Almond Butter

Homemade almond butter is healthy, delicious and super easy to make. My version only has one ingredient – almonds, and it only takes one minute to make with a Vitamix blender.

Homemade almond butter is more affordable, too. The math is simple. One pound of almonds yields one pound of almond butter (or 16 ounces), which is the size of the standard almond butter jar at the store. Just compare the price of one pound of raw almonds to the price of your favorite almond butter.

How to Make Almond Butter?

In order to make the best almond butter possible, it’s important to know a few things about nuts. Namely, some nuts have more natural oils than others, which affects how easy they are to churn into butter. Peanuts, cashews and macadamia nuts have more natural oils (fatty acids) so they turn into nut butter quite easily. Almonds have a bit less oil.

The easiest way to make the Almond Butter is;

1. Add a little oil (I like avocado oil) to raw almonds while blending to help them churn easier.
2. Roast the raw almonds first which helps to release their natural oils. I usually opt for the latter.

Tips For Homemade Almond Butter:

1. Storage: The almond butter will stay good for several weeks in the fridge (if not longer).
2. Temperature: Keep in mind that all ovens cook at slightly different temperatures and you may need to cook your almonds a minute or two longer, especially if you find them harder to blend without using oil.
3. Tamper: Really use the tamper to push the nuts into the blades when blending and push towards the corners of the container. Don’t be gentle. It’s the friction that’s needed to turn it into nut butter.
4. Nuts: I don’t recommend making this with soaked and dehydrated nuts. But if you do, you definitely need to add oil (and likely more) as you’ve now removed some of the natural oils within the nuts. Roasting soaked nuts alone simply won’t work. Alternatively, you can use almond that are pre-roasted for flavor, but you’ll still need to add additional oil. Only freshly roasted almonds will have their natural oils released and make it easy to blend them on their own.
5. Quantity: Do not reduce the quantity of almonds if using a Vitamix. You need a minimum amount of almonds (4 cups) in the blender to ensure the blades work properly.
6. Tips: If you’re making almond butter without oil (just roasting) and it seems dry and flaky and not turning into butter, there’s likely two reasons: 1) the almonds needed to roast just a little bit longer (see temperature note above), 2) the brand of almonds. I’ve found certain brands of almonds just blend better than others. I really have no idea why, but I’ve never had any problems with the brand linked in the recipe card notes. But if you’re in the predicament of your almonds not turning to butter, just add one tablespoon of oil at a time until it turns creamy. It’s totally salvageable!