I think I first became aware of Coconut Butter years ago when I decided to go on a raw foods diet. One of my favorite recipes from that time was from Raw Food/Real World’s Macaroons which are basically coconut butter and almond flour dehydrated. During this experiment with raw food I learned a lot about myself, mainly that I prefer cooked food. I did continue to make the macaroons for Christmas and occasionally used the coconut butter when called for in recipes for other desserts.
It wasn’t until a few years ago when I learned to saute savory foods in coconut butter that I started to realize it makes almost everything taste good. I am not really a fan of quinoa, for example, but if I wash it and then saute the seeds for a minute in coconut butter before adding the water they become both aromatic and buttery rich. It works even better with rice. I love re-frying beans in a bit of the coconut butter or starting curry in the oil, or even finishing some off with a dollop if it’s missing that something.
Coconuts are one of the oldest foods in recorded history. There are all sorts of uses beyond making coconut cream pie and coconut radios. The butter itself is a great moisturizer and you can even remove eye make-up with it. If you were ever trapped on a tropical island they would be the first thing you’d probably start eating since they are delicious and full of fat. Don’t fall asleep under the coconut tree though, I learned on a trip to Costa Rica that more people die from getting whacked on the head from a falling coconut then by shark attacks. It’s made me wary of the beach ever since.
We humans get our revenge of coconuts though. In order to make the butter one must first create an emulsion of the raw coconut meat and water. “Modern techniques use centrifuges and pre-treatments including cold, heat, acids, salts, enzymes, electrolysis, shock waves, or some combination of them.” YIKES!
I think in most of the raw coconut butters you find at the co-op are just ground up, perhaps using elephant labor as is depicted on the jar above. BUT if elephants are laboring over our coconut butter aren’t we exploiting them and therefore making the product less vegan? I am hoping it’s just a cute picture but it really raises some questions that we, as a community, will have to someday face.
Lazy Smurf's Guide 
i loved using it as a moisturizer till we rescued mady. now she licks it off of my skin while i sleep. i use it to cook a lot to! i like it in the spray can form as well as solid!
I’ve used coconut oil, but I’ve never used or had coconut butter. I’m sort of wary of coconut products – just because coconuts really not from my part of the world, and I always wonder about the production values behind them .
Oh my goodness! People die by getting hit on the head with coconuts? That’s crazy! We have black walnuts in our neighborhood and those things really hurt when they hit you on the head. I can see how coconuts would do a lot more damage! But thank goodness for coconuts because they are delicious!