Homemade Nut and Seed Butters (Peanut, Hazelnut, Pecan, Cashew, Almond, Sunflower) (V, GF)

I love making homemade nut or seed butters. There’s a few reasons why it makes sense to make them at home instead of buying them. Firstly, it can be much cheaper to do that. Secondly, some nut butters are not so easily accessible in stores. Thirdly, the taste and smell of homemade nut butters is amazing. Fourthly, you immediately get the silky and smooth nut butter from your blender while you usually have to stir store bought nut butter vigorously to combine the oils that separated and stayed on top with the rest of nut butter in the jar. And even then there are usually still some clumps left in the jar (putting store bought nut butter in the blender and mixing it can fix this issue nicely).

You will need only one ingredient to make homemade nut butter, the nuts themselves. The most important thing is the roasting time because it will determine the end taste. I did a lot of testing and my suggestions of roasting times below are as precise as possible for every type of nut. You will find below the roasting times for 2 cups of chosen nuts at a time. The recipe is written in such a way to enable you to make a small batch of nut butter but you can also make a larger batch by roasting nuts in two, three or more separate batches. If you decide to put more than 2 cups of nuts on the roasting plate, be aware that the required roasting time will extend significantly. Likewise, if you try to roast less than 2 cups of nuts then my instructions will also not be correct because the roasting time will be shorter.

The simplest ways you can use homemade nut and seed butters is to eat them straight out of the jar, to spread them on bread and make a sweet toast with them or have them as a dip for fresh fruit. But there are also many other ways you can use and incorporate them in different recipes.

The first and most delicious of all nut butters for me is peanut butter. Although others are wonderful and amazing in their own right, peanut butter is still the one that can never be forgotten or left out. A few years back I discovered a peanut butter on the market that’s very different from other brands and that is Richer Roast from Meridian. As the name says the peanuts are roasted richer or more deeply. It’s my favourite peanut butter and that’s why I wanted to recreate it at home. I have a few recipes that call exclusively for this kind of peanut butter:

• Ethiopian Peanut Tea
• Stuffed Medjool Dates
• Peanut Butter Caramelised Banana Porridge
• Breakfast Banana Split or Berry Yoghurt Bowl

If you want to make normal roast peanut butter, you will find this recipe also below. Store bought peanut butters often contain other ingredients, like oil and sugar but this homemade peanut butter is made only of roasted peanuts.

Here are a few amazing recipes where you can use it:

• Peanut Butter Curry with Potatoes, Carrots, Green Peas and Green Lentils
• Peanut Butter, Smoked Tofu, Avocado Sandwich
• Peanut Butter Caramelised Banana Porridge
• Breakfast Banana Split or Berry Yoghurt Bowl

The second nut butter that’s very close to my heart is hazelnut butter. The aroma of freshly roasted hazelnuts that fills the air of your home is quite intoxicating and probably one of the best smells that can come from a kitchen. Here are a few of my recipes where you can use hazelnut butter:

• Vegan Nutella
• Vegan Gianduja
• Ferrero Rocher Muffins
• Oat Bran Porridge with Caramelised Pear
• Breakfast Banana Split or Berry Yoghurt Bowl

When I first tried to make pecan butter at home it quickly became one of the top nut butters for me. It tastes like autumn caught in a jar. It’s just so wonderfully earthy and nutty.

Then there’s cashew butter that has the most versatile use in recipes because it’s creamy as other nut butters but it doesn’t have a distinct taste. That’s why it blends very well in recipes that need some added creaminess:

• Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread
• Vegan Cheesy Alfredo Pasta
• Vegan Turmeric Latte
• Vegan Matcha Latte
• Vegan Beetroot Latte

Almond butter has a great earthy taste that goes well with many recipes:

• Almond Butter Curry with Sweet Potato, Smoked Tofu, Spinach and Black Eyed Peas
• Vegan Date Squares
• Açaí Bowl
• Oat Bran Porridge with Caramelised Pear
• Breakfast Banana Split or Berry Yoghurt Bowl

Sunflower seed butter is another one that has that delicious earthy quality but in its own special way. Sunflower seed butter is next to rich roast peanut butter my favourite to snack straight out of the jar. You can use it as a substitute for nut butters in many of the above mentioned recipes.

When pairing homemade nut butters with fruits to make a quick snack my suggestions are as follows:

Peanut butter pairs best with bananas and strawberries. Hazelnut butter pairs best with apples, pears, strawberries and figs. Pecan butter pairs best with peaches, apples, pears and strawberries. Almond butter pairs best with peaches, figs, apples, pears and bananas. Sunflower seed butter pairs best with bananas, figs and pears.

Have you made this recipe? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear your feedback.