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We love almond butter. And sunflower seed butter. And macadamia butter….and…and…
Nut butters and seed butters are great spread on things like my Super Quick Drop Biscuits or Gluten Free Wraps.
Or eaten on a spoon. A large spoon 
.
I use butters in my Almond Butter Truffles and I soon hope to post a Cookie Dough Truffle that we love !!!
But until you’ve made your own Homemade Almond Butter (or any of those other butters), you really haven’t tasted anything yet.
Nut Butter and Seed Butter Tips:
1. If you’re eating Jif, switching to a nut butter without trans fats and sugar is a great step in the right direction. But…. did you know that a lot of almonds are pasteurized with a chemical called PPO, which is engine fuel – Ick, right?)
2. Making your own butters from seeds and nuts that are soaked and dried in a dehydrator is better still.
3. The healthiest nut and seed butter is made by purchasing organic seeds and/or nuts and then grinding them into butter yourself. But that gets pricey. Here’s what I do.
We do purchase organic sunflower seeds, but most of our other nuts (macadamias, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans) are all conventional. We haven’t chosen to spend our money on going organic with all of these items at this time. We can only do so much.
There are other methods for making the butters, but I don’t think you can match the Vitamix for consistency, convenience and speed. Sorry, but for me, Vitamix is the answer. I’d love to hear if anyone has success otherwise, however.
I’ve read about using a food processor to make nut butters, but I heard from another reader who was trying to make almond butter in her Viking Food Processor (the same one that I have ) and it wasn’t working. I’ve read many similar comments on the internet as well. When it does work, it usually takes 13-15 minutes. Compare that to about 2 minutes in the Vitamix. That’s one reason I’m sold on this machine.
If you don’t have a Vitamix yet, please don’t give up on making nut butters. I just think that the food processor method will be frustrating as a long term solution. [I just actually ran up to the kitchen to try making sunflower seed butter in my professional food processor, and after blending for about 5 minutes, it still is not done 
. The mixture has now made its way into my Vitamix blender and will soon be smooth.]
UPDATE: I am currently test driving the Blend-Tec as well. Hopefully I’ll have an update soon but Vitamix has a new model too. So it might be awhile .
Homemade Nut Butter and Seed Butter
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds nuts or seeds (please see my post on soaking and drying nuts and seeds)
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 Tbsp mild-tasting liquid oil (optional)
sweetener (optional)
Method
1. Put nuts or seeds into a high-powered blender, or food processor. If your seeds and nuts have been soaked in salt water, then you will not need to add salt to the mixture. Otherwise…
3. Add 1/2 tsp salt (I recommend Real Salt.)
4. Add sweetener if desired.
5. If needed, add a little mild oil to the nuts to assist in blending.
6. Process the nuts or seeds according the manufacturer’s instructions.
That’s it!
If you are working with a food processor, simply put all of your ingredients into the bowl of your processor and start mixing. Keep it going for up to 12-15 minutes. You will need to stop occasionally to push the mixture down off the sides of the bowl, and you may need to add liquid oil, but you will supposedly end up with a butter at the end.
TIPS:
1. To save on cleaning time, I typically make 2 batches of nut or seed butter at a time and sometimes more. That way I only have to clean the blender container out once. You know – I love to cook, but the clean up part? Not so much.
After you are done making the butter, fill your blender up with about 3-5 cups of clean water. Then turn the blender on high speed and let it run for about 1 minute.
The result: Nut or seed milk that you can use in your tea, coffee, or for baking as you wish! It won’t be as thick as regular nut or seed milk, but if you wish to add some more nuts/seeds you can. Then blend for about 1 1/2 minutes. Have you seen the prices on almond milk in the grocery store??? You just saved about $2.50!
When you make the butters in the Vitamix, you may find it necessary to, add a bit of liquid oil (I prefer mild flavored olive) to the blender in order to facilitate blending. I don’t typically find this necessary, but pumpkin seeds and almonds tend to be quite dry.
Fresh ground almond butter, peanut butter, and for those of you with peanut allergies who have been buying Sunbutter, have you looked at the price of that stuff? - $30 for 6 pounds on Amazon?! I get organic sunflower seeds for about $1.50 per pound. That’s some serious savings. Add some natural sweetner to the blender and make your own!
