The principle is easy and always the same. Roast your nuts for 10-20 minutes (at 180°C) until they look golden and smell fragrant. This step doesn’t only bring out their best flavour, but it releases the natural fats, which makes blending them much easier. Now you can use a blender or food processor, but what really makes a difference here is volume. Use enough nuts (minimum 300g) and let the blender or food processor run, scraping it down every now and then, until you have a smooth nut butter. No oil needed! My Vitamix E310 managed to turn most of these nuts into a nut butter in just around 1 minute. It’s super quick. Pistachios tend to be a little bit more difficult to process. I used a food processor to be able to scrape down the sides more easily after every minute of blending. It took around 20 minutes before they finally formed a smooth butter. So whatever you do, believe in the process and keep going. The nuts will go from crushed to a dry nut flour to a sticky paste and finally to a smooth butter.
Hazelnut + Chocolate
Ingredients
-
300g hazelnuts
-
150g dark chocolate (75%)
-
1 tbsp cacao powder
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Once ready, roast the nuts for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
If you’re using hazelnuts with their skins on, transfer the hot nuts to a tea towel and wrap it closed to let the heat & steam open the skins. Then rub the nuts inside the towel to remove the skins. Let them cool off for 5 minutes.
While the nuts are roasting, place a saucepan with a bit of water on low heat. Put a heat-proof bowl on top of the saucepan (the bowl shouldn’t touch the water), then break the chocolate into the bowl and let it melt entirely, stirring it once or twice. Carefully remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.
Add the nuts to a blender or food processor along with 1/3 tsp salt and blend until smooth. You won’t need to add any oil. Simply stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again. Once smooth, add the cacao powder and blend again to combine.
Stir the hazelnut butter into the melted chocolate (if the chocolate has firmed up in the meantime, melt it again over the pan). Then transfer the butter to a jar and store at room temperature. It will firm up into a spreadable paste over the next two days.
Note: This is not ‘nutella’, but you can easily turn it into one. Simply add 50g icing sugar and 3 tbsp vegetable or plain olive oil to the nut butter when you add the cacao powder. The oil will keep the nut butter smooth and spreadable.
Cashew + Espresso
Ingredients
-
300g cashews
-
1.5 tbsp ground coffee
-
1 tbsp brown sugar
-
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Once ready, roast the nuts for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool off for 5 minutes.
Add the nuts to a blender or food processor along with 1/3 tsp salt and blend until smooth. You won’t need to add any oil. Simply stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again. Once smooth, add the remaining ingredients and blend again to combine. It will firm up slightly, that’s normal. Transfer the butter to a jar and store at room temperature.
Pecan + Maple
Ingredients
-
300g pecan nuts
-
3 tbsp maple syrup
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Once ready, roast the nuts for 15 minutes until aromatic. Remove from the oven and let them cool off for 5 minutes.
Add the nuts to a blender or food processor along with 1/3 tsp salt and blend until smooth. You won’t need to add any oil. Simply stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again. Once smooth, add the maple syrup and pulse to combine. It will firm up slightly, that’s normal. Transfer the butter to a jar and store at room temperature.
Brazil + Coconut
Ingredients
-
300g Brazil nuts
-
100g desiccated coconut
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Once ready, roast the nuts for 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool off for 5 minutes. In the meantime, toast the desiccated coconut in a frying pan until golden. Set aside.
Add the nuts and desiccated coconut to a blender or food processor along with 1/3 tsp salt and blend until smooth. You won’t need to add any oil. Simply stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again. Transfer to a jar and store at room temperature.
Pistacchio + Matcha
Ingredients
-
300g pistachios
-
1 tsp matcha powder
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Once ready, roast the nuts for 10 minutes until lightly darkened. Pistachios can burn quickly, so do keep an eye on them. Remove from the oven and let them cool off for 5 minutes.
I prefer using a food processor to make pistachio butter, as pistachios can take a little longer to process and the food processor makes it easier to scrape down the sides. Add the nuts along with 1/3 tsp salt and blend until smooth. You need to be patient for this one, as it can take around 20 minutes! It will look like a dry nut flour for most of the time, then it finally turns into a sticky paste before it begins to look like a smooth butter. Simply stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again. Once smooth, add the matcha powder and blend to combine. Transfer to a jar and store at room temperature.
5 Nut Butters
Ingredients
Hazelnut + Chocolate
- 300 g hazelnuts
- 150 g dark chocolate 75%
- 1 tbsp cacao powder
Cashew + Espresso
- 300 g cashews
- 1.5 tbsp ground coffee
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Pecan + Maple
- 300 g pecan nuts
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
Brazil + Coconut
- 300 g Brazil nuts
- 100 g desiccated coconut
Pistacchio + Matcha
- 300 g pistachios
- 1 tsp matcha powder
Instructions
Hazelnut + Chocolate
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Once ready, roast the nuts for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- If you’re using hazelnuts with their skins on, transfer the hot nuts to a tea towel and wrap it closed to let the heat & steam open the skins. Then rub the nuts inside the towel to remove the skins. Let them cool off for 5 minutes.
- While the nuts are roasting, place a saucepan with a bit of water on a low heat. Put a heat-proof bowl on top of the saucepan (the bowl shouldn’t touch the water), then break the chocolate into the bowl and let it melt entirely, stirring it once or twice. Carefully remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.
- Add the nuts to a blender or food processor along with 1/3 tsp salt and blend until smooth. You won’t need to add any oil. Simply stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again. Once smooth, add the cacao powder and blend again to combine.
- Stir the hazelnut butter into the melted chocolate (if the chocolate has firmed up in the meantime, melt it again over the pan). Then transfer the butter to a jar and store at room temperature. It will firm up into a spreadable paste over the next two days.
Cashew + Espresso
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Once ready, roast the nuts for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool off for 5 minutes.
- Add the nuts to a blender or food processor along with 1/3 tsp salt and blend until smooth. You won’t need to add any oil. Simply stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again. Once smooth, add the remaining ingredients and blend again to combine. It will firm up slightly, that’s normal. Transfer the butter to a jar and store at room temperature.
Pecan + Maple
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Once ready, roast the nuts for 15 minutes until aromatic. Remove from the oven and let them cool off for 5 minutes.
- Add the nuts to a blender or food processor along with 1/3 tsp salt and blend until smooth. You won’t need to add any oil. Simply stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again. Once smooth, add the maple syrup and pulse to combine. It will firm up slightly, that’s normal. Transfer the butter to a jar and store at room temperature.
Brazil + Coconut
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Once ready, roast the nuts for 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool off for 5 minutes. In the meantime, toast the desiccated coconut in a frying pan until golden. Set aside.
- Add the nuts and desiccated coconut to a blender or food processor along with 1/3 tsp salt and blend until smooth. You won’t need to add any oil. Simply stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again. Transfer to a jar and store at room temperature.
Pistacchio + Matcha
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Once ready, roast the nuts for 10 minutes until lightly darkened. Pistachios can burn quickly, so do keep an eye on them. Remove from the oven and let them cool off for 5 minutes.
- I prefer using a food processor to make pistachio butter, as pistachios can take a little longer to process and the food processor makes it easier to scrape down the sides. Add the nuts along with 1/3 tsp salt and blend until smooth. You need to be patient for this one, as it can take around 20 minutes! It will look like a dry nut flour for most of the time, then it finally turns into a sticky paste before it begins to look like a smooth butter. Simply stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again. Once smooth, add the matcha powder and blend to combine. Transfer to a jar and store at room temperature.
Notes
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