Several years ago I ate at a world famous garlic themed restaurant in San Francisco and discovered to my excitement that caramelized garlic can be delectable spread on bread the same way as butter. I couldn’t believe how the garlic transformed from a spicy, harshness to a smooth, subtle butteriness with just the application of heat. In later years I became more familiar with this magical trait of garlic and decided to pair it with the creaminess of vegan butter here. Enjoy this Vegan Garlic Butter spread on your toast, baked into your hearth breads or use it as a base for something like puff pastry garlic knots. Either way, it’ll be able to stand up to the complexity of traditional butter.
Vegan Butter is designed to mimic real butter in vegan baking applications. Like real butter, Vegan Butter is more solid than tub margarine and not as spreadable. This is so it can perform optimally in vegan baking applications. If your goal is to have a conveniently softer, spreadable Vegan Butter, swap out 1 Tablespoon of the coconut oil with 1 additional Tablespoon olive oil.
¼ cup + 2 teaspoons caramelized garlic paste (about 30 cloves or 95 grams)
½ cup + 2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon refined coconut oil, melted
1 Tablespoon olive oil
¼ + ⅛ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon liquid soy lecithin -or- liquid sunflower lecithin -or- 2 ¼ teaspoons soy lecithin granules
1)
Preheat your oven to 400F (204C). Peel the garlic and place it in a heat proof container such as a small metal or ceramic bowl. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil and poke about 6 holes for steam to escape. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the cloves are soft when poked with a fork. Remove from heat, allow to cool and transfer the caramelized garlic to a blender.
2)
Melt the coconut oil in a microwave so it's barely melted and as close to room temperature as possible. Transfer it to the blender. Making smooth vegan butter is dependent on the mixture solidifying as quickly as possible after it's mixed. This is why it's important to make sure your coconut oil is as close to room temperature as possible before you mix it with the rest of the ingredients.
Add the canola oil, salt and soy lecithin. Blend on high for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides with a spatula halfway through the duration.
3)
Pour the mixture into a mold and place it in the freezer to solidify. An ice cube mold works well. The vegan butter should be ready to use in about an hour. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month or wrapped in plastic wrap in the freezer for up to 1 year. Makes 1 cup (215 grams), or the equivalent of 2 sticks Garlic Vegan Butter.
For more vegan butter recipes check out the Vegan Butter section.
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