Walnut Butter–Easy & Oil-Free!
My boyfriend and I were lucky enough to receive a fabulous 3-pound bag of walnuts from his parents for the holidays this year. We are quite easy to please. 😉 Given such an abundance of nuts, I figured it was time to whip up some homemade walnut butter.
As long as you have a decent food processor or blender, nut and seed butter is quite easy to make at home. Making it home means you have to opportunity to adjust your additional flavorings. Since my favorite way to enjoy nut butter is to spoon a bit into a juicy Medjool date, I like the addition of a pinch of vanilla and cinnamon. Feel free to leave that out if you prefer a plain nut butter.
Walnut Butter
Makes about 1 cup
- 2 cups raw shelled walnuts
- 1/4 teaspoon ground vanilla bean
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
Place everything in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. You will need to stop the food processor every 1-2 minutes to scrape down the sides. Should take 5-10 minutes of blending depending upon the strength of your machine.
Here are some photos of the process so you can see the stages from whole nut to a smoother butter. Without using oil it may not be as creamy as a store-bought nut butter, but it still tastes delicious! Plus you do not have to worry about any weird stuff in your final product to detract from the health of the nuts themselves.
Just like you can change out the seasonings, you can also use different nuts or seeds. Pecan butter is equally tasty! Just know you may need to adjust the time according to the type of nut or seed. 🙂
