Homemade nut butters

As most of you know, I started making nut butters a couple months ago.  We were eating a TON of peanut butter, but then I read a book about nutrition that touched on the different beneficial fatty acids that are found in different kinds of nuts.  I decided I wanted to diversify our nut consumption, but found that alternatives to peanut butter are either hard to find or very expensive.  So, I decided to try to make my own.  Turns out it's really simple, can give great results, and can be cheaper than buying nut butters. Notice the "can"s in the previous sentence.  I've been getting pecans, almonds, and cashews at CostCo for a pretty decent price, so it ends up being cheaper than buying nut butters.  It's pretty obvious, though, that most of the cost of nut butters is the nuts, and the nut butter makers buy them in bulk.  I still think it's worth it, though, because you can make butters that you can't easily buy and you can make them the way you like.  I've learned that I like more of a roasted flavor and more salt than is present in most nut butters.  It's been fun to play around, and I've only ruined a few pounds of nuts by over roasting them.

The entire process is ridiculously simple.  Spread a pound or two of nuts in a single-ish layer in a roasting pan.  Roast between 375-400 degrees until desired level of brown, turning occasionally.  I check and turn pecans after 5 minutes initially, and then every 2-3 min.  Almonds I check and turn after 7 min, then at 3-5 min intervals.  Then, just throw the nuts in a food processor and process.  Initially, you'll make nut flour.  Keep processing, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.  This is the only part that can be annoying, especially with the almonds.  Eventually the nuts will release their oils and your flour will turn into butter.  The longer you process, the more liquidy it becomes.  Pecans go pretty quickly, almonds take longer.  You can add salt or other additives towards the end.  Some recommendations from on-line include cinnamon, vanilla, coconut, and ground hot pepper.

I store our butters at room temp, but I've read that if you add things besides nuts and salt, you should store them in the fridge.  I prefer to add those things to individual servings.

We eat almond butter on apples and bananas, pecan butter on apples and crackers, and pecan butter with smoked gouda is amazing.  I also like to mix different butters together to put on french toast, especially with some mix berries on top.  Cashew butter is the richest, and pairs amazingly with dark chocolate, especially as a topping on ice cream.  I haven't made my own peanut butter, yet.  It's so cheap to buy, I'm not sure it will be worth it.

-Maggie