Home-made creams and nut butters will replace store-bought products for you. Does it seem like a tough nut to crack? You couldn’t be more wrong. Nut butter is literally made in 60 seconds. You just need some tips on how to prepare it so that you don’t burn the blender while still getting the consistency you want.
Benefits of home-made nut creams and butters
Home-made nut or chocolate butter really has a lot of benefits!
- You have full control over its composition and eat cream or butter without unnecessary additives.
- You can make nut butter from your favourite nuts, such as walnuts or pecans – and these are hard to find in shops.
- It is cheaper than ready-made nut butters, which cost up to several tens of zlotys for a small jar.
- You can adjust the grinding level of the nuts in them to your own preference. You decide how “crunchy” you want your home-made nut butter to be.
- You can experiment with flavoured versions of nut butter, which is difficult if you buy ready-made nut creams.
- You can store them in the fridge for even more than a week.
Follow our tips and you will be able to easily grind cashew nuts, almonds or peanuts into your butter. We also provide recipes for other delicious home-made creams.
How to blend nuts?
There is no denying that the secret to making tasty and creamy nut butter quickly is a good, powerful blender. You can use a cup blender, but also a hand blender. The power of the blender in which you make nut butter should not be less than 750 W.
A very good blender will grind nuts into butter without unnecessary effort or additives. You simply pour the nuts into it, switch it on, and you’re done! If your blender does not work so well, you can use our tips:
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of water to the nuts before blending.
- Soak the nuts in water before blending them. This will soften their texture and make them easier to blend.
- Add half a banana or a soaked date to the nut cream.
- Take breaks during blending, if the blender gets very hot.
Which nuts can you make cream or butter from?
You will usually find peanut or almond nut butters in the shops. Sometimes you will come across cashew or pistachio cream. When preparing nut cream at home, you have endless flavour combinations – not necessarily sweet. You can prepare creams from:
- hazelnuts,
- almonds,
- cashews,
- pistachio nuts,
- pecan nuts,
- sunflower seeds,
- pine nuts.
PS: Try making nut butters from raw nuts or roasted on a dry pan or in the oven. The difference in taste is enormous!
Spice up your peanut butter: flavourings
You don’t need a recipe for nut butters, you can compose your own flavours of creams using your chosen nuts or seeds as a base, adding flavour-changing extras.
Add e.g. cinnamon, gingerbread spice, maple syrup, cocoa, carob, a pinch of salt, blended dates, a pinch of chilli or vanilla beans to the blended nuts or seeds. Sounds brilliant, doesn’t it?
Home-made nut butter – is it fit?
Nut creams made from blending nuts are certainly healthy. Seeds and nuts are a source of healthy unsaturated fatty acids and also provide fibre, vitamins and minerals. However, 100 percent nut creams can hardly be called fit products, if by “fit” we mean low in calories. After all, seeds and nuts provide a lot of calories, even if they are very healthy calories. Nevertheless, giving up sweetening butter is a lot! Store-bought products often contain ingredients that your body won’t like. It is worth keeping your consumption in moderation if you are trying to lose weight.
The high calorie content of nut-based pastes can also be a big advantage for those “bulking up” who are looking for ways to give their diet a tasty calorie boost. Below you will find recipes for different flavoured creams that you can use in many ways.
Recipe for home-made almond butter made from roasted almonds
Ingredients:
- 100 g of almonds,
- a tablespoon of water,
- any additions: salt, chilli, honey, vanilla.
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees.
- Put the almonds on a baking tray. Roast the almonds in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Cool them and put them into a blender.
- Add the extra ingredients of your choice and a tablespoon of water.
- Blend at lower, then high speed. You can take breaks if the blender heats up. You can also prepare creams from other nuts or seeds in the same way.
Macronutrients (whole serving):
- Energy: 604 kcal
- Protein: 20 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.6 g
- Fat: 52 g
Recipe for home-made cashew cream
Ingredients:
- 100 g of cashew nuts,
- 1 tablespoon of erythritol,
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
Preparation:
- Pour cold water over the cashews. Leave to soak for a few hours or overnight.
- Drain the cashews, pour off the water.
- Put the cashews into a blender, add erythritol and cinnamon.
- Blend until smooth texture is achieved.
Macronutrients (whole serving):
- Energy: 618 kcal
- Protein: 20 g
- Fat: 47 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
Recipe for home-made hazelnut and chocolate cream
Ingredients:
- 100 g of hazelnuts,
- a tablespoon of cocoa,
- 2 tablespoons of maple syrup or another sweetener.
Preparation:
- Prepare a baking tray. Spread the nuts and bake them for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 160 degrees.
- Cool the nuts. You can peel them off.
- Put the nuts into a blender. Add cocoa and maple syrup.
- Blend until an even texture is achieved.
Macronutrients (whole serving):
- Energy: 753 kcal
- Protein: 19.6 g
- Fat: 62 g
- Carbohydrates: 27 g
Recipe for home-made salted caramel cream
Ingredients:
- 100 g of peanuts,
- 70 g of dried dates,
- 2 pinches of coarse-grained salt,
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
Preparation:
- Pour boiling water over the dates and leave for about 20 minutes.
- Put the peanuts in a blender, add the lemon juice and blend at high speed until smooth.
- Add the drained dates to the nuts. Continue blending until the cream is smooth.
- Add salt and mix.
Macronutrients (whole serving):
- Energy: 800 kcal
- Protein: 28 g
- Fat: 46 g
- Carbohydrates: 72 g
How to store home-made peanut butter?
Once the cream is prepared:
Put it in a jar and place it in the fridge. It will easily last a few days (and if you don’t add water and additives, even up to a month!) without any loss in quality.
If you are making a larger portion of the cream and want to store it for longer, pour a natural-tasting oil, such as rapeseed oil, over the top. The oil must cover the entire surface thoroughly and separate the nut or chocolate cream from the air.