This recipe has brought the joy of vegemite toast back to my hubs. Excellent taste / texture!!

Just commenting - i made a second batch, since the thanksgiving batch is gone. I still used hemp milk. but this time i left it out on the counter for a few hours, and then nuked it slightly warm before adding the lemon juice (and used only the required amount), let it sit a few more hours - and it COMPLETELY separated in to whey and . . well, thicker stuff lol. I have problems w vinegar so thats why i used lemon juice. last time instead of being patient i added twice as much lemon plus some vinegar. It curdled, but the vinegar smell (sensitive to it due to allergies) really bothered me. this version is much creamier and tastier than the last one i did

ok, sorry if thats too much detail, but just to say, I DID get satisfactory results using hemp milk.

This recipe is really great -- I love the experimental basis of your work, and the opportunities for vegan baking this affords. One question for you: all of your quantities are in volume, and it would seem to me that using mass (in grams) would be more precise. Did you happen to weigh out your ingredients as you were recording this recipe? If so would you care to share them for those of us with fine scales in our kitchens?

I'm living in Asia and have not been able to find lecithin as of yet. Can anyone recommend a replacement emulsifier?

Forgive me if I've got this wrong, I'm trying to understand this. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature. This recipe is an emulsion of barely warm oil with a few other ingredients. This isn't making a liquid oil into a solid like other margarines. It's making a solid into a tastier solid. Do all emulsions introduce hydrogenated fats into the end result?

I really like the recipe for making vegan butter, but I would stress that you are essentially doing the same thing chemically to the fat in your recipe as the people who make Crisco (and Earth Balance for that matter). Whenever someone makes any fat (plant, animal) more stable at room temperature (i.e. solid) the fats go through a hydrogenation process to add hydrogen to the lipid structure. This process increases the melting point of the fat. Commercial companies that make Crisco use an extrusion machine to accomplish this task. Earth Balance's process is the exact same, they just market their product differently. Butter churning breaks down the fats in cream and chemically changes them into a solid. Your process is using the speed of the food processor blades to break down the liquid fats into a structure that stays solid at room temperature. All of these processes share one thing in common; they all produce trans fats (triglycerides).

All that being said, I do really like your process and recipe. I would just caution making any claims that this process is somehow healthier than any other hydrogenation process commercial companies use. But as a DIY vegan butter recipe, I don't think there's a better one on the web.
I've included some good reading on the extrusion process and how commercial manufactures http://www.aseanfood.info/Articles/11024149.pdf

This is BY FAR the best vegan butter I have ever tasted. The flavor is complex yet simple and delicious. And yes, it doesn't leave an unwelcome oily finish in the mouth. Color is appetizing, and NO PALM OIL... YAY!!!

Thank you, I made the recipe exactly as written, using the liquid lecithin.

This sounds really great! We have pretty extreme allergies in my house and can't have things like soy or gluten. I see I can use sunflower lecithin (great sub, thanks for that!) and was wondering if anyone knows if i could use hemp milk rather than soy. I don't think rice milk would work and almond or coconut milk would taste terrible. Thanks for any feed back!

This turned out really well and was very easy. This opens up all kinds of possible variations. I think you hit the nail on the head with the addition of ACV. It's much closer to dairy butter than EB.

Ok did a quick search. I am seeing people post that rice milk curdles in tea but their soy milk didn't do that.

I checked and tea is usually alkaline. IF this is correct it confirms what I thought. To curdle rice milk you need an alkaline to reach its isoelectric point.

The way you need an acid to make soy milk(an alkaline) to reach its isoelectric point.

I have not looked at almond and the other milks listed above but have a feeling they would be the same.

I will try this tomorrow when I make some rice milk.

Mattie,

Thank you for such a DETAILED recipe and info!

My understanding is that vinegar makes the soy milk curdle (it is a neutral acidity the same as regular milk) because it took it to PH of 4.6 which happens to be the isoelectric point of soy milk as well as regular milk.

Rice milk is already acidic and an acid forming food. Perhaps this is why it didn't curdle.

I wonder if adding an alkaline would make it curdle?

Off to see what the isoelectric point is of rice milk and to find an liquid alkaline which will take it to that PH.

Thank you again!

I decided to become vegan in September, and one thing I missed more than anything, was garlic butter. So I decided to try this recipe (but also substituted the xanthan gum with chia seeds), and I love it. I made a blind test for my cousin, who couldn't taste which was her butter and which was my vegan "butter". Oh, and it was easy and fun to make once I had converted all the measurements. Thank you so much for this.

I forgot to mention. I made two separate batches and in one I accidently added the lecithin to the heated oil before it cooled and this was actually a good thing, since in the other batch it didn't mix completely, I could still see bits. Also, for anyone who prefers or needs a little yellow -a tiny, tiny bit of tumeric does the trick!

In 2001, my husband and his grandfather went on a dairy splurge (or second childhood, you choose) Yoohoo, grilled cheese, chocolate milk, chocolate malted milk, etc. After 2 weeks, my husband began breaking out in a very ugly rash, sebaceous excema. I won't describe it but it was seriously ugly. After some internet research, I suggested milk allergy, after 2 days without dairy his skin started healing. For the last 12 years he has been living dairy-free. The allergy has lessened somewhat but occasionally he'll get a stomach ache, rash even throat swelling! There is dairy hidden everywhere! I looked for this recipe because I wanted to make croissants, he misses chocolate croissants especially. OMG, this is so awesome! I did lab research and was very impressed and grateful for your careful research. Husband says it tastes like the wonderful creamery butter you get at farmer's markets. Even after 12 years, he remembers the taste, so thank you for making his life richer, I love him so much, I really appreciate all you did to bring this recipe to the online seekers!

Finding a butter sub is such a hard challenge! we are avoiding dairy, soy and canola. Which leaves us plain coconut oil or palm oil shortening. I made the regular vegan butter using hemp milk (and extra vinegar lol), guar gum (problems w xanthan) and untoasted sesame seed for the oil, because i bought it by accident and love its flavor and texture. the butter smelled a bit of vinegar to me - but i dont really use butter on bread, i used it for baking, and for that it was fantastic! thank you