Homemade nut butters are so fresh, so richly flavored and textured, that when you begin to make your own, you may never buy them again. Use these nut butters to thicken soups and sauces, to slather on
bread or toast, to put in a sandwich. They can be used anywhere you use peanut butter.
Makes 1 cup (250 ml) nut butter
Ingredients:
2 cups (300 g) raw nuts
Fine sea salt
Note: It takes almost 15 minutes for a food processor to turn warm, toasted nuts into fine, delicious nut butter. Don’t be tempted to add oil at any stage of the process, as nuts contain all the oil they need to make a beautiful butter.
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Place the nuts in a baking pan and bake in the oven until they are golden and smell toasty, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the nuts directly to a food processor. Process the nuts until
they turn to butter, which will take approximately 15 minutes. The nuts will go through several stages before they begin to turn to a puree and become oily. First they’ll be coarsely chopped, then more finely
chopped, then minced, then they’ll take on a rough, dusty aspect. At this point you may think you need to add oil—don’t! Let the processor continue to run. The nuts will become finer and begin to turn oily. Don’t turn off the food processor until you have a fine puree, a beautiful nut butter.
3. Transfer the nut butter to a container. Don’t seal the container until the nut butter has completely cooled. Stored in an airtight glass jar, in the refrigerator, it will keep for about 2 weeks.
