I’ve gotten a couple emails and comments about the nut butter process, so here goes.

The above is peanut butter.  No added oil and just a couple tsp of agave for 8 oz.

All you really need is a food processor and some nuts, basically 😀

I have a mini food processor.  You could do it in a large one, but you would need to make more at a time.  I use 8 oz of nuts for each batch.  If you toast the nuts, let them cool completely before grinding, as they sometimes just stay mealy if you don’t.

Add the nuts to the food processor and pulse until you get small pieces.  Then set it to just run.  You will notice the nut meal start to climb the sides of the processor.  You can either shake the unit (probably not recommended, but what I do 🙂  ) or stop and push the nut meal back down.  This is the most tedious part of the process.  Keep doing this and then you will start to notice the nut butter forming at the bottom of the bowl.  Once that starts, you can usually just let it run until it is the consistency you want.  It can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the nut you use.  Oil and sweetener are optional most times, although some nuts just seem to need a little oil.  Add the sweetener when the nut butter is almost done.  If you add it in the beginning, it just gums up and the nut butter won’t form right.  At least that is what happens to me.  For chunky nut butter, plus some of the nuts into small chunks, pull them out and reserve until the end and stir in.

Freshness of the nuts matters, too.  Older nuts will need oil.

Here are the nuts and combos I have tried:

1. Peanuts:  Easy.  Usually do not need oil with this.  Good additions are honey or maple syrup or cinnamon or cocoa powder.

2.  Cashews: Fairly easy, although I find a little bit of oil helps.  This butter is ah-mazing.  Jar-Spoon-Mouth type of amazing.

3. Pecans.  The easiest and quickest nut of all.  I would actually try this one first to have success.  Toast the nuts first, please.  No oil needed.  In fact, this is a pretty oily nut.  Great combos for this are cinnamon/maple syrup, coconut.

4. Sunflower:  Easy.This is a cheap seed LOL!  I don’t care for the taste as much.  This one needed a little oil.

5.  Almond.  Hard.  If find almonds take the longest of all the nuts to make butter with and they need some kind of oil.  Do not blanch the almonds.  Toast and let cool completely.  Almonds pretty much take at least 15 minutes of processing or longer.  Good stuff, though.

6. Hazelnut:  Medium.  This nut seems to need some oil, and it never gets super smooth.  The taste is worth it, though.

7.  Walnut.  Easy.  Like pecan butter, it forms easily, but stays fairly chunky. I am just not a fan of walnut taste so much.

Note:  Making nut butter in the Magic Bullet is not a good idea.  It never forms and just makes a mess.   ’nuff said.  Not sure if a regular blender would work either.  I think it is the speed.