You can substitute nut and seed butters pretty freely in recipes. There will be some texture changes, but I am not a recipe purist I started out trying to be one, but my stress level benefits when I realize that — newsflash — I am not perfect. I do the best I can.
For other ways to beat the cost of healthy food items, check out my posts on:
- Easiest Almond Milk
- Easiest Coconut Milk
- Homemade Coconut Butter
- Easiest Sun Dried Tomatoes
- DIY Powdered Egg Replacer
- Powdered Sugar Substitute
And make sure you read why there might be Engine Fuel on Your Almonds. It’s a must read. Yes – I said “engine fuel”. Sheesh.
What kind of nut or seed butters does your family eat?
How do you store your nut butter-fridge or pantry?
Hi Renee!
You must store it in the fridge. In fact, I store my nuts and seeds there as well. Especially if you roast them (which I typically do not). The fats in them become more unstable and they are subject to rancidity.
Thank you for posting this process! I have everything I need so I
will get started. Then on to trying the power bars
Hi I have a quick question. When you are making the butter are you using the dry blade or the wet blade that you have to purchase seperatly with the Vitamix? I have a Vitamix and love but I don’t want to ruin the machine thanks in advance.
Hi! I just use the wet blade. I don’t even have a dry blade. I didn’t think it helped that much with any functions of the machine. Take care! Oh, and it looks like I just ruined my wonderful professional food processor last night
.
Hi! I just recently decided to try making my own sunbutter. The $6 for that little container that is gone in a week was really starting to bug me : ) I don’t have a Vitamix ( does saving up for one count??) soi just used my KitchenAid blender. It worked OK. I did have to pulse it several times and then I let it run for a minute or two and then gave it a break. I also had to add a little oil to get it to butter status. With that being said it definitely was not as smooth as sunbutter but it tasted just as good!
Hi Velita!
I agree with you – those little Sunbutter containers are WAY too expensive. I make organic sunflower seed butter for maybe 1/5 of the cost? Anyway, the Vitamix is for sure worth it. (Your comment is funny!) – You’ll love it when you get one….I’m sure you noticed you can get free shipping through my site. Happy to help when the time comes. Take care!
I am wonder If I Can use this butter to make hand made soap or lotion?
I am not too well versed on soaps and lotions….I’ve mainly seen shea butter and cocoa butters as the bases for those. If you have access to the whole product in order to make the butter then I think you would be able to. Let me know if there is a different butter you are hoping to make.
How do I get Almonds where you get them
Hello Genevieve. I purchase my almonds raw after they come off the trees. I don’t think that there are any left at this point. There is another farmer that I may be able to get them from at the end of the summer. Country Life Natural Foods is a good choice if you are purchasing organic. One reader said that their conventional are sprayed w/ PPO. That wasn’t necessarily the case before.
Hi. I’m so excited… I made my own healthy almond butter from wet soaked almonds! The kids love it! This is what I did: 1) Soaked unpasteurized organic almonds with Himalayan salt for 18 hrs (did not dehydrate them), 2) added a little organic sunflower seed oil, 1 TBS milled Chia seeds, pinch stevia powder, pinch Himalayan salt 3) ran it all through my mini food processor for about 10-12 min, while scraping down the sides and checking for texture. W/o any oil, it was too thick. It was not exactly like normal nut butters, but it spreads and tastes great and it is healthy!
Thanks for sharing! I don’t care for the non dehydrated butters, but glad you liked it! Did you see my post on Almond Cheese? My oldest loves it! Made with soaked almonds!
Oh, next time I will write down the exact amts of everything and list it.
I’ll try it – thanks!
Hello Adrienne
I have a Blendtec. If I put 1 lb of almond (without soaking and drying), which & how much sweetener would you recommend? I have sucanat,honey and maple syrup on hand.
One more help. If adding no oil/liquid, how does it get the consistency of butter? is the oil from the nut itself? I am picturing I will get ground almond powder!!!!
Thanks again for these wonderful recipes.
Sofia
Hi Sofia! Regarding the sweetener, I think it’s a matter of taste. I would personally recommend sweeteners that are lower in glycemic index, but I think your options are the healthier of the sweeteners. Any would be wonderful for sure.
