Homemade Nut Butters

Good morning my lovelies, I have a new recipe for you all today yet shock horror it's not an indulgent sweet treat. Instead it's something from the God's that is super healthy and very delicious. What more could you ask for? I'm really into healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle, of course including the occasional sweet treat or two. However, I am a firm believer of you are what you eat.

Ever since I was a little girl I have always loved peanut butter. We always used to buy the traditional one from the supermarket when doing the weekly food shop that has quite a solid and creamy texture. Last year me and my Mum discovered a new variety of nut butters from the brand Meridan. They have a huge variety of different butters to try including peanut, almond, hazelnut, cashew and even pumpkin seed butter. There are many more which also vary in texture as you can get some that are smooth or some that are crunchy. The thing that I like about this brand is that their butters are 100% nuts although some include the occasional pinch of salt but I think we can let them off that one. The ones that we were so use to buying contained palm oil. I'm not sure what palm oil is but I think it gives the firmer butters the more solid consistency that can sometimes stick to the top of your mouth and leave you with a funny after taste. In contrast these butters are much smoother and have no strange after taste in them. What is good to know is that they are 100% nuts.

To cut a very long and rambling story about peanut butter short; me and my Mum thought well if they are 100% nuts surely we can make our own.

Any excuse to bake or cook for me is a winner. I did a bit of research and cracked out our Jamie Oliver and Deliciously Ella recipe books who both include recipes on making your own nut butters. As well as being more cost effective as it's cheaper to buy a bag of nuts as supposed to a glass jar of the nut butter; it is a lot more rewarding and enjoyable making the butter taste that even bit more delicious. It is so quick and easy to make and it also leaves the house smelling incredible. I would definitely recommend at least trying it once as you will definitely be converted.

Ingredients:

Nuts

Simple, all you need is a packet of nuts. These could be any type and any quantity. You could even use a combination of different types. For my first attempt I made brazil nut butter. I found that 200g of nuts fills an empty Meridan glass jar.

Method

1) Pre-heat your oven to 200°C/ 180°Fan

You don't have to roast the nuts but I think it helps to release the oils for the butter. Not only that it gives the nuts a gorgeous golden colour and will therefore give some colour to your butter. It also leaves the house smelling amazing and homely. We toast seeds every Sunday to use throughout the week so the smell of toasted nuts and seeds smells like home to me; very comforting. 

2) Lay your nuts out flat on a baking tray and roast for 5-10 minutes until golden and brown. The smaller the variety of nut that you use the quicker this will be

3) Once golden remove the nuts from the oven and leave to cool down for 5-10 minutes

4) Place the nuts in a blender and give them a good blitz. You will see the nuts go from course to crumbs and then into a smooth butter paste. Once you have your desired consistency, add the butter to a glass jar.

There are so many different options that you can have with your butters. You could go for a smooth or a textured butter. For a textured butter you could add half of you nuts and blend to a smooth butter and then add the second half only blending until coarse. Alternatively you could add all the nuts at once and stop blending as soon as it goes from crumbs to a butter leaving you with a more solid texture. If you wanted to make a Healthy alternative to chocolate spread you could add a couple of teaspoons of cacao powder to your roasted hazelnuts when blitzing. The list of possibilities is endless.

Nut butters are delicious and healthy and there are so many varieties that you can make with so many uses. My current obsession is having nut butter inside a warm toasted wholemeal pitta bread. Once toasted you get a pocket of steam that just melts the butter it is incredible. You could also enjoy your nut butter on toast, in a sandwich, on top of a crumpet or waffle, on top of an oat cake or spread on top of fruit such as apples or pears as a fruit and nut snack. Alternatively you could also do what I like to do and curl up in your pyjamas on the sofa and eat the butter out of the jar with a spoon, what a perfect evening.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post my lovelies and that you give this a try. It is so quick and easy I hope I am able to convert at least one of you into trying these. Nuts are so delicious but they're also incredibly good for you. They are good for your hair, skin and nails and general well being. I have seeds and nuts every single day and I wouldn't be without them. I hope you have a good day my lovelies.

XXX