Roasted Peanut Pecan Butter

Name: Roasted Peanut Pecan Butter
Prep time: 180 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 300 gm Peanuts (without skin); 200 gm Pecan nuts; 30 gm Maple syrup; 10 ml Vanilla extract; Pinch of Salt

This is the best nut butter I have made. Honestly, the combination of flavors and overall texture is the best. It is perfect for fall/autumn as it is lightly sweetened with maple syrup, spread it over toast or drizzle it into your granola bowl.

I would like to start by saying that if you have never made any nut/seed butter at home have a look at this recipe of my Homemade Peanut Butter. It has alot of do’s and dont’s. It is a nut butter 101 discussing all the basic information in detail that you ought to have before making it at home. However we will briefly run through the pressure points in this recipe as well.

This recipe was an accident. I ran out of, the necessary amount of peanuts I needed only to add some pecans into my “peanut butter” and realized it was genius! Since then I have modified the recipe to get a good balance of flavors and to achieve the desired texture. The recipe requires you to use peanuts, pecans, maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Thats all you need. But, there are a few important steps to keep in mind in order to achieve a perfect butter.

I like to roast my peanuts and pecans. When I say I like to roast them, I don’t mean lightly – I mean they need to have a deep brown color. The house should be smelling nutty and delicious. There is a fine line of deep brown color and burnt. So please make sure you don’t burn them, if they are black it means you’ve burned the nuts – incase you didn’t know the difference. Even a mild brown color will taste good but I like roasting the nuts in a tray in the oven at 180℃ for 10-15 mins and stir them often to ensure they are colored on all sides.

Once they are roasted, you NEED to let them cool down completely at room temperature. They must not be transferred to the fridge. It will condense and we don’t want any moisture while blending the nuts. I leave them to cool overnight or for at least 2-3 hours.

After they have cooled down I use a food processor to make the butter. If you have a Vitamix you can use that. You need a high powered food processor to make this. If your processor is small you can half the recipe or blend it in batches. Do not over load your mixer as it will stop working. I speak from experience. As you start blending the nuts, it will break down and from a solid state turn into a powder, after which it will start clumping into damp sand like texture. Keep blending and it will become a thick paste, after blending some more it will turn into a more liquid paste. The more you blend the mixture the smoother it will get.

At this stage add the maple syrup, salt and vanilla and blend again. I would recommend saving some nuts to add at the end to make it chunky, I love chunky nut butters. I must say you need patience. The butter is worth every minute of effort that your food processor is working. But if you try to short cut the recipe it will harden and not have that smooth dripping sexy consistency.

I like to give my food processor breaks every now and then as I make large quantities quite often and I don’t want to over load or over work the motor. Ideally the butter should take 20 mins to come together from start to finish. But this is a ball park idea as every blender is different and the quantity you are blending will also vary. Sometimes the type of nuts used also can affect the overall time of blending.

As the nuts get blended they release their oils which is what makes the butter in the first place. So you don’t need to add any oil/fat or water to thin out the nut butter. Just let it blend and do its thing. That will get you the desired consistency. You can mix and match nuts to suit your palate but this combination is definitely a keeper. It is perfect for the season and it certainly is delicious to say the least. I love eating it straight out of the jar in a spoon.

Once the nut butter is ready you can transfer it into a glass jar and store it for months as long as you don’t add any moisture into the jar. I love having it with bread or toast. Drop a spoonful into your milk and stir it around. Drizzle it over your breakfast bowl. I mean, eat it as it is out of the jar and go crazy. It is addictive I must warn you.

You don’t need to store this in the fridge but if you are living in a humid place then it will make sense to store it in a cool dry place. I keep it in the cupboard so it is away from sun light or direct heat.

I think we have talked about this butter enough, let us make it. Happy Blending Ninjas!