The oil in the nuts will make it like butter. That being said, you may find that you need to add about 1-2 T of oil to get it really going. I personally had a really hard time w/ the Blendtec getting it to make nut butter, so I can’t guarantee that it’ll work for you. I have a Vitamix and feel like it’s much better suited to nut butters. Pls check back in and tell me how it goes!
Hi Adrienne! I’d like to try almond butter in the Vitamix again, but I had a question about your recipe. Like you said, the raw soaked almonds didn’t do it for me(I didn’t like the taste or texture, wish I did!)
So if you don’t have time to dehydrate your soaked almonds, do you roast them first? My husband uses 1 entire container of almond butter in his shakes every week!
BTW, I love making my own almond milk in the VM, it’s so dreamy. I use cinnamon, whole allspice, 1-2 cardamom pods, stevia, xylitol, or palm sugar, vanilla, and a dash of salt. I always strain mine, since I don’t peel the almonds. My Vitamix does a great job blending the spices into the milk, it never lasts even 24 hours around here!
Samara
Hi Samara. I always am on top of dehydrating them. So when I notice the butter is getting low I check to see if I have almonds done and then I soak more if not. I typically have 1-2 5 pound bags of almonds ready “in case” and I do that w/ pumpkin seeds also. I don’t think roasting would help w/ digestibility. I’m thinking not. Is that what you meant?
Oh I see, for some reason I couldn’t tell if you always dehydrated them, so I wondered what you did alternatively, since I knew you weren’t using them without soaking-(I think I was wondering what the option was in the recipe to “BEST soaked and dehydrated.”)
Well, I think I need to get busy dehydrating:)
Thanks!
Samara recently posted..The Healing Codes Review, Custom Healing Codes, EFT
I just meant that some folks just eat them raw or roasted. I’m trying to tell what I would recommend without telling folks that they have to do it my way
. If you think the post is unclear let me know please.
Hi Adrienne – great and helpful site! Planning on making some sunflower seed butter. I have some roasted/salted sunflower seeds purchased from Whole Foods (bulk section). Since these are “roasted” seeds, do I still need to soak and dry them in the oven before I put them in the Vitamix? Or can I just start blending them as is? Thanks
If they are dry roasted, I’ve read that the digestibility issue has already been mitigated so you should probably just blend them. They will taste great regardless!
Hi Adrienne. Just wanted to let you know my vitamix alternative. I have a blendtec and while it doesn’t have a tamper to compete with VM, they just came out with a new style jar called the twister. It’s smaller and meant to accomodate up to 16 oz (volume). The lid has two scrapers built into it that hug the sides of the jar and you twist the lid while the blender is going. I used to use the Bosch blender that does make nut butter, but it took about 30 mins start to finish. The blendtec regular jar didn’t do it either. So I tried the twister jar. Depending on how much you add to the blender jar, you can have nut butter in as little as 1-2 mins. It’s awesome. I’m assuming that in this regard at least, it’s comparable to the VM.
Love your blog. I share it whenever I can.
Hi Cindy. So funny you wrote this. I am in the process of doing a comparison of the 2. I look forward to posting about it.
. Thanks for sharing!!
Hi Adrienne. I just received my vitamix yesterday and I am in the process of stocking the pantry. The question i have is this..I read somewhere that it’s best to sprout all of your seeds and nuts before use is this true? Also, what is the difference between soaking and drying the nuts before use and when should you?
Hi! You’ll love your machine! I soak and dry my nuts and seeds. Sprouting is generally over a few days while soaking and drying is typically for 7-12 hours. So I do the latter. From what I have read, it is very difficult to sprout nuts w/o having them mold. It is more beneficial nutritionally, but I am thinking I’d want to do trials with only a few and even then, I probably won’t do it. I am very happy w/ the results I get from the soaking. I hope that helps! Oh – I ALWAYS soak and dry my nuts and seeds. Once you do you will never go back. They taste WONDERFUL!!
Do i air dry them or in the oven?? I dont have a dehydrator
I use the dehydrator. When you can afford one I can help you with the best deal on an Excalibur. Otherwise, dry them at the lowest temp possible in your oven. It takes awhile and you might need to rotate the trays but it will work. Enjoy!
Great idea on putting the water in after making the nut butter for milk!!
Thanks!!!
