5 Reasons to Make Homemade Nut Butter + the Best Recipes

A roundup of  healthy homemade nut butter recipes in every flavor combination from basic to indulgent. 

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How is it that it took so long for the nut butter revolution? I certainly would have enjoyed me some vanilla maple almond butter when I was a kid – but NO – it didn’t even exist! Nutella was coming on the radar but it was an expensive specialty spread from Europe – not something we had in my house!

Nowadays you can find flavored nut butters in most grocery stores, but either they are quite expensive ($10 to $15 a jar is common) or they are made with unhealthy oils and artificial ingredients (sadly, Nutella is one of those). Definitely read the ingredient label before you buy any nut butter at the store!

5 Reasons to Make Homemade Nut Butter

(*affiliate links ahead)

A better alternative is to make your own nut butter at home. Here’s why homemade nut butter rocks!:

1. It’s easy! As long as you own either a food processor or a high-speed blender, you can whip up a batch of delicious homemade nut butter in 10 minutes or less!
2. It’s affordable. Buy your nuts at stores known for good prices (Costco, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Amazon) to help keep the cost affordable. (I’ve got some Amazon affiliate links at the bottom of this post if you are interested.)
3. You control the ingredients. Make it simple (just nuts!) or doctor it up with spices, flavorings, chocolate, coconut and even fruit!
4. It’s healthy. Nuts are a great source of plant-based protein, healthy fats, minerals and vitamins. As long as you don’t go crazy with the sweeteners – and limit yourself to a tablespoon or two, nut butters are a very healthy part of your diet.
5. It’s versatile. Beyond spreading on toast and bananas (duh!), nut butters are fantastic in smoothies and mixed into oatmeal – or use them in your favorite cookie or dessert recipe!

Homemade Nut Butter Recipes

This roundup of nut butter recipes includes everything from basic nut butter to decadent chocolate and every thing in between. I hope you find a new favorite in this list!

If you’ve never made a nut butter before, I recommend starting with this basic Toasted Almond Butter from The Healthy Foodie. Sonia likes to use a blend of 1/2 toasted and 1/2 raw almonds. She also suggests you could add a pinch of cinnamon and/or a vanilla bean, which I’m sure is mighty tasty but again, if this is your first nut butter, start with plain – I guarantee it will become a pantry staple.

Ready to take a basic nut butter to the next level? Just add cocoa! Lee from Fit Foodie Finds shares this Cocoa Peanut Butter recipe that turns plain jane peanuts into a chocolate lovers heaven!

When you’re ready to branch out to a new type of nuts, try this cashew butter flavored with maple, vanilla & almond from Running to the Kitchen. It’s not any harder than peanut or almond butter, in fact, the most difficult part will be trying not to eat all the maple syrup roasted cashews before you have a chance to blend them.

If you’ve ever had Chai tea then you know how delicious these spices are when mixed together: cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves and allspice. Blend then up with raw almonds and you’ve got a Chai Spiced Almond Butter that is terrific on toast or spread on banana slices with a sprinkle of coconut and chocolate chips!

Decadent pecans mixed with baking spices and a little bit of maple syrup, creates a nut butter that tastes like pecan pie in a jar!

Give almond butter a new dimension by adding toasted coconut to the mix.

Nutty tasting hemp hearts are actually nut-free (they are seeds) and are packed with nutrition. Blend hemp hearts up with cocoa, cinnamon and a bit of coconut oil and you’ve got a super tasty, chocolaty treat!

Adding freeze dried strawberries to cashews is not only a unique spin on nut butter but this Strawberry Cashew Butter is a beautiful color too!

Roasted nuts, coconut sugar, vanilla, maple and of course a bit of salt are what makes this nut butter taste like salted caramel – and who doesn’t love that?!!

 

Give your nut butter an extra boost of healthiness by adding nutritious seeds to the mix. This Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter with hemp, flax & chia seed from Oh She Glows sounds like my kinda health food!

 

If you’re in the mood for something decadent, try this Chocolate Hazelnut Butter from Texanerin. Unlike Nutella, which is made with palm oil and refined sugar, this homemade version is made with coconut sugar and has no added oil. Yes you can!

Nut allergy or not, sunflower seed butter is worth a try! This recipe includes a hint of coconut sugar and sea salt for a balanced flavor.

Are you a nut butter fan? Which recipe sounds best to you?

 

 

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