Homemade Nut Butter

I’ve been trying to get in shape before summer hits and have been on a special diet and exercise plan for the past week or so. One part of the diet called for almond butter. I couldn’t find it at my local grocery store and didn’t feel like driving all the way to the food co-op 20 minutes away. I remembered that I had a pack of almonds at home in the pantry and realized it was the perfect time to try making almond butter!

Nut butters are so easy to make and you can make them with virtually any nut. For some reason peanut butter seems to be the most popular but your can use almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds and so much more. Basically if it’s a nut or seed it can probably be turned into nut butter.

Directions:

Take your nuts and put them in a food processor or blender. If you have a Magic Bullet this would work great for making small amounts. I realized as I was about to start my food processor was in the dishwasher so I used the blender.

Turn the blender on and let the nuts grind up. It’s really that simple. First the nuts will be chopped, then they become ground very finely. After a while they will start to clump up. Use a spatula to push the nuts down so that everything gets blended. Eventually the oils in the nuts will be released and it will turn into nut butter!

It’s so yummy I could eat it by the spoonful. Unfortunately it’s high in fat so I am only allowed a little bit for this diet. Almonds are very high in calcium. 1 teaspoon has over 40 mg of calcium.
You can add salt, sugar, cinnamon or vanilla to your nut butter. Just add it right into the blender while you mix the nuts. You can combine nuts too if you want different flavors.

Once your nut butter is ready you can use it on toast, celery or anywhere else you would use peanut butter!