We had a housemate one who was in a frequent state of awe at some of the things that Pete, the kids and I whipped up in the kitchen. Things like yogurt or butter or homemade ketchup and sriracha. "You can make that?!" she would exclaim in part wonder, and part disbelief.

Yes. Yes, you can make that!

With the exception of super highly processed foods (which you might not want to make a habit of anyway), you can make it all in your own kitchen – from homemade cheeses to crackers to sourdough bread to your very own nut butters.

And that's what I'm here for today. Nut butter.

Peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, hazelnut butter… whatever nut or seed butter you love, you can easily – and affordably – make it yourself.

And it's so simple to do that you won't believe that you've been spending all that hard earned cash on the pre-made stuff.

Why make your own?

• It's cheaper! A lot. Like less than half the cost.
• It's fresh! And what's not to love about that?
• You control the ingredients. I'm experimenting with making mine from soaked/dehydrated nuts to reduce the phytic acid levels.
• And: you'll feel like a superhero. Because you made nut butter!

Here's how.

Homemade Seed, Nut, or Peanut Butter Recipe

Ingredients

2 C unsalted nuts or seeds (soaked & dehydrated, roasted, or raw)

2 Tb oil of choice (optional but makes for a creamier nut butter. I like coconut oil for this but my kids think it's too coconutty. Sunflower or or mild olive oil also work well.)

Salt to taste

Process:

Place nuts or seeds in the bowl of your food processor. 

Call out "big noise!" to your children, partner, or pets. 

Pulse blender until nuts are coarsely chopped. (If you prefer crunchy seed or nut butter, remove 1/2 cup of chopped nuts now.)

Add oil and salt and turn on your food processor. The oils will not release immediately, so your nuts will transform from chopped to powdery to a sticky icky paste. Keep at it. Don't stop! 

Pause your processing now and then to scrape the sides of the bowl, then resume processing.

After a 2 to 10 minutes of processing the nuts will release their oils (yay!) and the nut butter will become a sticky mass that forms a ball and rotates around the food processor. Progress. Keep going. Break up that ball if you want to to encourage more mixing. 

Keep at it for several more minutes until you nut butter is smooth as silk and no longer knocking around the bowl of your processor or looking like a thick paste.

Total processing time will be anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes of processing, depending on nuts used and the power of your food processor. Wait until it looks beautifully smooth and you can hardly wait to spread it on an apple.

If you're making crunchy nut butter add reserved nuts now and pulse to combine.

Taste, adjust seasoning if desired, and transfer to a mason jar.

Store in the refrigerator. 

Carefully store your apron and your superhero cape until next time and dig in! 

  

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