Homemade Almond Butter Recipe

Homemade almond butter is easy to make. It takes a little bit of patience but anyone can do it. Just follow our simple almond butter recipe and you never want to buy it again.

I am a bit fanatical about PBJ sandwiches these days. As a kid, I wasn’t really a fan but as and adult, I just love them.I think that this is because I keep discovering so many different jams or spreads. For example, I friggin love apple butter these days.

Then don’t get me started on my love of walnut butter. This stuff is so darn delicious. So of course, my PBJ’s aren’t always just peanut butter. They may be almond butter with almond butter or maybe creamy peanut butter with blackberry jam. We mix it up around these parts to keep it interesting. Lately, though, we have started making our own nut butter. It turns out that making homemade almond butter is far simpler than you may think. 

Tips on making almond butter

Be patient – It takes a while for the almond butter to get creamy. Essentially, what I recommend is that when you think it is done, mix it for another few minutes. The longer that you mix it, the creamier that it will become.

Roast the almonds – It is not required that you roast the almonds but I highly recommend it. It improves the flavor and also releases the natural oils of the almonds.

Pause often – Take a pause from mixing and scrape the sides of the food processor often. This will ensure that the almonds are mixing well and that the natural oils get fully mixed in.

Stir before serving – Remember that this is a natural product without any preservatives. So before you serve it to give it a good stir just to mix it up real good.

Ingredients in almond butter

Almonds – Use fresh raw whole almonds. We recommend roasting the almonds in the oven before making the butter.

Olive oil – It is possible to get the almond butter creamy enough without the addition of olive oil but we feel that it also enhances the flavor.

Salt – It only takes a dash of salt per pound of almonds. Salt highly enhances the flavor of almond butter.

Honey – We add honey as a sweetener to our almond butter recipe. If you want to test the recipe without this ingredient feel free.

Recipe variations

You can add quite a few ingredients to almond butter to create tasty recipe variations. Here are just a few suggestions to try out.

Cinnamon – Adding a touch of cinnamon to your almond butter will create a delicious spicy flavor.

Vanilla – We will sometimes add vanilla extract to our almond butter to give it an additional sweet flavor. We especially love this if we are creating an almond butter and banana snack

Maple syrup – If we are out of honey we will add in a touch of maple syrup to sweeten the nut butter.

Pumpkin spice – If you are looking for a fun fall flavor, add some pumpkin pie spice to your almond butter.

Cocoa powder – If you want to get that delicious combination of chocolate and almond butter, add some cocoa powder to the mix.

How to store almond butter

Homemade almond butter needs to be stored in the refrigerator. It will last up to 3 weeks in the fridge. Remember that it doesn’t have any preservatives so the life span won’t be as long as store-bought almond butter. Since the almond butter will be cold, I recommend allowing it to sit at room temperature a few minutes prior to serving it. Then give it a good stir right before using it. 

How to make almond butter

Below you can find our almond butter recipe with exact measurements and details. Making homemade almond butter is actually quite simple but it does take a bit of patience. The key is to mix the ingredients longer than you think that they should be mixed.

Step 1: Roast the raw walnuts. We roast our walnuts in the oven on a parchment-lined baking pan with sides. You can use aluminum foil if you don’t have any parchment paper on hand.

These days we keep these handy parchment paper sheets in the kitchen. They make life easier when baking.

After roasting the almonds allow them to cool before proceeding to the next step.

Step 2: Process the almonds. Add the almonds to the food processor and process. Pause often to scrape the sides and work those scrapings back into the center.

If all of the almonds won’t fit into the food processor at first, keep adding them in small batches at a time. As the almonds start to break down it will create more room in the container.

Continue mixing the almonds until they form a smooth and creamy buttery texture. This will take a good bit of time. This is where patience in the process comes into play.

Step 3: Add in additional ingredients. Once the almond butter is formed add in the additional ingredients such as olive oil, salt, and honey.

Continue mixing until the mixture is smooth and creamy.