Making Nut Butters At Home

What I love: waking up in the morning and throwing some frozen fruit, non-dairy milk, and some nut butter into my Vitamix for smoothie. My husband has an apple with almond butter almost every morning...such a creature of habit :) We also have really enjoyed carrots, zucchini, and radishes with almond or cashew butter as a snack (good way to get the raw veggies in there :).

What I don't love: paying $8-$19 dollars for high quality almond butter or $6 for "Sun Butter" (sunflower seed butter) and not being able to control exactly what goes in them (for me- usually too much sugar).

So if you also want to be able to control what goes into your nut butters and you don't want to spend an arm and a leg every time you want to make an AB&J, then this post is for you :)

A couple of cheap ideas for nuts:
1. Trader Joe's has a very nice selection of bagged nuts for relatively cheap. They even have raw almonds, pine nuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sometimes walnuts! In my opinion, they beat out Whole Foods for price and selection.
2. Costco has a 3 lb. bag for around $12-$16 last I checked. 1 lb of nuts will make a 16 oz mason jars worth (a little bigger than the jars you buy in the store), if that gives you any indication of the 3 lb. bag being right for you.
3. And if you don't live near either of these stores, Nuts Online has high quality nuts at reasonable prices in bulk. Amazon sometimes has deals as well.

So here it is....how to make nut butters at home! You don't have to just use only almond- play around with other varieties of nuts or mix several kinds up together. The pictures are of almonds but this recipe can be used for pretty much any nut variety. I make mine simple, but I will also share my favorite recipes from other bloggers that you can use as inspiration to jazz up your nut butter too! Also, this recipe is just for nuts only- I will be posting another recipe for Sun Butter.

Basic Nut Butter Recipe

Yields: 1 cup

Ingredients

- ½ pound of nuts (about 2 cups)

- 1 ½ oz (3 Tbsp) oil- I use a combo of 2 Tbsp grape seed oil and 1 Tbsp coconut oil for sweetness (I don’t recommend using olive unless you are making a savory butter )

Method & Tips

For Raw Nut butters:

- Make sure you buy unroasted, unsalted, raw nuts, and throw them and the oil into a food processor or high powered blender

- Blend in food processor (or Vitamix on power 7, using tamper) until creamy and butterized- about 5 minutes.

- You may have to add more oil as needed for raw nut butters, but make sure you blend them for at least 3-5 minutes before deciding to add oil.

- If using a food processor, you may have to scrape down the bowl a few times.

For Regular Nut butters:

- Try to buy the best nuts you can, unsalted. I still try to buy mine raw and organic so I know they haven’t been processed that much.

- Toast in the oven on 350° for 15 minutes.

- Let cool for about 10 minutes (its OK if they are still warm).

- Blend in food processor or Vitamix (on power 7, using tamper) until creamy and butterized – about 3-5 minutes

Here are some more great ideas for getting creative with nuts!

- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Almond Butter from The Edible Perspective

- Savory Smoked Paprika Almond Butter from The Edible Perspective

- Homemade Healthier Nutella from Heather Eats Almond Butter

- You can also add cinnamon, honey, stevia, dates, coconut flakes, maple syrup, vanilla- the possibilities are endless

Happy Nut Butter Making,

Eryn

Conversations That Help

I have recently decided to embark on a project. I'm not sure exactly how it will work, but my aim is to increase our knowledge base by interviewing regular old folks who can share some practical experiences and advise for trying to live healthier.

The following is from a conversation with my friend, Whitney. Here is her lovely family:

Whitney is a first time mom and a full time career woman, caregiver and wife. Here she shares her experiences while on the road to better living!

(My questions are in bold, her responses in regular type)

1. What was the motivation or inspiration for you wanting to change your families eating habits?

I think first, going to see a health-care professional who was a wellness professional- that really opened my mind to what health could really be. Also, wanting to not eat so much processed food- like we did growing up. Little Debbie® Swiss Cake Rolls were a staple in our home! No one really knew any better back then.

Right, it’s not like our parents didn’t really care about us, but those options were cheaper and seemed like a decent “treat” choice at the time. I remember eating those Little Debbie® honey buns all the time!

Also, beginning to read food labels was a really huge motivator to make better decisions. I became aware of how manufacturing companies like to mislead the consumer so reading food labels has become really important to me.

What was the first step(s) you made for your families health?

The first and easiest thing I did was replace all highly processed oils with grapeseed oil. This is by far the easiest thing anyone can do to increase the quality of how they cook. Grapeseed oil is so much better for you than highly processed, hydrogenated ones. And it doesn't oxidize when used in baked goods. I can’t even taste the difference!

I also decided to expand how many fresh fruits and vegetables I ate, instead of canned. I made myself try new things I had never had before.

One more thing we first did was cut down our microwave usage a good deal.

We all know the journey can have, shall we say, little bumps (or mountains!) along the way. What has been the hardest thing for you and your family?

Cow's Milk! Giving it up is something that has been really hard. Actually I'm trying So Delicious Brand Creamer (coconut based) right now. It's definitely not my regular creamer- which I miss! That taste that dairy has can't really be replicated. Growing up we probably went through a couple of gallons a week in my house. I grew up loving the taste of cow's milk. Waiting for my taste buds to change is probably the hardest thing. I think now, I am at about 75-80 % making healthy decisions for me and my family. I have noticed my taste buds change over the last year or two, and after that happens you start to want less and less of the "bad" stuff. Just not there yet with milk alternatives :)

My note: I actually saw a VIDEO recently of a Medical Doctor in California who treats children who are obese. He has done extensive research at UCSF about the toxicity of sugar (milk has a decent amount), but specifically fructose. One of the first things he tells parents to do, if their child is obese, is to cut out milk, coke and juice as beverage options. Just found that interesting that he included milk...If you have time, take a look at the video.

What have been the greatest benefits from the changes you have made?

1. Better digestion

2. Increased energy

3. Just simple peace of mind

Like knowing you actually know what you have just put into your body?

Exactly!

Anything more... advice?

Change has to be gradual. If you try to drastically change your life right away, you will get burnt out- fast!

I know! We experienced that when we first started our journey. We would be doing so well- crazy well...then get overwhelmed... then head to Chick-fil-A for a milkshake because we couldn’t keep up with ourselves.

Right! There is so much out there that you can learn all at once so you want to change everything! But it won’t work unless you just take it a step at a time.

Great advice!

I also feel that since I have not given my son hardly any opportunities for highly processed, sugary foods- he likes all sorts of fruits and veggies! His favorites are avocado, fresh green beans (steamed for lack of teeth :), and strawberries.

I bet most moms would love for their kids to like green beans :)

Thanks Whitney!

If you would like to join in the Conversations, shoot me an email (pumpkinspantry at gmail dot com). I may just feature your health journey on here as well. Also, if there are things you want to know- let me know and I will include them in more questions.