Homemade Almond-Cashew Nut Butter

Nut butter is one of those staples I always have on hand. It’s great for adding into smoothies, sauces or spreads, dipping in apples, or spreading on toast and topping with bananas. Seriously, yum. It’s all the more satisfying when you’ve made it yourself too! Store-bought nut butters tend to be pricey, ranging up to $16 for a jar of raw almond butter. Making your own can be cheaper, depending on the types of nuts you use. Macadamias are expensive, but sunflower seeds are cheap. Feel free to experiment with this recipe. I use almonds as a base in a lot of my nut butters, and add a softer nut such as macadamia, cashews, or walnuts so it blends up quicker.

Regardless of the type of nut you use, I recommend always buying raw nuts. Roasted nuts have been heated (obviously) but this damages their healthy fats, causing rancidity. Make the switch to raw nuts, once you get used to it you’ll never go back! Roasted nuts just don’t have the same satisfying freshness to them.

I always sprout my nuts, seeds, and grains before consuming them. As soon as I get home from purchasing these foods, I dump them into a large bowl and cover them with fresh, filtered water to soak for about 6 hours. Why do I go to this trouble? These foods contain something called phytic acid – a compound that protects the seed from sprouting until it is under the right conditions. When we eat these foods un-sprouted, this compound binds with the nutrients in the nuts, making them difficult to absorb. It also binds with our digestive enzymes, making these foods difficult to digest and break down. Many people find they get a bellyache when they eat raw nuts; this is why. By soaking the nuts in water overnight, the nuts release their phytic acid and begin sprouting. After they’re soaked and rinsed, your body has a much easier time digesting them!

For snacking and in some recipes, you can use damp nuts straight after soaking and rinsing. However in a recipe like this one, the nuts must be dry before you can make nut butter out of them. After soaking my nuts, I dehydrate them at 115F for 12-24 hours, before pouring them into a jar and storing them in the fridge (this is the dehydrator I use). If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can try drying them at the lowest temperature possible in your oven, with the door cracked. Keep an eye on them, otherwise you will have roasted and/or burnt nuts. If you think you will use a dehydrator regularly, I encourage you to invest in one. Not only do I use mine regularly for soaking and dehydrating nuts, seeds, and grains, but they’re also great for preserving summer produce. If you like experimenting, they’re also great for making raw kale chips, crackers, granola, and other snacks.

The key to making nut butter is to be patient. It only takes 5-10 minutes, but you need to stop your machine to scrape down the sides every once in a while. There are a few stages the nuts have to go through before they become buttery. First the nuts will grind down into a flour. Then they clump up and stick together in a large ball. Finally, they begin to release their oils and the mixture becomes smooth and creamy, as in the above photo. Do not give up until you’ve reached this stage! No additional oil needs to be added, the nuts have everything you need.