How To Make Nut Butter | A Complete Guide | Healthy

Are you ready to discover all the secrets on how to make nut butter? You'll become addicted!

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I'm so happy to begin this Monday - my Monday (I'll post this on Tuesday) - by writing this article! Honestly, I'm so happy and excited to share these tips.

I'll start with two premises:

1. If my love for nut butters…

If only my love for nut butters would be turned into sunlight, the Sun wouldn't be necessary anymore. Hope it conveys the idea.
Now, all the jokes aside, I don't really know how big it is. I'm quite addicted. Since I discovered it some years ago, I can't stay without it anymore!

I remember the first time I tried a nut butter it was peanuts'. I was visiting this hotel with my Master's class (I was studying hôtellerie at the time) and when they welcomed us with this welcoming breakfast I was...amazed. Just a little problem: it was not pure peanut butter, it contained sugar, salt and oils.
As soon as I came back home in my hometown I started looking for 100% nut butters.
I was in cloud nine when I discovered they I could easily find them at a local organic grocery store. BUT...
They were not cheap at all. Since they're pure, without food additives or preservatives, you need a bigger amount of nuts to make it. That's the reason why they are expensive.

Homemade nut butter is not a lot cheaper (you can save just a few €), at least you know what you're eating though. Am I right?

2. The guide's you can find online

I don't know about you but I absolutely love when, browsing for some information about a recipe, I'm able to find those kind of 'guides' with pros, cons and tips and tricks.
I also pinned some of them on Pinterest. By the way, take a look at them because they could become your inspiration!

Basically, sometimes I love being 'guided', some others I like testing again and again.
Now, let me guide YOU towards Nutbutterland! Verry funny, uh?

The 2 main problems with homemade nut butters

As I mentioned before, the first butter I produced by myself, some years ago, was peanut butter. So far ao good.
Then I moved to hazelnuts and cocoa butter, a.k.a healthy raw vegan Nutella, first I tried a recipe found on Youtube (a flop) then i did my own (a total success!!!). Again, so far so good.
Then it was almonds and pistachios' round, and the problems began. Even if I kept grinding, they just stayed meal. This was the first problem. Never happened to you? If the answer is no then this guide is not for you, you're already a pro! If you shouted a big loud YES, then keep reading, you won't regret.
Oh, second problem: at the beginning I was not able to make a nut butter in a few minutes. This was happening because I kept using a big food processor with a big jug (2 litres) and that clearly didn't work for small quantities.

Eureka!

Ok, I told you the two biggest problems, now let's move on to the solutions right?

Tiny little premise: sometimes I'm lazy and a bit stingy when cooking, reason why if you ask me to turn on the oven just to toast a few almonds...I won't do it. At all.
Having said that: you will notice that toasting your nuts is necessary to solve the first problem, especially when they do not release their natural oils.
One day I was making my own almond butter and I was so frustrated because all I obtained was...almond meal and nothing else. Even if I kept stressing my food processor.
Then I thought 'Why not toasting this 'flour'?'. I heated a pan, I roasted the meal, I put it back into the food processor and...magic! I could not believe it!

Instead, I solved the other problem, by... buying this mini food processor (and all the kit actually).
Note: even if the above is an affiliate link, I'm not trying to sell you that product. I am just so excited to share the tool I've used to solved this issue. I was amazed when I used it the first time. Basically I made a nice and smooth spreadable cream in TWO minutes.
So, when you're about to buy a new food processor keep this in mind: unless you make large quantities, the smaller the jus the better! Mine is 350 ml and 750 watt.

Step by step

I thought the best thing was creating an infographic so you can pin it or save it in your phone and consult it whenever you want. Isn't it a great idea? Then here you have it!

PIN THIS INFOGRAPHIC ON PINTEREST!

My favorite homemade nut butters

Now, honestly, do you know what my favorite thing about homemade nut butter is? VERSATILITY. You can literally try hundreds of a combinations, as well as pure 100% nut cream (pistachios', almonds', hazelnuts', macadamia nuts', walnuts, cashews', brazilian nuts', pecans'...)

These are some of the combos I've tried up until now:

• Mocha: hazelnuts, cocoa, chocolate and a pinch of salt;
• Nutella: hazelnuts, cocoa and chocolate;
• Gingerbread, Bourbon, Coco-Choco, I wrote the recipe in my Italian eBook, let me know if you want it;
• Maple, vanilla, macadamia nuts;
• Almonds and Himalayan salt
  ...and many others!

My favorite? Mocha, I'm literally addicted to it!

To sum up - how to make nut butter

1. To grind you need a small food processor, still powerful though;
2. Sometimes, when the only thing you obtain is meal, you can toast it in a pan for a few minutes then grind again;
3. You'll need high quality organic nuts;
4. Do not buy the salted ones, they are really packed with too much salt (in case, add a pinch to your nut butter);
5. Do not soak them unless you have the chance to dehydrate them (read here);
6. Store your nut butter into an airtight jar, into the sideboard or the fridge;
7. Do not add milk or water, otherwise it'll be pasty.

*if you're allergic to nuts, try seeds! I will test them soon, meanwhile google 'sesame, sunflower butter'.

Now that you know how to make this utterly delicious spreadable cream...go and buy some good nuts and try. FYI: it is too good to avoid putting it everywhere, forewarned is forearmed!

Joking aside, this is a great alternative to all those processed butter you find at the grocery store, it is packed with micronutrients, good fats and vegan proteins!
Just try it!