I just cringed at the grocery store at the $10 6oz jar of almond butter that was ROASTED! I put it back, came home, looked at your website, and promptly made an awesome batch of cashew butter with my little Ninja blender! It is fantastic! Thank you so much!…now to keep the kids out of it!
I use a $70 blender and havent had issues. I add coconut oil to mine and we really like it that way! I do have trouble soaking and drying my nuts – they either turn out rock hard or soggy in the middle…suggestions? tios? ideas?
Hmmm…..what kind of dehydrator do you have and what kind of nuts are you drying?
I have mostly tried almonds,which is what we eat the most of…I probably should start trying others but haven’t. We do not have a dehydrator (we live overseas and to use one with a converter for such periods of time would be pretty costly). We have been doing it in our oven at low temps. Any help would be much appreciated!!
I am not sure – but the dehydrator circulates air so things dry more evenly and you can’t get the temp low enough to dry without roasting, at least in my opinion. So I think you might be better off just going a little higher temp and stirring to make sure they don’t burn. I hope that helps!
Hi! So I get the raw organic nuts at Trader Joes but they come out like paste, not oil, but I have not tried soak and dry…that is the secret huh?
I am not sure – I know the taste so much better soaking and drying. I have never liked raw nuts turned into butter. Try it and see
. I didn’t know what you meant by “oil”.
Do you have any recommendations where to purchase hazelnuts from?
Even if it is in bulk?
Thank you!
Mike
Where do you live?
I am in FL but usually order my stuff over the internet.
Thank you
Another question. Do you think you could make hazelnut butter out of hazelnut flour. It seems quite a bit lower in price per lb. and seems to be only hazelnuts with no other ingredients.
Maybe it would be easier as the hazelnuts are already ground down into a powder?
I think you could for sure. Maybe a little easier too
.
I saw it at Bob with red in the name of the online store. Seems quite a bit less, something around $6/lb if you get 25lbs.
Thanks so much Adrienne, you are the BEST!
Sorry – not clear on what you mean by this. “at Bob with red in the name of the online store.”
I didn’t want to link directly to the online store if it wasn’t allowed. It is an online store that sells Hazelnut flour the name includes the word red, then name bob and mill.
Does that make more sense lol
sure
. I just found bulk hazelnuts at Wilderness Family Naturals. Otherwise, I buy from http://www.clnf.org/. They have great service and can ship via UPS. You can link to the store. I’m OK w/ that. I just don’t like folks putting in certain links to weirdo sites or where they are trying to take business from me. I am fine w/ competition and honesty but not malicious stuff.
What are some mild tasting oil examples? TIA!
I’m thinking not extra virgin olive oil but I used that b/c it’s all I had
. Most folks would use safflower, sunflower or canola but I don’t care for the canola option due to GMO issues.
When I’m really lazy I take homemade or regular nut butter and add to water in the vitamix and voila! almond, sunflower mylk! The butter stays fresh long in my fridge and this makes it even EASIER than starting from scratch by soaking, dehydrating, grinding, etc, and the little bit of oil in the butter gives the milk a more milky mouth feel!
I think I wrote this in my post b/c i do the same thing. But maybe I didn’t
.
I love making nut butter in my VitaMix. There is always so much goodness left, I usually make a smoothie by adding some carob, yogurt or coconut/almond milk, ice, sweetener, etc.
Can i freeze the seed butters I make?
I’ve never done it but I don’t see why not.
How much does 1 1/2 pound of nuts make, 16 oz jar? I was thinking of purchasing a nut butter machine which is pricey, so I’d have to know if it’s truly a savings to purchase the machine and then buy the nuts.
Just get the Vitamix and you can make more than just the nut butters. I would appreciate your using my link if you do so. 1.5 pounds will yield a 24 oz jar
. How much is the machine?
just found your blog. I started out on the homemade protein bars, and now I have discovered so much more! I can’t wait to come back and try some of your other recipes.
Welcome!!
Adrienne,
Love this post, as I have just tried Sunflower butter for the first time. I have a Vitamix, and was curious where you purchase your organic Sunflower seeds for $1.50 a pound. I did check clnf, but shipping killed the deal for me.
I get them from clnf. If you order 200#+ you get shipping for about 50 cents per pound, but that might have gone up. So sorry.