How To Make Your Own Fancy Nut Butters At Home

Chocolate vanilla swirl cashew butter. Boo-yah.

Lavish nut butters have captured both the taste buds and wallets of health-conscious consumers: Even on bodega store shelves, you can find flavors infused with swirls of honey, studded with cinnamon-raisin granola and laced with coconut or salted caramel.

The options are undoubtedly hypnotizing and, luckily, you don't have to shell out big bucks to taste them. You can make your very own specialty nut butters at home -- and once you get the basics down, you'll be equipped to craft any kind of action-packed spread of your dreams. And since you'll have control over what goes into your nutty blend, you can ensure the ingredients are healthy and free of allergens, chemicals and preservatives.

The process is very simple. All you need is a food processor or a high-speed blender, at least a quarter cup of nuts (buy them in bulk to save more) and the accoutrements of your choosing (ingredients like salt, honey, raisins, chocolate chips, cinnamon and cocoa powder).

Here's how to do it:

Process the nuts for a minute, stopping to scrape them off the sides of the food processor. As you keep processing, the oils from the nuts will unfurl, providing the mixture with moisture.

Repeat this step (pause every minute to scrape the sides) while chucking in the add-ins: If it's on the liquid-y side, like honey or maple syrup, drizzle it in gradually to get the consistency you desire. It's hard to mess up your nut butter, but be extra conscious to not let the machine run for more than one minute at a time. The Vitamix blender website warns that this will cause the machine to overheat. Once your spread meets your texture preference requirements, store in an airtight container.

You really can make any kind of nutty combination your brain can compose. Here's a bit of inspiration if you're stuck:

1
Cinnamon Sugar & Raisin Peanut Butter
Nine Months Baking
Get the Cinnamon Sugar & Raisin Peanut Butter recipe from Nine Months Baking
2
Pumpkin Almond Butter
Eating Bird Food
Get the Pumpkin Almond Butter recipe from Eating Bird Food
3
Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Cashew Butter
Fit Foodie Finds
Get the Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Cashew Butter recipe from Fit Foodie Finds
4
Snickerdoodle Almond Butter
Hungry Healthy Girl
Get the Snickerdoodle Almond Butter recipe from Hungry Healthy Girl
5
Maple Sea Salt Pistachio Butter
Fit Foodie Finds
Get the Maple Sea Salt Pistachio Butter recipe from Fit Foodie Finds
6
Chocolate Hazelnut Butter
Texanerin
Get the Chocolate Hazelnut Butter recipe from Texanerin
7
Spicy Walnut Butter
The Healthy Maven
Get the Spicy Walnut Butter recipe from The Healthy Maven
8
Buttered Pecan Pie In A Jar
The Healthy Foodie
Get the Buttered Pecan Pie In A Jar recipe from The Healthy Foodie
9
Salted Caramel Almond Butter
Honey And Figs Kitchen
Get the Salted Caramel Almond Butter recipe from Honey And Figs Kitchen
10
Vanilla Maple Pumpkin Sunflower Seed Butter
Whole Pure Recipes
11
Oatmeal Cookie Nut Butter
The Healthy Foodie
Get the Oatmeal Cookie Nut Butter recipe from The Healthy Foodie
12
Honey Roasted Macadamia Nut Butter
Not Enough Cinnamon
Get the Honey Roasted Macadamia Nut Butter recipe from Not Enough Cinnamon
13
Healthy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
Desserts With Benefits
Get the Healthy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter from Desserts With Benefits
14
White Mocha Almond Butter
Healthy Food For Living
Get the White Mocha Almond Butter recipe from Healthy Food For Living

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