I love raw vegan nut butters. There are so many delicious options: cashew butter, almond butter, pecan butter, walnut butter, hazelnut butter, pine nut butter, macadamia nut butter, hemp seed butter, pumpkin seed butter, sesame seed butter (tahini), and more. Raw, vegan, heavenly, nutritious, and delicious. I use raw nut butters in many different ways… from using them in dressings (ehem the 4-Ingredient Magic Dressing I posted last week), to spreading them on fruit and veggies, using them in dips, nut milks, smoothies, and more. Raw vegan nut butters are a nutritious whole food fat that are also extremely satiating.
But. When you buy them in the grocery store (or even online) they can be friggin’ expensive. Not when you make your own though. I can make my own raw, vegan, and organic nut butters for a fraction of the price. Seriously, a fraction. And, when I realized I was going to save so much money by making my own… well, I treated myself to a brand new, kick ass food processor to make those creamy dreamy butters. (Check this bad boy out- Cuisinart Elite 14-cup! I named him Toruk – also known as “Last Shadow” the orange and red Great leonopteryx from Avatar.). It kind of made it a “free” food processor, if you ask me, in that it pays for itself quickly. Don’t forget, I also make my own crackers most of the time and I use my food processor for that, too. Money saver. Ch-Ching.
Do you want to make your own fresh raw vegan organic nut butters? It’s easy! First you need to stock up on organic nuts and seeds. The best way to do this is buying in bulk so you can save more money. For example, when you go to Blue Mountain Organics and buy in bulk, you’ll see that the price goes down per pound. I buy the 5lb bags, and sometimes I split them with my mom. They have a great shelf life and I store mine in the freezer to protect them more. So, even if you don’t have someone to split them with, they’ll last you many months if you want.
Take 3-4 cups of (dry, not soaked unless you soak and dehydrate them) raw organic nuts or seeds, and place them in your food processor, fitted with the “S” blade. (If you’re using a nut or seed with enzyme inhibitors like almonds or walnuts, for example, you might opt to soak them and then dehydrate them before making them into butter. This makes them extra healthy and easier to digest. It’s believed that for cashews, Brazil nuts, hemp seeds, and pine nuts you don’t need to soak and dehydrate for that purpose.) You can add a pinch or two of Himalayan crystal salt, but I don’t. Also, if your nuts (or seeds) just don’t seem to be getting creamy for some reason, and they need a little help, you can add a tablespoon or two of raw olive oil. Personally, I have never done this because I have never needed to, but if you’re food processor isn’t cutting it for ya, then this could help. Alternatively, some people use their high powered blender to make nut butters. I find it easier to do so using a food processor.
Process them until they turn into butter. This can take anywhere from 3-7 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides. That’s it! It’s that easy.
Put in an air tight, glass container and store in your refrigerator for up to one month.
Here it is! My 4-Ingredient Magic Dressing! I have been dressing my salads with this almost daily for about a month. It’s magical because it’ll make everyone love any salad you put in front of them if it’s dressed with this. My whole family goes crazy over it.
Get ready to really love salad.
4-Ingredient Magic Dressing Recipe by Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com
Yield 2/3 cup*
1/4 cup raw cashew butter (I’ll be teaching you how to make your own soon!)
1/4 cup filtered water
2 tablespoons coconut vinegar**
1 1/2 tablespoons Tamari (gluten-free, reduced sodium)**
Place the ingredients in a bowl or mug and mash it together with a fork. Now, to make the perfect salad, put all of the salad ingredients in one big bowl. Pour the dressing on top and then toss the salad until the dressing coats it all. I usually use this one recipe to cover a salad that serves two really big portions. The salad we’ve been making the most with this is: romaine lettuce (my favorite), orange, raisins, red bell pepper, cucumber, and sprouts. (Carrot and tomato sometimes make an appearance, too.)
* If you’re making this as a single serving, then stir together 2 tablespoons raw cashew butter with 1 tablespoon coconut vinegar, 2 teaspoons tamari, and 2 tablespoons water.
** I have made this with fresh lime juice, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar – all very delicious, but my favorite is the coconut vinegar. You can also use Coconut Secret’s Coconut Aminos in place of the tamari.
In my recent post where I showed you how to make your own homemade raw vegan almond milk, I mentioned that I’d also share with you a recipe that uses the leftover almond nut pulp. There are a number of things you can do with nut pulp from dehydrating it and grinding it into flour to using it in homemade raw vegan bars to cakes to cookies, etc. Today, I’m showing you how to make Cinnamon Banana Bread Squares.
