Making nut butters can be a little tricky. I used to think that I had to do them in my Vitamix, which would drive me batty with all the scraping down that was required. Other times, I would have a fail, only because I quit too early. I didn’t realize how much time it takes, and the process that the nuts have to go through. But if you have a little patience, you can make nut butters that are fabulous. You will never want to buy them again!
I used my Kitchen Aid 12 cup food processor. It is a strong processor. The bottom warms up a little bit but if you are using an older processor, or a processor with a much weaker motor, common sense needs to prevail.
- 2 C Almonds
- 1 T Raw Honey (optional)
- 1/2 t Sea Salt (optional)
Place almonds in food processor. Process for 8-12 minutes. You will need to scrape down the sides in the beginning. If you choose to use the honey and salt, stir in by hand after the butter is made as it will seize the mixture if you try to add it before.
After 2 minutes it will look like this.
After 4 minutes it will look like this.
After 6 minutes it will look like this.
Around 8 minutes, the almond mixture will ball up. Just let it keep going.
At 10 minutes it has begun to redistribute, but it is not done yet. You want to wait until the oils get released.
At 12 minutes the almonds have released their oil and the butter is ready! If you want to add honey or salt, stir it in by hand.
*Chef’s Note: If using soaked, dehydrated almonds, you may need to add a little oil.
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Thank you so much for this – without your warning that it takes so long and the extremely clear pictures I would have given up a long time before the butter was ready. Amazing how oily it gets at the end without adding anything at all! And well done for all your patient replies to people’s comments
what’s the yield of butter from 2 cups almonds, Susan?
Actually more relevant to me would be the answer to how much in grams/cups almond butter is needed for the Raw Holliday Fudge recipe? …provided I do not have the necessary equipment yet to mash the almonds into butter.
Thank you.
Does it need to be refrigerated afterwards? The jars in the store are not refrigerated.
I keep mine in the refrigerator. The jars in the store are not made at home, from scratch. Almonds have oils that will go rancid.
Thanks for that guys, my machine wasn’t happy, overheated but cut out just in time.
If it wasn’t for the photos I would not have persisted even though it took me aaaaages to make cos my machine kept overheating. Thanks
Hi Susan! This recipe looks absolutely delicious. I will definately try it once I’ve finished my Spring Detox. Can’t wait!
Hi Susan! Thanks for the recipe. can I just use soaked almonds, with dehydrating them afterwards cause I don’t have one?
I am not sure exactly what you are asking here but do not use wet almonds in this recipe. If you don’t have a way to dehydrate them dry after soaking, just use them as is. Cheers!
thank you i have 28 year old cuisinart food proscessor but it keeps on going. if i find it neccesary to shut for cooling motor, will this affect outcome of the almond butter?
Yay almond butter, I love you. I am off to the shops to buy a kilo of almonds, lol. Who knew that almonds were so versatile. Thanks.
i was wondering i used some almonds to make almond milk, so they are ground up and a bit wet. will this affect the outcome of my butter?
You have to start with fresh, dry almonds. You can not use almond pulp for this recipe. Cheers!
Hi! Thanks for posting this. I just made some and it turned or well. Did have one question, could this technically be considered raw? It is my understanding that raw foods cannot be heated above 118 and still be considered raw. Checked the temp when I stopped to scrapethe sides of my processor and it read 160. Any way to avoid racing this high a temp. I let it rest several times to keep from overheating my food processor. Guesting it just take these kind of temps to release the oils and give you the butter?
I took the temperature of mine when I made it and it never even got close to 115 degrees. I am not sure why yours got so hot. Maybe your processor. No, it doesn’t have to get hot to release the oils.
Thank you Susan for providing the pictures! I make my own peanut butter frequently and that process is so fast that I probably would have scrapped the almond butter if I didn’t know how long it would take. I made a batch this morning and it was delish! Kind of a mild marzipan aftertaste….yummy.
What kind of magical food processor do you guys have? I’ve been processing for an hour now and it’s not even to the ball part yet. Should I try my blender instead??
If you have been processing for an hour, your processor doesn’t have the strength to do this recipe. I use a Kitchenaid.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, finally a raw almond butter recipe to my taste. The pictures are very helpful. My machine did stop as it overheated, nontheless the result is perfect!
Thank you!
Thank you kindly for sharing! Most recipes call for the addition of oil and that simple did not make a bit of sense. Your directions and pictures were excellent and the butter was perfect. Heartfelt gratitude and God bless.
I tried it in my Blend-tec. It stayed all chunky and I broke a spatula because it was so stiff. I found your site then dumped it from the blender to the food processor. It turned into butter almost instantly! Thanks, you saved my day!
Blend-tec good for blending i-phones. Not good for almond butter. 
I am interested in trying this with a food processor. I used to always buy Costco’s MaraNatha almond butter until after purchasing it three times in a row it was rancid. Costco accepted the return, but they’ve kept the rancid product on the shelf still, and MaraNatha does not respond to e-mail. What a horrible experience after I bought their product weekly for years.
Anyhow, I tried making raw almond butter in my Blendtec as a substitute, and the Blendtec overheated and shut down. I eventually had to give in and add Canola oil, which I didn’t want to. The result was not what I would call almond butter. It was more like almond meal that was held together with the canola oil. The problem with the Blendtec is that anytime something gets thick, whether nut butter or something cold, the blades just spin in the air not hitting anything because of an air pocket, or the mixture is just too thick and the product doesn’t get moved around easily and the machine overheats. I was very disappointed with the machine after all of the advertisements showing it could destroy rakes and as the above poster said iPhones.
