Homemade Nut Butter Recipe – Bring a Spoon Bleecker January 17, 2015 Daily, Featured, Healthy, Lunch, Recipes, Snacks, Under 15 Minutes Did you know that the only ingredient in your peanut butter should be peanuts? And that holds true for all nut butters: almond, cashew, macadamia, etc. I challenge you to pick up your jar and check the label for ingredients. Can you understand most, if any of them? We all grew up eating Jiff, but would we still if we knew what was in it? Well instead of making you feel awful for all that junk and processed crap that you’ve been ingesting with your peanut butter, (oops, sorry!) I’ll introduce you to an alternative that is healthier, possibly cheaper, and just as delicious, if not more! Homemade Nut Butter: Start by choosing your absolute favorite nut. It can be almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, or a combination of all the above. I’ve found that almonds yield a grainier butter, while cashews create a creamy texture. Also, make sure the nut is in its raw form. You don’t want anything roasted. Next, bust out your food processor. Or order one online at a decent price. It honestly does not have to be a fancy shmancy one. I’ve found this one from Amazon to work quite well. And for only $30, you’ll be making all kinds of nut butters in no time. Finally, have patience. A lot of patience. Maybe it is because my food processor isn’t all that fancy, but I’ve found that making nut butter takes a heck of a long time. You wait and wait, and scrape and scrape, until finally the oils begin to omit and it actually looks like what you’ve been buying from the store! Here’s my (semi) fool proof recipe for (any kind of) Homemade Nut butter: Ingredients for Homemade Nut Butter: Package of raw nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, etc.) 1 tsp-1 Tbsp Cinnamon, optional 1 tsp-1 Tbsp Cocoa powder, optional Salt, just to taste *Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, optional, but when used will really speed up process! Instructions: Empty ¼ package of nuts into food processor Process, scrape sides, repeat and slowly add in the remaining nuts until you’ve emptied all nuts into processor If choosing to omit oil, continue processing and scraping until oils release, probably after 20 minutes or so depending on power of processer. Be patient people. If adding oil, do so when nuts have processed completely into grainy texture(after about 2 minutes or so). Begin with 1 Tbsp of oil and continue adding until nut mixture is smooth throughout. Add cinnamon, cocoa powder, or any other sweetener and a little salt and process until combined throughout. Enjoy as you’d like. I like pairing my Homemade Nut Butter with apples, bananas, on an English muffin, but prefer it most just by the spoonful For a more thorough tutorial and other great tips and nut butter combinations, check out this lovely post on the Tasty Yummies blog.
