Easy, Homemade Nut Butters

For those few people out there still doing the low-carb thing, as I am and always will be, nuts and nut butters are an essential part of the diet. I get the majority of my calories from healthy fats found in walnuts, cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and the butters made from them.

The downside is that these butters have become much more expensive over the last couple of years, probably a result of greater demand. Even Safeway carries almond butter now.

Laurel on Health Food has posted an article on how to make nut butters on our own, which seems easy and much less expensive.

Have you tried almond butter, cashew butter, or hazelnut butter yet? I’ve noticed that more grocery stores are carrying them, but they are also quick and easy to make at home. I like to eat almond butter on a piece of whole grain toast, a rice cake, or with apple slices for a snack.

Nut butters are packed with vitamin E which helps your cells fight off damage. Specifically, the B and E vitamins in almonds help boost your immune system, and walnuts and pistachios help lower blood pressure (Ref: Women’s Health, “Stress-Busting Foods“). Tara Gidus, MS, RD, and national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association said that “nut butters are loaded with vitamin E, fiber, magnesium, zinc, iron and heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which help thin the blood and prevent platelets from clotting and sticking to arterial walls.”

Homemade Almond Butter Recipe
*Note: You can substitute almonds for cashews, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, or macadamia nuts for variety in this recipe.

Roast two cups of almonds on a baking sheet in your oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes. Stir the almonds throughout cooking to make sure all sides are roasted. Let the roasted nuts cool for a half hour before the next step.

Put the almonds in a food processor with ¼ teaspoon sea salt and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Process the nuts, oil, and salt on high until you get the consistency you want. Transfer the butter to a tightly sealed container and store it in the refrigerator. The oils and solids may separate over time, so just give it a stir before eating.

Double or triple the recipe to make more butter at a time.

A few thoughts on this recipe: I prefer raw nuts over roasted, ditch the salt, and be selective in the oils you use because it will change the taste. I would prefer to use almond oil or flax seed oil, depending on what I am looking for in fat content (almond oil for higher monounsaturated fats, and flax oil for more omega-3 and omega-6 fats).

By the way, my new nut butter of choice is sunflower seed butter. It's a good balance of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (with more of the polyunsaturated), and it contains a pretty nice balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats. Plus it tastes damn good.

You can find a complete nutritional profile of sunflower seeds at this link.

Tags: Homemade, Nut Butters, health, nutrition, fats, almonds, sunflower seeds, Laurel on Health Food, nuts