I’ve ended up using my Blendtec mostly for making Yum sauce and salad dressings. It fails as well with trying to make frozen sorbets (it can’t deal with frozen strawberries).
Now I’m wondering if I should have gotten a food processor instead. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I don’t think I like my Blendtec and I wanted to like it so badly . . .
I was wondering, after you have made this, what can almond butter be used for? or with?
You would use it in recipes or as you would use peanut butter. Cheers!
Susan! mahalo for all of the fabulous recipes…. is there a benefit to using soaked/dehydrated vs. non soaked almonds for the butter?? I am making some now and definitely have found that I needed to add some oil as the “ball” just wasn’t forming?? is this what I should have expected?
You would use soaked/dehydrated nuts if you are being careful to release the enzyme inhibitors. You can read more here: http://www.rawmazing.com/raw-food-soaking-nuts-and-seeds/ . As stated above, if you do use the dehydrated nuts, you may need to use some oils the nuts lose some when soaking and dehydrating. Cheers!
Just tried it and it worked great, thank you!!
I just wanted to say that my greenstar juicer has a nut butter feature and it’s fantastic.
When I am pressed for time I whip up a really small batch in my magic bullet, which works much better than I expected.
Tried this and failed. Used just nuts, no extras, and ran a food processor for more than 30 minutes; never got a ball, just liquid. Could it be because the almonds were rancid (I didn’t eat one out of the batch I used)?
Should you use raw rather than roasted nuts? Should they be skinned?
This recipe calls for raw almonds. I have never tried it with roasted.
I have made almond butter before with great success but my last attempt did not turn out well. I think the almonds used were stale and therefore did not release enough oil to make butter. It is important to buy fresh, good quality almonds for this. Makes a huge difference in the taste and texture of the end product.
I am soaking and dehydrating my raw almonds to release the phytic acid. Does Susan or anyone have wisdom about what kind of oil works best to help it all reconstitute? I would like to use coconut oil and wonder if there is any known reason not to. Thanks! Cara.
If you are soaking nuts for this recipe, it is imperative that they are completely dry before you start to make it or it won’t work. You can add oil towards the end if it needs it. Coconut oil may not work because it solidifies and will change the texture considerably.
Hi! Love your website! I always soak and dehydrate my nuts prior, to soak of the acid and enzyme inhibitors. Its very important for me because I don’t process nuts well. I attempted this recipe and noticed that with “crispy nuts” it required additional oil, I added coconut oil and a few dates and that really turned out amazing! I was curious, in your other recipes…Do you practice soaking and dehydrating the nuts for better absorption and digestion? I am thinking most of your recipes may need modification if not for my use, but I am looking forward to tinkering! Thanks!
If you read above…I do state that if you soak nuts and dehydrate the almonds, you may need to add oil. This is the only recipe on the site that has a requirement like that because of the process to make almond butter. If you read a lot more of the site…you will see that I almost always presoak nuts. It is also specified if they need to be dry for the recipe or still wet which is important. You shouldn’t need to tweak any of the recipes. Instructions will always be very clear. Cheers!
Thanks for this recipe. It’s exactly what I did with peanuts to make peanut butter
How long will it stay good for?
A couple of weeks, at least. If you make sure the container you put it in is steril. If there is any bacteria present, the shelve life will diminish. I do store mine in the refrigerator because there are oils in it.
can i make almond butter w/ soaked nondehydrated almonds?
don’t have a dehydrator.
Thanks so much like the photos in stages very helpful!
Em
I read your recipe, and I am very excited to try it. I have been searching for store bought almond butter using soaked or blanched almonds (because of easier digestion) with no luck. Will this recipe work using a Vitamix or does it heat up too much? Thank you for your time!
I read the recipe,but is there actully butter in it,i read almond,honey (optional)salt(optional)also could you use the packets of ground almonds instead.
Love to make this but not sure of the ingredients.
Thanks
No, there isn’t any butter in the recipe. You are making almond butter out of almonds. Like you make peanut butter out of peanuts. I don’t know how packets of ground almonds would work but you could try. Cheers!
In your recipe, you say that you used to use a Vitamix, but you did not like all of the scraping. Will a Vitamix work if that is all that I have?
Thank you so much,
Joey
Thank you for your thorough explanation. It makes it possible for a novice to make almond butter.
Followed your recipe exactly and it turned out perfect! I used an old Black & Decker food processor and it handled it with ease. I had tried it once before in a Vitamix and it didn’t turn out so well – not to mention it was messy to clean up (easy clean up with the food processor)! .
So thank you!! I will never spend 16+ dollars buying raw almond butter again.
Could you do the same with sesame seeds for making tahini?
Thanks
Betsy Shipley
No, Tahini requires the addition of oil (and some water in some recipes) in specific quantities. It is a completely different recipe. Cheers!
Dear Susan
Iam about to buy a processor to make my own almond butter as i dont find it here in Brazil? WJay model of Kitchenaid do you there? i want to seach on the net to find something here that works. is it 450W, 700W or more? Thanks !!
Iam about to buy a processor to make my own almond butter as i dont find it here in Brazil? WJay model of Kitchenaid do you there? i want to seach on the net to find something here that works. is it 450W, 700W or more? Thanks !!
I use the 12 cup KitchenAid food processor. Cheers!
Just FYI, I use my Champion Juicer fitted with the blank rectangular plate for making almond butter. I add a couple tablespoons of olive oil for smoothness as I’m processing. It involves more cleanup than the food processor, but only takes about three minutes of processing and doesn’t overheat the appliance. Yummy!
The Champion Juicer makes very nice nut-butters. Unfortunately, many people do not own one. Cheers!
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