healthy nut butter Archives

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

Ophira

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

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

Depending on the texture you prefer you can blend until smooth texture or leave it at a coarse texture.

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.

Are you a Nutella lover who is on a journey to clean eating? I have an easy homemade Nutella recipe for you. This recipe is perfect for people with dairy allergies, vegans or anyone who doesn’t want to consume a lot of processed foods.

We have all grown up having Nutella in cookies, milkshakes and on toast. But do you know that just 2 tablespoons of Nutella contain 21 gms of sugar and 11 gms of fat? That’s nearly a days worth of recommended sugar (AHA recommends 9 teaspoons or 36gms of added sugar for men and 6 teaspoons or 25 gms for women per day) intake in one go, also the fat i.e. palm oil is not considered one of the healthiest sources of fats.

Eating healthier and cleaner does not mean you have to give up on things you love. You deserve a little treat from time to time and a homemade version of your favorite food is a great way to start. This homemade Nutella recipe is so easy, I wondered why I didn’t try and make this before. It tastes yummy and doesn’t have any nasty ingredients. Only some healthy fats, antioxidants, and vitamins. Big win right?

You get iron and magnesium from the raw cacao, along with some more magnesium and healthy monounsaturated fats from hazelnuts. All this minus the sugar overload. Basically, a nut butter that is good for you.

This homemade Nutella also makes a perfect DIY gift idea for those who like making something handmade as a gift. You can carry this as a gift for your host at dinner parties, as a handmade Valentine’s day gift for your partner or a present for your foodie girlfriend on her birthday. I will be using this as a part of our Valentine’s day spread at home along with a few other healthy treats I plan to make for my boys.

If you like these kinds of healthy treats there’s another simple no-bake vegan cheesecake recipe on the blog. These recipes are toddler-friendly too, so if you are looking for some healthy desserts for your little ones you can bookmark them for future reference.