Crunchy or smooth. Unsalted or salted. Organic or conventional. These are choices we're up against when buying peanut butter at the grocery store. But there are some new kids in town that guarantee to liven up each and every sandwich you make.
I love nut butters because they satisfy my sweet tooth in a way I don't necessarily feel guilty about and they pack a nice wallop of protein. To make nut butters at home, you need a food processor or a good blender, your nuts of choice, and a bit of oil. From there, the choices are endless with different spices and sugars.
I started making homemade Nutella about a year ago after realizing that the real stuff was full of hydrogenated oil. The nice thing about doing it at home is you choose the quality of the ingredients (I use a pretty incredible, dark Valrhona cocoa powder) and control the precise consistency you'd like for it to be. It's a win-win. All the way around.
Try a Recipe:
• Smoked Paprika Almond Butter - Edible Perspective
• Homemade Maple Almond Butter - Food in Jars
• Homemade Nutella - David Lebovitz
• Cinnamon Walnut Butter - Simple Bites
• Cake Batter Cashew Butter - Edible Perspective
Related: Recipe: Pumpkin-Sunflower- Flax Seed Butter
(Image: janineomg via flickr and Food in Jars)
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I'd really like to see some more about pistachio butter. I remember it was featured in the 2009 movie Gamer.
If you get the real real stuff, as in from Italy, it's even better, both tasting and ingredients. You'll have to go to an Italian grocery store to find it, but if you've had it, it's a must. I buy one jar a year, for Christmas, I always make a buche de noel, and stuff it with a nutella cream, to make it.
This is a great post! A client of our office has a farm and brings us huge bags of walnuts. I am definitely trying the walnut butter this weekend!
We eat a lot of peanut butter in our house, and because even the "organic" stuff at the store contains palm oil, we eat Smucker's Natural peanut butter. It's just peanuts and salt. We always eat pb with j, so we don't need the extra sugar.
Back home there was a store brand of "old-fashioned" peanut butter that was pretty cheap, but now I splurge a bit on the Smuckers.
NUT BUTTER!!!!!!!
For store bought I go for Trader Joe's Almond Butter. The only ingredients are Almonds and, if you want, salt. I don't buy most sunflower, soy, etc. butters even if they are organic because most of them add cane sugar or HFCS.
At home, I whip up hazelnut butter, macadamia butter (favorit), and then cashew coconut butter.
I love the almond butter I get from some local almond growers at the farmers market. At only $5 a jar, it is cheaper than a same sized jar of the stuff from TJs or Whole Foods.
I made some awesome pistachio butter and then i made pistachio butter cups from them:
http://www.donutstodelirium.com/2011/04/pistachio-butter-pistachio-butter-cups/
After reading this, I feel as if the Kitchn should do a fall season of posts where they experiment with the plethora of nuts that ripen this time of year. I'm always presented with tables and barrels of fresh in-shell nuts at my local market, but I never buy them, cause I never know what to do with them.
A little while ago I learned how easy it is to make your own nut butters. Pistachio was one of my favourites.
When buying Nutella, if the jar is made of glass then it is made in Italy. If it is made of plastic then it is made in Canada or somewhere else. The Italian made Nutella is only found in very few Italian specialty stores. However, when you do find it, a Nutella Mascarpone Mousse is a must.
Ah, @shutterbean, the obsession continues...
Sunflower seed butter is my current nut butter of choice.
I made the walnut butter on Saturday and it's really good. Peanut butter will always be my favorite, but this was a nice change.
@scotchncoffee - cashew coconut butter? recipe please!!!! that sounds amazing!