Coco Loco

Coconut butter

There has been much said about coconut lately. Is it bad for you (because of the saturated fat), is it good for you (because the saturated fat is medium chain)? Although it is not truly a “nut”, like most nut meats, coconut meat contains less sugar and more protein than popular fruits such as bananas, apples and oranges. It is has good levels of iron, phosphorus & zinc.

Coconut oil or butter can be bought from the health food shop and can be used for all types of cooking as it has a very high smoke point and is very stable. But it is expensive….. Buy a 500g jar of coconut oil at your local health food shop and it will set you back over $11.00.

Coconut butter can be used in the same way that coconut oil is used, the difference being that the solids in the coconut are not removed. I use my coconut butter in everything from sauteing to smoothies to baking (replacing butter). As long as you don’t mind a faint coconut flavour in certain things, use it madly!!

It is hard to find desiccated coconut that doesn’t have additive 220 in it. An organic, chemical free coconut is not so white in colour and 4 times as expensive so if you can get it in bulk all the better.

Heres how:

Take 300g desiccated coconut and blitz on SPEED 10

This is what it looks like after 40 seconds, you will need scrape down the sides at this point.

After 2 minutes it melts to this. Then you can pour it into a jar for storage

I keep mine in the pantry. In colder weather it will solidify and will go rock hard if you put it in the fridge. Some people I know eat it by the spoonful as it has a high satiety factor.