Raw Vegan Berry Butter: Antioxidant Rich Fruit Spread!

Raw vs Store Bought

Forget boiling and slaving over a hot stove to cook fruit with unhealthy sugars. Never mind that the cooked fruit itself creates unhealthy food to begin with.

This berry butter or raw jam recipe is simply divine. In flavor, texture, and nutrition. If your a fan of apple butter, this recipe is for you. Making your own fruit jam, fruit preserves, or fruit butter not only saves you money, you won't spend a lot of time making it either.

Raw jams are packed with enzymes because they are not cooked. The bonus with this is more nutrition. This is because enzymes are part of the workforce in our natural foods combined synergistically with vitamins and minerals. No jar of jam or jelly will ever do that because store bought jams are literally cooked to death. Raw jam tastes better too because its fresh. It spreads nicely but without all the processed stickiness. My son loved this berry butter recipe so much so I'm sure your kids will love it too!

5 Simple Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen mixed berries (112 grams)

• 1/8 cup soaked chia seeds in 1/2 cup water

• 4 large fresh Medjool dates (112 grams) pitted spread apart

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 1/4 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice

Easy Steps

1. Stir in the 1/2 cup water into a small bowl with the chia seeds. Stir until their all dissolved. Stir in the lemon juice and let set for 15 minutes.

2. Spread open the dates and soak those with 1/2 cup water in a small bowl for the same time as the chia seeds.

3. Add the berries, spice, chia seed mixture, and just the dates into your blender.

4. Begin blending on low speed, gradually increasing the speed. Use the date water to keep things moving, adding only 1 tablespoon at a time. You might use 4 tablespoons at most. Remember, we want a thick spread, not a smoothie.

5. Pour the mixture into your preferred jam jar and store in the fridge.

6. Stays fresh in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days.

   
   

   Makes about 2 cups.

   
   

Tips

• If you prefer a fruit preserve texture, simply stir in one tablespoon of chia seeds and let it set for at least 30 minutes. You can also mix in dried berries that have seeds such as raspberries or blackberries. You can also just pulse this recipe so it's not fully blended.

• Try and use the freshest dates possible for the best flavor. Dates that have sat on the shelf too long may need to be soaked a little longer if their skins are a bit dried.

• Enjoy this fresh fruit spread on sprouted bread toast, or any bread you like.

• If in case your batch came out a little runny, simply dehydrate for about an hour, or as needed.
  

• Stays fresh in the fridge 3 days. If your going through it pretty quickly, you can double the recipe and keep it in your fridge a little longer.
  

• This fruit butter can also be used as a fruit sauce over fresh fruit, stirred into oatmeal, or as your filling in vegan cinnamon rolls!

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ~ John 15:2 NKJV

Nutrition: The nutrition facts below are just the tip of the iceberg. What's not accounted for in these extremely limited macronutrient breakdowns that we see plastered on every packaged food we buy are the antioxidant and micronutrients. Comparing a 3-tablespoon serving size of Apple Butter using Nutritionix.com, you will see this whole food, raw fruit spread as a perfect substitute for store bought!

Basically, you get only 53 calories versus 87. You also get over 4X more calcium, iron, over 2x more potassium. Your sugar count is lowered too with only 7.7 grams of sugar versus 18 grams. The sugars in this recipe come from whole fruit, not processed because once a food is heated for even a short length of time, the nutrition is altered, and its sugars becomes extremely concentrated.

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Written by Lupita Ronquillo for Vegan Health and Yoga