Peanut butter, almond butter and cashew butter, oh my! Do you have an obsession with these like I do? There are so many ways great ways to eat it.. with fruit, on a sandwich, mixed with Greek yogurt, in recipes, and of course – and probably the best way- just a big spoon of it all by itself!
Homemade almond, cashew and peanut butter
It must run in the family or something because my mom’s love affair with peanut butter tops us all. While she’s not a coffee drinker like I am she does love her tea in the morning, but the peanut butter takes precedence even over that! While I’m reaching for the coffee mug, she’s reaching for the peanut butter jar!
Homemade cashew butter
Who can blame her though. In addition to their monounsaturated fat content, peanuts are also good sources of vitamin E, niacin, folate, manganese and protein. While the peanut cannot compare to fruits such as pomegranate, they are far richer in antioxidants than apples, carrots or beets.
All nut butters are not created equal though. Many store bought brands contain additional ingredients such as salt, sugar and partially to fully hydrogenated oils. Nobody needs that in their body. Yes, you can buy all natural ones at your local grocer which I used to do, but I just love making my own now. I know its free from any additional ingredients and it only takes about 5 minutes!
I buy bulk organic plain nuts at my local health food store. Just toss them in the food processor and turn it on.
After a couple of minutes it will look like this and then form into a ball.
After another minute or so you’ll have your butter. Process until it reaches your desired consistency.
I store mine in a glass jar and keep it in the pantry. (I use the glass jars from Ghee which is the perfect size!) I don’t even refrigerate it or have to stir it and the oils don’t separate. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s fresh or because we go through it so fast.
One pound (2 1/2 cups ) of nuts will yield approximately 13 ounces of butter
Here are a few of my recipes that include homemade nut butters:
No Bake Apricot-Almond-Coconut Energy Bars
No Bake Cranberry-Cashew Energy Bars
No Bake Chocolate Protein Balls
Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
You may also want to try these nut butter variations:
Cinnamon Raisin Chia Peanut Butter
- 16 oz. peanuts
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. chia seeds
- 1/2 C. raisins
Process peanuts in food processor as described above. Once creamy, add the remaining ingredients until incorporated. You can fold in the raisins if you want to have some chunks in your butter.
