Homemade Vegan Spread

Spreads like margarine

I saw a video on YouTube where a lovely lady made a vegan spread (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvEjvPVbjrs) using Coconut oil, olive oil and water.

So I thought I would give it a go, But, it didn't turn out so well for me, and being unwilling to throw anything away, I decided to try and make it better.

 The problem seemed to be that it was separating and causing the spread to kind of crystallise, which really was not at all appealing.

So this is how I make my vegan spread, it has worked really well for me.

Ready?

Firstly you need your ingredients:

1 cup or 8 fl oz of melted Coconut oil

1 cup or 8 fl oz of Olive oil

1/3 cup or 5 tbsp + 1 tsp filter water 

You will need the following equipment:

Hand blender

Measuring jug

Glass jar

Small saucepan

Spoon

Firstly, I should mention that I use pure unrefined organic extra virgin oils, I buy them from here 

 http://www.realfoods.co.uk/shop?Search=oil

It is a great shop, but more of that another time.
(check out the update at the bottom of the post)

The Coconut oil is solid, but melts easily at room temperature, take roughly 6 large tablespoons of the solid oil and pop it into either a glass jar, or a bowl, this will melt into a liquid, so make sure that it is big enough to hold the melted liquid,

See, it's melting! I did not need to turn the heat on, as the water was hot from the kettle, (this water is not in your ingredients as it is not going into your margarine) pour hot water slowly into the saucepan to gradually heat the glass jar, or alternatively you can just put some boiling water into the pan and pop your bowl over the top and wait for it to melt the oil.

Almost melted, just a little left to go.

Once it is all melted, grab your measuring jug and pour in your melted coconut oil, it should be 8 fl oz, you might not get the measurement right the first time, so just pop some more oil on to melt and top it up to 8 fl oz. 

Add your Olive oil and water.

Now it is time to get your hand blender and blend them all together, BUT, you have to be gentle to start with, I know a lady that hit the blend button and the whole mix went all over her and her kitchen, Ooops!

So, put the blender right to the bottom of the jug, and pulse the mixture, a tiny blast at a time until it is happy to be blended, you only need to blend it until it is all mixed together. It will be a nice margarine colour.

Now cover it and pop it into the fridge for a couple of hours.

At this point the lovely lady in the video said that it is ready, BUT this is where I found that it separated and was not very 'spread' like.

So, once it is solid, take it out of the fridge, 2 hours is plenty of time, and give it a stir with a spoon, it really does not look too great at this point, but don't worry, it will.

Not looking too nice hmmm?

Time to blend again, don't worry it shouldn't spray everywhere this time, give it a good blend to give it that 'margarine' texture.

A bit more....

Lovely! Now you need your jar.

Spoon the mixture into your jar, pop the lid on and into the fridge, and that is it!

You just made your very own vegan spread.

It will need to be kept in the fridge as it will melt if you leave it out.

If for some reason the spread does separate, water will be at the bottom of the jar, just put it all in a jug and blend it again, but it shouldn't happen. 

Hope you enjoy your spread making and eating, let me know how you got on.

xx

Update:

I recently tried a new recipe, using REFINED coconut oil in place of unrefined coconut oil, and grapeseed oil instead of olive oil.

I also added 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast and a half teaspoon of sea salt.

If you don't like the taste of coconut oil, this recipe is much nicer, there is no taste from the oils.

It is the closest I have got to the taste of butter.