Making almond butter is ticked off my 'Have a Go' list!

As I am always being inspired by the ideas presented by the members on the Down to Earth Forum, I decided that I really need to have a 'Have a Go' list. I have noticed lately that there have been a few references to nut butter on the forum so I did a Google search and found the methods used to make it are many and varied. One person soaks then dehydrates the nuts before processing whereas another person puts them in the fridge beforehand and on it goes. In the end I decided to go with the method of warming them in the oven first before putting them in the food processor and that worked for me.



 



 

 

 

I was going to start off my nut butter attempts by using our own macadamia nuts as we have two trees which feed both ourselves and passing cockatoos as they often feast on them for breakfast. However, as I hadn't shelled the nuts and was in a hurry, I remembered I had a packet of roasted almonds in the pantry so I spread them on a baking tray and put them in a moderate oven for about 5 minutes. Then they went into the food processor and it went to work.

 

 

 

 

I was careful to turn the food processor off every minute or so as I didn't want it to overheat.

 

 

Here you can see the almonds are getting more powdery.

 

Now the mixture is becoming oily and before you know it.....

 

you have almond butter!

 

This process took about ten minutes from the time the almonds were taken out of the oven. In my research some people were saying that it had taken them an hour or so to get to the butter stage so I was a bit hesitant about starting but I was pleasantly surprised to see the nuts becoming oily after such a short time.

So... making almond butter has been ticked off my 'Have a Go' list as I said and the next batch of nut butter I make will be macadamia butter. I just have to shell the macadamias which has become a much easier task since we bought our nutcracker several years ago. It is so easy to use that a child can shell the macadamias as you can see on the YouTube video on the manufacturer's website T.J.'s Nutcrackers. If you are interested in investing in one of these terrific nutcrackers they have a list of  retailers on their website both in Australia and overseas. I can highly recommend them.

 

Have you tried making nut butter? Please share your method if you have!