17 January 2012

homemade raw cashew butter

Are you a nut butter fan? What's your favorite? I used to think I was just a peanut butter girl. Love peanut butter. But not the healthy, natural kind. I've always eaten Jif. I've tried the natural nut butters and they were 1) too dry, 2) too cold, because they have to be refrigerated, 3) not sweet/salty/smooth enough.

But I came across this recipe for homemade nut butters from Heather Eats Almond Butter on Pinterest, and I happened to have a huge bag of raw cashews in the fridge, so I gave it a whirl. Literally, a whirl in the food processor. A looooong whirl. It took forever to get the cashew powder to turn “creamy” in the food processor. How does that work, exactly? Are the natural oils of the nut released when it is obliterated enough? I probably could have processed it longer to make it creamier, but I was getting impatient and was afraid my food processor motor would overheat.

It was worth it, though. I do believe this was the best nut butter ever. It tasted like every other natural nut butter I've had, but for some reason I just loved it. Maybe it was because I made it myself and I knew it only had one ingredient? Just cashews. Gotta love that.

I had some Jif today, and I tell ya, it wasn't setting off any fireworks for me. I may just be a natural nut butter convert.

But if I want to start making nut butters at home regularly, I'm going to need an industrial food processor. It takes a lot of power.

Have you ever made your own nut butter? How did it go for you?