You’ll need the pulp from the almond milk recipe as well as: 4 bananas 1 teaspoon cinnamon water to process
Put bananas and almond pulp in your food processor.
Add cinnamon and any other flavors you want. Then, process (add a little water if needed)
Put mixture on a dehydrator tray fitted with a non-stick ParaFlexx sheet.
Using an offset spatula (my best friend in the kitchen) spread the mixture. Put in your dehydrator at 130-140 degrees F and dehydrate for about an hour.
Reduce the temperature to 105 degrees F and dehydrate for 6-8 hours. Flip onto a dehydrator tray without the non-stick sheet (shown above). Your house will smell like fresh baked banana bread.
Score into squares. Continue dehydrating until you reach desired dryness. The longer you dehydrate, the harder they’ll become so if you want them like soft banana bread, don’t be afraid to cut the drying time short.
This picture shows the two sides of the bread. One side is shiny and the other is flat. These are sooooo good!
Large bowl granola mixed with chia pudding plus almond milk
Green juice: cucumber, celery, baby peppers, collard greens, bok choy, lime
Big Mama Collard Green Wrap: garlic shallot cheese spread, home grown sprouts (directions for growing sprouts here), fresh basil, diced tomatoes, shredded carrots, chopped romaine, minced olives, and julienned orange bell pepper
Exercise: 25 minutes on elliptical and 10 minutes going up and down the stairs wearing Kamea ;)
Sunday
Mostly Raw – All Vegan – All Organic
All Delicious – All Nutritious
Green juice: cucumber, zucchini, celery, lime, collard greens, tomato, basil
Apple Carrots with Tahini Almond Butter Sauce
Purple Passion Smoothie
Small Salad and steamed vegetables at Calistro Bistro. We went to a local restaurant where they have some vegan options and everything is organic. We sat outside… here is Kamea playing with a packet of sugar and her book.
Cinnamon Yam Soup (this is a part raw / part cooked recipe – super easy and super delish. Who wants the recipe?) Large romaine salad with carrots, tomato, basil, and Tahini Almond Butter Sauce as the dressing
Blue Mountain Organics Carob Crunch Bar. Pretty good… If you like carob. ;)
I also made my own raw protein bars today. They’re in the dehydrator now. I tell ya… I’ve been using my dehydrator non-stop for weeks! Love it!
Thank you to everyone for your kind and supporting comments on my last post about Zeus. So far, he’s doing better it seems. He’s basically acting like his old self, but he’s still drinking a lot of water (likely from the hypercalcemia). He goes back to the oncologist Thursday for more blood work and treatment. We’ve been staying at my mom’s this week and he’s enjoying himself… there are 4 other dogs here. He’s eating more but that might be out of competition rather than wanting to actually eat it himself – lol. But, hey, whatever works, eh? In addition to his medicine, I’ve been giving him a few things:
I ordered E3 Live, and it’ll arrive Wednesday. I can’t wait to introduce that to his diet.
Here’s a great recipe that I’ll be making around the holidays. I included it in a recent email newsletter.
When I was a little girl, my mom used to make date bars for dessert. Oh how I loved them! It was a simple little recipe / mix from a box (Betty Crocker I think), and it was one of my favorites. I remember how they were warm from the oven with a sweet squishy date center and a crumbly bottom and top. Mmmm! So, I decided to come up with a healthier raw version. This one is warm from the dehydrator with a squishy, sweet raw date filling surrounded by a slightly crunchy top and bottom from ground nuts. Perfect! When I shared it with my mom, she couldn’t believe how closely it resembled the old version.
Date Bars Recipe by Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com Yield 1 8X8 glass baking dish
Date Filling Ingredients: 25-30 medjool dates, pitted* 1/4-1/2 cup soak water (from the dates)
Crumble Ingredients: 1 cup almonds 1 cup cashews 1/4 cup Rapadura** (optional) 2 tablespoons raw coconut oil pinch Himalayan crystal salt
Date Filling Instructions: Place the pitted dates in a bowl with water to soak them for about a half hour. *If your dates are large, you can use 25 and if some of them are smaller, then use a few more. Once the dates are soaked, place them in a food processor, fitted with the “S” blade, along with 1/4 cup of the soak water. Process until smooth, adding a little more water as needed. Set aside in a bowl, while you make the crumble.
