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We eat a lot of nut butter in our house. We eat it on everything from oatmeal, to rice cakes, to putting it in our smoothies and the list goes on and on. Our favorite brand is Justins Nut Butter and we have tried all the different flavors. The cost of buying nut butter can really add up, especially at the rate that we eat it. I decided to try making my own in an attempt to be more cost effective and to experiment with my own flavors.
You only need a few ingredients and a food processor to make your own nut butter. I decided to make an almond butter as that is what we use the most often but I plan to make my own hazelnut butter as well. I started with 2 cups of almonds because I wasn’t exactly sure how much it would make. I found the 2 cups to make the perfect amount, especially in the experimenting phase. I have a 7-cup food processor and would really need a bigger one to process any more than 2 cups at a time as you want there to be extra space when processing. The only other ingredients you will need are 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil and whatever you choose to sweeten the nut butter with but this is completely optional.
Begin by adding the almonds to the food processor and grinding into a fine powder. This can take 5-10 minutes. Next you want to add the coconut oil to the processor. Continue processing the mixture until it has a smooth, creamy consistency. You will notice the butter begin to stick to the sides of the food processor, make sure to scrape it down periodically. The nut butter should be creamy, if not, add a small amount more of the coconut oil and process again. The entire process can take 15-20 minutes to get the butter the right consistency. If you are going to add a sweetener or any other flavoring, wait until the very end. Once the butter is creamy, add the sweetener or additional flavoring and either stir in by hand or process for less than a minute.
There are so many different options you could use to sweeten of flavor the nut butter, such as maple syrup, agave, honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, or cocoa powder. I chose to add in only a small amount of cinnamon and sugar-free syrup. While the nut butter did taste good, I think adding in more syrup to sweeten it further would have made it even better.
Ingredients
- 2-4 cups of almonds ( depends on the size of your food processor)
- 1-2 tbsp. of coconut oil
- sweetener optional ( ex: maple syrup, agave, honey)
Instructions
- Add almonds to food processor and grind to a fine powder ( 2-10 minutes)
- Add the coconut oil and continue processing until a smooth, creamy texture
- Scrape down the sides of the processor periodically as needed.
- If texture is not a creamy consistency, add more coconut oil
- The entire processing time could take 15-20 minutes
- Once the creamy texture is achieved, add salt, sweetener, or other flavoring and stir in by hand or process for less than 1 minute.
Let me know what variations of nut butter are your favorite or what flavors you would like to try.
