Woohoo! I’m back, friends. I’ve been away from my blog and slowed down on updating new posts and recipes over the past few months. Much of my attention has been absorbed by amazing photography classes at Washtenaw Community College. I took my third photography class, environmental portraits, over the past ten weeks. I have enjoyed the class very much and learned a ton about lighting in photography.
As my class is over, I have more time to blog and create recipes again which I always love to do. Today’s recipe is about a simple, healthy, and nut-free homemade soy butter. It only needs 4 ingredients. For real! Sound interesting?
Although my family loves all natural peanut butter, we always like to experiment with different recipes using natural ingredients. (By the way, check out our archived post “No Mess Natural Peanut Butter Stir” if you’ve ever been frustrated with stirring any natural nut butters.) I have a few friends who have nut allergy so I thought this nut-free soy butter would be a fantastic alternative for them. Let’s get started!
Roast the unsoaked, rinsed soybeans in the oven.
Yes, unsoaked! This way the soybeans will cook much faster. Roasting also develops the depth of flavor and gives a deeper toast brown color. If you use the presoaked soybeans, you’ll need a much longer time to roast them because the water has to evaporate to make the soybeans crunchy. It’s totally a waste of energy and time because we are going to add water later to make the butter.
Soak the roasted soybeans in water for 30 minutes before blending them into smooth butter.
If your blender is really powerful, you may blend all the ingredients (water, salt, grapeseed oil, and roasted soybeans) all at once. If you are going to use a food processor, like I did, you can briefly grind the roasted soybeans to break them up. It will reduce the soaking time dramatically. Once they are soft, the blending is very easy.
Use grapeseed oil instead of coconut oil
If you’ve ever compared the unsaturated fat content between these two oils, you’ll notice that coconut oil only contains saturated fat which is not a healthy choice, especially for people that have heart disease. On the other hand, grapeseed oil contains far less saturated fat and high percentage of polyunsaturated fat. It’s definitely the winner.
This hearty homemade nut-free soy butter can be spread on toast, crackers, or even used as a vegetable dip. The rich protein and healthy fat content with no additives will definitely make it an ultimate peanut butter alternative. Better yet, you can add dark chocolate, cinnamon, or apple to twist the flavor to your personal favorite.
- ½ cup organic soybeans unsoaked
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or canola oil
- 1/8 teaspoon salt or more to taste
- 1/4 cup water or more to adjust to your preferred texture
- Preheat oven to 350 ℉. Place soybeans in a colander and rinse them under cold water. Transfer the rinsed soybeans onto paper towel and pat dry briefly.
- Place the soybeans onto a baking sheet. Add 1 teaspoon of oil and mix with soybeans. Let the soybeans get coated evenly. Roast in oven on the middle rack for 20 minutes until the soybeans are golden brown.
- Remove the baking sheet from oven and let the soybeans cool at room temperature for 5 minutes.
- Food Processor Method: Transfer the roasted soybeans into a food processor and briefly chop them to break the soybeans into smaller pieces. Transfer the soybeans into a container and add water. Let it stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Transfer the mixture back into the food processor and add the remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth.
- High-Speed Blender Method: transfer the roasted soybeans and the remaining ingredients into the blender. Blend until smooth.
This homemade soy butter can be refrigerated for up to 10 days.
Hi! thanks for the recipe! I’m searching for a local alternative to peanut butter and i’ve found soybeans grown near my city. just to be sure, if i use a high speed blender i dont have to soak them at all? thank you!
Yes. I use vitamix to blend it.
What is your opinion on using store-bought roasted soybeans rather than roasting them myself? Is there much of a difference?
No difference.