Nut Butter How To Make It Homemade

Ever made your own nut butter? Because wow, is it tasty! It’s so easy to make and saves money versus buying it at the store. Even better: you can use this recipe to use up any combination of leftover nuts in your pantry! Anyone else have a pantry problem with little containers of different almonds and cashews or varying ages? (Yep, we do.) Here’s our solution: make homemade nut butter! It comes out seriously creamy and it’s full of plant based protein. Here’s how to make it!

What nuts to use in nut butter?

This nut butter came to be as an idea from my mother in law as a solution to our pantry overflow. Yes, Alex’s mom was cleaning out our pantry (she is a saint!) and found a million different containers and bags with leftover nuts. Slivered almonds, unsalted pecans, salted cashews, pistachios… You two need to make a nut butter with all of these! she laughed. Well, we finally took her seriously: and we’re so glad we did!
You can use really any nut in this nut butter recipe. Here are some ideas of nuts to use:

AlmondsPecansWalnutsCashews (add a nice sweetness)PistachiosHazelnutsMacadamia nutsPeanuts

Using a mix of nuts adds complexity!

In our nut butter, we used a mix of ⅓ each almonds, walnuts, and cashews! To add complexity to the flavor, it’s nice to have a mix of at least two types of nuts. But of course, you could use just one nut to make 100% almond butter, cashew butter or pecan butter. Cashews add a lovely sweetness to the butter, so we like having them in the mixture if at all possible. (We always have them on hand for making our favorite cashew recipes…) Another way to add complexity? Add a few handfuls of toasted coconut! Alex and I tried this and it adds an irresistible wow factor.

How to make nut butter

There are literally two steps to making this creamy spread! Here’s how to make nut butter (with any sort of nuts you’d like):

Roast! Roasting the nuts serves two purposes: it brings out the flavor, and heating the nuts helps them to break down when blending. Roast the nuts on a baking sheet at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes. Blend! Then, blend the nuts in a food processor until smooth and creamy! The exact timing depends on the specific types of nuts, how long you’ve had them, and the strength of your food processor. It should take between 5 and 10 minutes!

Need a food processor?

You’ll need a food processor for this recipe! If you don’t have one already, here’s the one we recommend. You can use it for anything from homemade hummus to basil pesto to veggie meatballs. We use ours all the time!

Customizing the flavor!

Once you’ve blended up your nut butter, all it will need is a little salt for flavor. If you’re using already salted nuts that you’ve found in your pantry, salt it to taste. If you’re using raw nuts, a guideline for a starting point is we used ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. You want the flavor to pop but not taste salty! The combination we used of nuts (almonds, cashews and walnuts) was so flavorful that it didn’t need anything more! If you’d like you can add a bit of cinnamon or other spice and blend again. But be careful: don’t add maple syrup or honey or the nut butter will seize up and become very thick!

How to serve it!

You probably have lots of ideas on how to serve nut butter! Honestly, one of the very best taste treats in the world is nut butter with a honey drizzle and a little sea salt. (Right?) Here are all our best ideas:

On toast with a drizzle of honey (use our Homemade Bread)Swirled in our Best OatmealIn our Peanut Butter Dip, served with green apple slicesStuffed into Easy Stuffed DatesAs the filling for Homemade Peanut Butter Cups (right…?!)Swirled with yogurt in our Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt BitesIn a sandwich with our Easy Strawberry Jam (so gourmet!)

More nut butter recipes

Let’s not stop at here! There are lots of other nut butter recipes to try. Here are our favorites that we make on the regular:

Peanut Butter The classic! It comes out ultra creamy and has no added sugar or oils.Almond Butter Thick and creamy, it’s perfect for adding protein to smoothies and toast.Cashew Butter Homemade cashew butter is creamy, sweet and delicious! All you need is cashews and salt.Pistachio Butter A fun alternative nut butter, it’s creamy and green. Walnut Butter Cinnamon scented, it’s creamy with a hint of sweet.