Crumble Instructions: Place all of the crumble ingredients in a food processor, fitted with the “S” blade, and process until it starts to stick together a bit when pressed gently between two of your fingers.
Assembly Instructions: Take a little more than half of the crumble mixture and press it firmly into the bottom of your glass baking dish. Spread the date filling on top. Then, sprinkle the remaining crumble on top of the date filling, and very gently press it.
If you have a dehydrator, now is a great time to use it. Place the Date Bars in it and dehydrate them at 115 degrees F for about an hour. Enjoy! Store leftover Date Bars in your refrigerator.
** Rapadura is not raw. It’s organic, whole cane sugar that adds a lovely depth of sweetness to the recipe. If you’d like the recipe to be all raw, simply omit the Rapadura.
This soup is divine! We love it so much that I’m making a second batch to have with our dinner tonight. It’s super creamy, lightly sweet, and packed full of nutrition (tons –> vitamin C, iron, fiber, folate, vitamin B6, copper, vitamin K, potassium, and much more). It’s a definite keeper! You gotta make this one. And… don’t you just love recipes that only take you a few minutes to make?
Indian Mango Soup Recipe by Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com Yield 3 1/2 cups
Recipe time! Sun Warrior was kind enough to send me bag of their (plain) natural flavored raw, sprouted, non-gmo protein powder to sample. Here is a great recipe I whipped up with it. I was going to take the picture of it in a glass mason jar when I remembered that I had this adorable margarita “princess” glass I received as a gift years ago – I was waiting for the perfect drink to go into it. After I named this Vivacious Princess because of the pretty pink color and how it’ll make you feel after drinking it: attractive, lively and femininely spirited… I thought, “Wait! I have the perfect glass!”
I’m totally ready to take on the day after drinking this delicious concoction (after I put on my lip gloss, of course… sparkly princess after all).
Vivacious Princess Yield 3 cups
1 cup water 1 heaping cup frozen cherries 2 frozen bananas, chopped 1 heaping scoop Natural (plain) Sun Warrior protein powder 1 tablespoon raw cashew butter 1 tablespoon flax meal 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon splash almond extract
I am still getting emails from people who love this recipe that I shared in my last email newsletter so I thought I better get it into more hands and blog it.
Cayenne Tahini Dressing By Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com Yield 1 cup
I love this dressing so much. During the month of December, I made it so many times that it probably graced about 22+ salads in that time. It’s so simple, delicious, and creamy. Don’t let the “cayenne” in the title discourage you from making it, as you can adjust that amount to suit your taste. This recipe is great on fresh, crisp romaine salads and as a dip for veggies. I crave its deliciousness and can’t seem to get enough! It’s a recipe from my book and ebook, Kristen Suzanne’s EASY Raw Vegan Salads & Dressings.
1/4 – 1/2 cup water or raw olive oil (I usually use 1/2 cup water) 1/2 cup raw tahini 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or lime juice 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I usually use 1/2 tsp) 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt (I usually use 1/2 tsp)
Blend all of the ingredients until smooth, adding more water as needed (or you can use a mixture of water and oil if you’re aiming for an extra creamy, rich dressing).
Serving suggestions: ~ I love how organic romaine lettuce beautifully holds up to this dressing. ~ Perfect for jazzing up any raw organic veggies like carrots, celery, red bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini… the list goes on and on. ~ For cooked foodies out there… dip sprouted bread or toast into it!
Variations: ~ Have fun and make it different each time. Add a handful of organic basil, and then the next time try a handful of organic cilantro, or try a handful of organic parsley. They’re all delicious!
After I made the video showing you how I open a young Thai coconut, I wanted to make a smoothie I’d been tossing around in my head that included young Thai coconut. I grabbed my camera and recorded the following video, even though I hadn’t made the recipe until now. How will it turn out? You’ll have to watch to find out. As you’ll see, I didn’t have a name for the recipe at the time of recording, but here is what I came up with: Butterfly Blossom Smoothie. It seemed just right. :)
OK! I am cracking up at the shot YouTube automatically chose to show in the beginning of this video. hahahaha – I think I’ll keep it like that.
Butterfly Blossom Smoothie Recipe by Kristen Suzanne of KristensRaw.com Yield 3 cups
Here is a video showing you how I make one of my favorite Raw Vegan recipes, Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce (recipe available here) that is from my book, Kristen Suzanne’s Ultimate Raw Vegan Hemp Recipes. I get many many many many many compliments on this recipe. Enjoy!
