Nut Butters

OK, I know everyone is familiar with Peanut Butter and maybe even a few other combinations that can be found in health food stores.  This can lead one to ask, Why is Uncle T talking about nut butters?  As usual, it comes down to what you make yourself tastes better and is probably better for you than what you can buy.

A bit over 2 years ago we stopped to watch a demonstration of the Vitamix at the local base exchange.  We were impressed with the smoothies, the soups, and the ice cream it could make as well as the ease of clean up.  Another great thing is that you can use the whole fruit or vegetable and it will still be reduced to a fine smoothie full of beneficial fiber and vitamins.  However, we still deemed it a bit pricey and were about to leave.  I'd been talking food with the guy about food and before we walked away he brought out something not on the demo list, Peanut Butter.  The only thing in it was peanuts and a bit of salt since he'd used salted dry roasted peanuts.  It was great.  The good wife frequently eats peanut butter on a bit of toast for breakfast and she really liked it.  In the end, we bought the Vitamix.



The Vitamix loaded up and ready to go.

 For the next several months, I made Peanut Butter as it was required and it was still tastier than store bought.  Then I mentioned that MREs that I was inspecting had a Chocolate Peanut Butter which got the wheels in the good wife's brain going.  That turned into, couldn't you do that in the Vitamix?  Yep, and it turned out fairly well also.  Finally,  one day when we were at the hippie store (Organic Food Depot) and we saw Almond Butter and Cashew Butter.  We bought small sample packages to try to see if we liked them, we did.

Now, things got to be interesting.  The good wife's sister has a Pecan tree in the back yard so they end up with many many Pecans.  What do you do with that many Pecans?  You do whatever you can think of so a couple of gallon bags of shelled Pecans arrived in short order.  They were roasted and salted and made a dandy snack but that is not why they were sent.  They were destined for the VitaMix.

I'd been making a mixed nut butter by using the big can of mixed nuts and having the different varieties and flavors made an exceptional nut butter.  What we came up with as a use for the Pecans was to make Pecan-Almond Butter and Pecan-Cashew Butter.

So, a couple of weekends ago I was making the Pecan-Almond and Pecan-Cashew Butters because I had been informed that my dear sister in law was out.  After they were made and labeled, the good wife asked how many Pecans were left.  We had a good bit left and our stock of nut butters was pretty high.  It was suggested that I make another jar since there would be room in the box to be shipped.  We found a suitable jar and I started getting the nuts back out of storage and then it hit me, Pecan-Almond-Cashew Butter!



Freshly ground Pecan-Almond-Cashew Butter

The Pecan-Almond-Cashew Butter turned out great.  I believe it is the best of the lot with the blending of those three great flavors.  My good wife got a sample spoon to taste and declared it a keeper.  Remember, the only things in this are the nuts and the salt that is on them.

Now on to the recipes.

Roasted Pecans

1 stick butter
6 cups Pecans
salt, to taste

Melt the butter.  Pour it over the Pecans in a large bowl.  Toss to evenly coat the Pecans.  Spread them on a cookie sheet in a single layer.  Sprinkle salt over them.  Roast in 300 - 325 degree oven for 10 - 20 minutes.  Stir them around every 5 - 10 minutes.  Keep and eye on them so they don't get too dark.

Nut Butters, this is the Peanut Butter recipe from the Vitamix book.  I'm just using different nuts.

3 cups of nuts.  If more than one type then split evenly.

Turn on Vitamix on High for 1 - 2 minutes or until desired consistency is reached.



A pint jar almost full.  A full pint jar went to a neighbor, we got the partial.

See, nothing too it.  We took inspiration from something we saw in a store and made it better by making it fresh.

There was another Vitamix demo at the exchange this weekend and I talked to the Demonstrator and she said that she had owned a Vitamix for 12 years and had only made Peanut Butter.  She hadn't even thought of other nuts.  I may have to send the recipe into Vitamix for their online recipe files. 

A spoon full of nutty goodness

Give some of the alternative nut butters a try.  If you can make them yourself, so much the better.

Uncle T