For when you can’t get Earth Balance. Yes it’s good. And you can bake with it. But you need a few special things:

Ingredients: (makes about 1 pound or about 450g)

• 140g deodorized cocoa butter (melted)
• 200g sunflower oil (or other high heat tolerant oil)
• 10g mild olive oil
• 5g flaxseed oil (optional)
• 90ml cold water or unsweetened plant milk
• 1.5 teaspoons *Liquid sunflower or soy lecithin (powder just isn’t great in this)
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice, but I think you can taste the lemon)

Directions:

1. Melt and blend fats: Melt the cocoa butter completely. Mix it thoroughly with the sunflower oil and olive oil. Let it cool slightly until it’s warm to the touch but still liquid.
2. Combine liquids: In a separate container, whisk the cold water or milk, lecithin, salt and vinegar together.
3. Blend the fats and liquids together — I use an immersion blender. Blend on high for 60 seconds until it turns completely opaque and creamy.
4. Ice-Bath! Pour the liquid emulsion immediately into silicone stick molds or an empty tub. Put it directly in the freezer to 30-45 minutes. (Forcing the cocoa butter fat crystals to set rapidly under extreme cold prevents grainy separation and gives you a perfectly smooth texture.)
5. Transfer it to the refrigerator once it’s solid. You can use this the same way you would use regular butter, and yes you can even bake with it—even “butter” cookies!

PRO TIPS:

1. If you want it to be spreadable right from the tub (like whipped Earth Balance is), just reduce the cocoa butter to 90g and increase the sunflower oil to 250g.
2. If you want to give it more of a yellow color, add a pinch of turmeric before blending.
3. To replicate whipped commercial “butter”, blend the emulsion for an additional 30 seconds on high speed to whip air into the liquid. Freeze immediately so the air bubbles get locked into place as the cocoa butter solidifies.