuts because they have more natural oils. If you have a peanut allergy, use more cashews, but soak them for an hour first.
We didn’t add oil because we didn’t want the extra calories, but if your like your nut butter super smooth, you can add 1/3 cup (66 g) coconut oil.
Be sure you are blending on high. Once in high, your machine’s fans kick in. It knows if it’s getting overworked and will turn itself off. This did not happen while we made this nut butter, but it has happened before. If it does, let your Vitamix cool for 45 minutes and then try again.
Looking to make this recipe soon. Should I soak the three cups of cashews in water for an hour before blending?
If you have a high powered blender like a Vitamix you shouldn’t need to. If not, soaking is an excellent way to assure a successful blend.
Do you have a recipe for making your own banana chips? Thanks
I don’t, we usually have banana chips in the pantry. This one is the best rated on Google: https://www.momables.com/homemade-banana-chips-recipe-baked/ but I have not personally tried it.
How long is this good for? Counter or refrigerator?
We refrigerate and find it’s gone before it goes bad. But as a general rule we keep nut butters for about 2 weeks.
Hi there!
I just made this and we have a saying in our house, unfortunately good. It is so good, unfortunately we will have trouble pacing ourselves eating it. Yum!
It’s another winner from you! Thanks for all that you do😊
Hi Stacey, Sam from LINY here–
That’s an awesome saying! I’ve been needing a term for that same phenomenon. For me, it’s the Chipotle “Bitchin’ Sauce” that does it. Mmmmm…
We’re glad you liked it, and thanks for the support!
well, this sounds magically delicious!