I like to minimise the use of margarine type spreads because none of them are very healthy. I still use them, of course, but aim for moderation. It is easy to replace them sometimes with pureed avocado or hummus or other bean-based spreads (home made). I have also been longing to play with home made nut butters for some time now.
I have made cashew butter and peanut butter – both so very delicious and useful in many ways, not just for spreads. For example, this morning I had cashew butter on my porridge with some coconut oil and fruit. Very good!
The peanut butter is so fresh and vital made this way, I urge you to try it and compare the taste with your purchased one.
It is so easy to make them. Imagine the kids coming home from school and you say “let me whip you up a fresh batch of peanut butter for your snacks!”
Nut Butters
Take a cup of raw, unsalted nuts (cashews, walnuts, peanuts, macadamias, pinenuts, pistachios, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, almonds, or a combination) and place into the food processor. Let the processor run for 2 minutes or so until the nuts are ground and forming a paste. They will look a little grainy. At this point, add a little oil and a pinch of salt, and then continue to process until ground and creamy.
Use a tasteless oil if you can – grapeseed or peanut oil would be fine. Cashews will take 1 – 2 Tblspns of oil, but peanuts, being oilier nuts, may take less. Pistachio butter is quite dry and grainy but can be combined with thick yoghurt or cream cheese.
A little sugar or honey can be added with the oil, but is not strictly necessary.
Nuts can be roasted or toasted prior to blending into butter for a deeper taste.
Read Also:
- Nut Butters from Wikipedia
- A nut butter primer from Cooking Light
- How to make cashew butter from From Scratch
- Making Walnut butter from Flexy Fare
The Nuts Series
- Bengali Rice Kheer – Chaler Payesh
- Blueberry Shrikhand
- Cucumber Salad with Sesame
- Chickpea, Almond and Sesame Spread
- Green Olive, Walnut, Pistachio and Pomegranate Salad
- Zahtar and Dukkah
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
More Cooking, Food and Recipes:
Beautiful stuff.
I’ve been making almond butter quite a lot at the moment and each time I make it, I add 2 or 3 bitter almonds to the mix.
But peanut butter! Of course! I’ve never thought to make it for the boys ’round here. Excellent thoughts.
Hi Lucy, nice idea with the bitter almonds! I loved the peanut butter – a warning, it disappears very quickly.
Very easy and nice info about various nuts butter. Thanks. Lovely pics.
Thank you Sonia.
This is delicious. I glanced at the ingredients on the Nutella jar and know exactly what you mean. Got to make this regular in my kitchen too.
Hi Indosungod, yes, you won’t be surprised to hear that none of the spreads are very healthy, and yet we eat so much of them. HM Nut butters are so delicious, and you have control over what you put into them.
I love the idea. And the pics are great too!
G’day A&N, thank you so much! Lovely to see you here.
Pingback: uberVU - social comments
I thought I should roast the nuts… this seems so easy.
Just pan roast the nuts, Raaga, if you want to, but it is not absolutely necessary. You will still get a great result. I hope you do get to try making some nut butters.
I do make my own peanut butter. I remember telling you that I was going to try your cashew butter, now I really must. )
Hi Aparna, LOL – will be waiting for the results of your cashew butter…
wow, this is a great post! nuts are so versatile..I was reading some great recipes on vegetarian times for nut cheeses.
Nut cheeses! I must look out for some recipes too.
Oh my oh my oh my! Love it, want it.
Oh boy, you must try them, Bordeaux. Or maybe I could send you some? I would but they may not survive the journey.
I’m not so young anymore but I still love peanut butter and pb&j with vegetable soup. I’ve recently turned to organic off the shelf peanut butter but you’ve inspired me to talk to my wife about making our own. She is a great cook and I’m sure she could easily make it. Thanks for the inspiration.
Ron
I reckon these are so easy, even you could make them, Ron.
What a treat for your wife that would be! Good luck, and I hope you enjoy them.
I would love to make some almond or hazelnut butter at home. i have done the peanut butter, but I love almond and hazelnut more than peanut. pretty pictures.
You will love the different nut butters. And it is so much fun. Isnt home made peanut butter the best?
Pingback: Healthy picks: best of the web — Gill Stannard
Pingback: September 2nd, 2011 – Out of The Kitchen Again! « Heat in the Kitchen
Two points:
(1) Soaking and dehydrating nuts prior to roasting greatly improves the absorbancy of the nutrients. However, it is not necessary to do so. It is just more healthy. soaking helps to remove/reduce the phytate content. Phytates put a strain on the digestive system and alos pull nutrients out of the body so that less nutrients are absorbed.
(2) Cashews are more oily than peanuts and will result in a runnier butter.
Thanks, Don. Just a quick note about the consistency — of course it depends on how much additional oil that you add to the butter. I do make wonderfully thick cashew butter as well as peanut and almond.
Pingback: Mid September, 2012. Nut butters, Pickled Lemon Slices, Channa Dal, Goda Masala and Other Things « Heat in the Kitchen