Someone asked me the other day how I find the time to blog. Am I baking cookies and granola in the early mornings before work? No, I am not superwoman.

Although that does sound relaxing...

Blogging gets a bit tricky when it's not your full-time gig. And in my case, talking about cookies and smoothies is preeeetty far from my day-to-day lawyer work writing about law.

But, I think that's the beauty of it. It takes my mind away for a while. Into this second life I live.

If you are starting your own blog, or already blogging, you will quickly learn that it is an investment that takes time, little by little. A post is comprised of steps. For me, I write a post little by little at night or on the weekends. In fact, I'm currently sitting by the fire with my husband as he watches the the World Series. It's late and it's quiet. And my mind is working at a different speed. I'll write a post and it'll be geared up to go in the morning... errr maybe the next day.

Sometimes I don't have time. Sometimes I can't think what to write about. Sometimes I have to take a walk or do yoga to clear my head. But, I've always enjoyed it. And when I talk about my recipes or see friends and strangers make my cookies for a party, those are the moments that I realize why I'm doing this. Blogging is so much more than just sharing recipes. In my mind, I've always been working my way toward something, whatever that something may be.

And you know what? I'm as excited as ever to write about this nut butter! It's a pretty amazing, not to mention so easy to do. Trust me!

You can use almonds, pecans or cashews in this recipe. Here, I used cashews, which results in a very mild tasting nut butter. The vanilla bean gives it a hint of sweetness and a cookie-dough like flavor.

Yes. Please.

I put this nut butter on sliced apples, bananas or eat it plain. Or, you can slather it on toast, pancakes, top oatmeal or smoothie bowls. Oh the possibilities!

I make one large batch, but feel free to cut this recipe in half.

Vanilla Bean Cashew Butter

12-16 oz. raw cashews
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons raw honey (or pure maple syrup)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons coconut oil (see NOTE below)
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out (just use the seeds!)

Directions:

In a large food processor blend the cashews until finely ground.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend on high speed for 3-5 minutes, until creamy. Right when you think it's ready, blend for about 1 more minute. It's the secret step.
Store nut butter in a large mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
NOTE: Cashew butter is a bit more dry than other nut butters, so you may need to add more coconut oil to this as you blend it to make it creamier. I add 1 tablespoon, but will add more if the butter is too dry and needs help blending. Cashew butter takes longer to blend than other nut butters, so don't worry if it takes longer than you think it will!
Roasted Version: I'll also sometimes lightly roast the raw cashews in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes before I blend them. This will add a more roasted, nutty flavor to the nut butter.

Happy blending!

Once you get the process down, you can blend peanuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts... You may never buy nut butter again.