Vegan chocolate and cashew nut butter

Not yet rated

This sumptuous vegan chocolate spread recipe is made from a heady mix of homemade cashew nut butter and cocoa. Surprisingly simple to make, this recipe takes a fair bit of blending but results in a super-creamy, luxurious jar of spread which would make a particularly lovely dairy-free edible gift.

This year I’m very organised for Christmas. No last minute rush to the shops. No trawling through online sites just days before Christmas delivery deadlines. Phase one of ‘Project Plan Ahead’ was to buy all non-foodie gifts throughout the course of the year. It’s helped me to spread the cost and not have a massive credit card bill in January. It’s also made me be more thoughtful than be led by the retail hype and over packaged gifts that people really don’t want.

Phase two is making the personal homemade foodie gifts. This one is for my youngest who absolutely adores that ubiquitous hazelnut and chocolate spread. Reading through the list of ingredients of it always makes me feel uncomfortable. Too many emulsifiers and ingredients I don’t really understand. So I’ve decided to make my own and my version uses just two ingredients and takes less than half an hour to make.

This recipe makes two 130ml jars and is easy to scale up.

It’s really that simple. Instead of pouring this lusciousness into a big pot, I’ve bought some mini jars from Lakeland so I can put a couple in her stocking and then use the rest for a little hamper with some other of her favourite foods. This will keep in the fridge for a few weeks if you can resist not licking it up in one sitting!

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Vegan chocolate and cashew nut butter spread

  • 200g of cashew nuts
  • 3 tbsp of cocoa powder, or more, if needed. Choose good quality cocoa and make sure it's vegan

Method

1

First roast the cashews in a 180°C oven for about 10 minutes or so – they should be nice and brown on the edges. If you don’t have time to roast them then just toast them lightly in a dry frying pan. It will still help to release the oils and flavour

2

Leave the nuts to cool slightly and then pop them into a food processor for about 20-30 minutes. The mixture will go from breadcrumbs, to a clump of little balls, to a big ball that makes the machine wobbly and then finally to a smooth paste that looks just like peanut butter. You will need to scrape the sides of the bowl from time to time or even lever out some of the mixture that gets stuck under the blades – be patient!

3
Add the cocoa powder and give it a final blitz to combine. Depending on the strength of the cocoa powder and your taste, you can add icing sugar to sweeten. If it’s too thick, add a little olive oil or coconut oil to thin out

Urvashi finds food, baking, cooking and eating a therapeutic relief from every day work and family life.

Get in touch

Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.