Oh, and PS… A great thing about the Benriner turning slicer I show in the video is that the Raw veggie noodles that this tool makes are noodles that stay fresh for 2-3 days, unlike the Saladacco or other spiralizer like the Saladacco (where the inside of the produce is used), and you need to serve the noodles right away or at least the same day. With the Benriner Turning Slicer (and there are a couple of other models that are similar to the one I feature), the noodles can be made 1-2 days in advance and still taste as fresh as the day you made them. That’s awesome!
This recipe can be used in many different ways:
Use this for dipping fresh veggies (my favorite way) or corn chips (Raw or not – it’s up to you!)
For those eating cooked vegan foods, this is an awesome sauce on top of veggie burgers
This also makes a delicious Raw vegan dressing on a hearty salad with romaine lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and cucumbers. You could even sprinkle on some Raw vegan taco meat and raw dehydrated corn chips for a tortilla type salad.
Here’s a super fun way to have it… dehydrated like a slice of nacho flavored cheese… simply spread the mixture on to a dehydrator tray (Excalibur Dehydrators are, by far, the best) fitted with one of their Paraflexx sheets. Let it dehydrate (105-110 degrees) over night (or longer!), and try flipping it on to a regular mesh tray the following day, peel off the Paraflexx sheet and continue dehydrating until you reach a “dry-type” texture. Either try cutting into squares to put on your next sandwich or crumble it up and use it as a fun and yummy topping for salad. Or, if you’re like my sweet husband, he eats it straight out of the dehydrator bite by bite… plain, all by its delicious self!
I have a delicious recipe for you. Navitas Naturals was super cool and they sent me some products to try. Here is one of the recipes I made using their raw cashews, Twister Sprouted Omega Blend, and stevia. This recipe is totally fun and it’s especially perfect for the summer, when strawberries are in season. Strawberry Sweet Bread is loaded with nutrients… just look at those ingredients – so many goodies!!!! It’s great served with a nut/seed butter and fruit (as shown) for a wonderfully satisfying Raw vegan snack or lunch. And, it’s so EASY to make. When it’s time to send those kiddos to school, give them a super nutritious lunch by including this. You can put the chopped fruit in a little container and the nut/seed butter in another little container. Include a little spreading spoon and they can build their own little sandwich. Oh… and…. My husband LOVES this. I mean, like, REALLY REALLY LOVES IT! It’s great for the whole family. Enjoy!
Grind the cashews to a fine grind using a blender or food processor (fitted with the “S” blade). Transfer to a large bowl. Add the Twister powder to the bowl and stir to mix the ingredients. Blend the remaining ingredients together using a blender. Transfer the blended mixture to the bowl with the cashew/Twister ingredients, and stir thoroughly to mix. Loosely cover the bowl with a piece of paper towel (or cloth towel), and let it sit on your counter for 2 hours.
Spread all of the bread dough on a dehydrator tray lined with a non-stick Paraflexx sheet (from Excalibur). It should be about 10″ x 10″ with a height (or thickness) of about 1/2″.
Dehydrate at 135 degrees for one hour. Reduce the temperature to 105-110 degrees and continue dehydrating another 8-10 hours.
Flip the bread onto a tray that is not lined with a Paraflexx sheet. Gently peel off the current sheet of Paraflexx being used. Continue dehydrating 10-12 hours. Cut the bread into desired size pieces and continue dehydrating another 1-4 hours, or more, depending on desired dryness. The goal is not to dry the bread completely if you want it like a soft bread. Strawberry Sweet Bread will stay fresh when stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up 5 days.
Serving suggestion:
I love serving this with a nut or seed butter (Manitoba Harvest’s hemp seed butter is shown in the picture) along with some diced fruit such as berries, orange, or banana.
I'm Kristen, and welcome to my blog. I'm a wife, mom, author, and I love to eat so food is usually the topic of my blog posts. I'm a former (almost decade long) vegan turned back omnivore who enjoys reading, rebounding, coffee, and dark chocolate. More...
I'm Kristen, and welcome to my blog. I'm a wife, mom, author, and I love to eat so food is usually the topic of my blog posts. I'm a former (almost decade long) vegan turned back omnivore who enjoys reading, rebounding, coffee, and dark chocolate. 
