The plant-based diet and lifestyle have significantly impacted modern culinary culture. One such popular plant-based food trend is nut butter. People needed an alternative to regular cows milk butter and nuts and seeds were the perfect starting point. One look at the internet and questions like “how to make nut butter?” have thousands of searches each month.
I started using nut butter initially as a component of salad dressings. A little cashew butter, orange juice, and maple syrup make one yummy salad dressing. Slowly I started incorporating nut butter in my sandwiches, smoothies and energy bars.
The nutty taste, texture, and creaminess that nuts add to any dish make them a versatile ingredient to work with.
Now that I am a mom, I found a whole new use for these yummy butters – to add extra nutrients and increase the calorie density of my son’s food all while making food taste even yummier.
WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT NUT BUTTER?
- As I already mentioned, they are versatile. You can add them to a number of dishes and immediately increase the nutrient content of that dish. Add nut butter to smoothies, sandwiches, salad dressings, porridge, fruits bowl, energy bars and energy balls.
- Nuts and seeds contain healthy fats that the body needs. Nut butter can be used as a healthy swap to using butter and cheese that contain saturated fats.
- Not only do nuts contain healthy fats they also contain many vitamins and minerals. An added bonus when you are focussing on improving the nutrient content in your diet.
- Eating foods that are calorie dense also helps eat less and keep full for longer periods of times.
- Nuts offer a creamy texture to foods that are simply put, yummy. If you have not tried foods with added nut butter, you are seriously missing out.
I am going to add here a simple recipe to make almond butter at home. You can use the same technique to make nut butter from cashews, peanuts, macadamia nuts or seeds like sunflower seeds.
HOW TO MAKE NUT BUTTER?
Homemade Almond Butter
Ingredients
- 150 gms Almonds
Instructions
- 1. Start by toasting the almonds on a hot pan. The almonds are toasted when they turn to a darker color.2. Let them cool for a bit. For the next step use slightly warm almonds. The warm nuts help release oils faster during the blending process.3. Blend in a mixer or high-speed blender.4. The process goes from powder form to thick paste like texture on continuous blending.5. Once you have desired smoothness stop blending.
Notes
Store the nut butter in a dark and cool cupboard. If you want to store for longer periods then refrigerate.
To make variations in flavor, add any or combinations of the following:
Honey or maple syrup
Cocoa powder
Flaxseed powder
Making nut butter at home is also cheaper than buying readymade ones. Besides the joy of creating something so delicious is something else.
A simple snack idea is to pair homemade almond butter with banana and apple slices. It’s yummy and filling without any of those unnecessary added sugars and additives found in processed foods.
Have you tried to make nut butter at home? Leave me some of your tips and recipes in the comments below.
This looks good! I like the idea of adding a little honey to sweeten it. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, A little honey a little cocoa powder and you have one indulgent nut butter.
Yum. I would love to make this but my husband hates nuts ?
Aww, but you can still make some for yourself.