Homemade almond butter tastes amazing and is easier to make than you might think! Once you try it, you may never go back to the store-bought version again.
Almond butter has gained popularity over the years as an alternative to peanut butter, and for good reason. It’s loaded with minerals and tastes delicious! It’s the perfect addition to healthy snacks, like Apple Nachos and Homemade Granola Bars.
Creamy almond butter can even be used as a flour alternative in gluten-free baking. Try it in Almond Butter Cookies or Almond Butter Blondies.
You can also use it for dairy-free creaminess! My favorite way to use it is in my Vegan Latte or Almond Milk Ice Cream for a mind-blowing treat.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Homemade almond butter is made with just one ingredient: almonds! Look for unroasted almonds when shopping, as you’ll be quickly roasting them during the first step of this recipe.
You can also add salt or ground cinnamon for extra flavor, but I don’t recommend adding a wet ingredient, such as maple syrup, vanilla extract, or honey. Wet ingredients can cause the almond butter to seize (the texture will be ruined), and will make the nut butter spoil much faster.
How to Make Almond Butter
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spread one pound (3 cups) of almonds out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast the almonds for 10 minutes or until they smell lightly fragrant. This process helps release the natural oil found in almonds and will make the next steps move much faster.
Remove the pan from the oven and let the almonds cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Adding the almonds directly from the oven to a food processor or blender could melt the machine if you don’t let them cool down first, so be patient!
Once the almonds have cooled for at least 10 minutes (it’s okay if they feel warm to the touch) add them to the bowl of a large food processor fitted with an “S” blade.
Secure the lid and start processing.
The almonds will creep up the sides of the machine as you blend them, so you can stop and scrape down the sides with a spatula if you’d like to. However, I’ve noticed around the 4-minute mark that the almonds will naturally fall down on their own without any scraping.
Let the food processor continue to run. After 8 minutes of processing, you may start to hear a “sloshing” sound, as the almond butter has suddenly become runnier. This is a great sign!
Now you can stop and scrape down the sides of the machine, and add any seasoning you like, such as a 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt or ground cinnamon. (Remember, no liquids can be added or it will ruin the texture.)
Process for another minute or two, and you should have a creamy almond butter that drips off the spoon. The whole blending process should take 10 minutes or less when you start with warm almonds.
Note: If you need to skip the roasting process, it may take nearly double the time for raw almonds to break down in a food processor. It can be done, but it’s definitely harder on your machine and requires more patience. This process can take a full 20 minutes!
Transfer the homemade almond butter to a 16-ounce mason jar and let it cool completely before securing the lid. Otherwise, steam will collect in the jar and cause the almond butter to spoil faster.
Almond butter can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and may last even longer as long as you don’t introduce any moisture to the jar. Nut butter will thicken when chilled, so that can make it slightly harder to spread on toast, but it will thin out when you bring it to room temperature again.
Can You Make Almond Butter in a Blender?
If you don’t have a 12-cup food processor, but you do have a high-speed blender (like a Vitamix), that can be used to make homemade almond butter, too.
The difference is you’ll need to use more almonds and a tamper.
To make almond butter in a blender, roast and cool the almonds as directed above, but start with 4 cups of almonds. This is the minimum quantity required to use a blender.
Secure the lid and blend the almonds on a medium-low speed. You’ll need to use a tamper often to keep the almonds moving. (If your blender doesn’t have a tamper, I don’t recommend this method. It’s too frustrating to have to stop and scrape constantly!)
While you might think using a high-speed blender would be faster than using a food processor, it still took my blender 6 to 7 minutes to achieve a creamy result. This is only 1 minute faster than the food processor method, and it’s not nearly as hands-off.
So, if you have a food processor, that is my preferred machine for this recipe.
Note: If for some reason your blender is having a hard time breaking down the roasted almonds, you can add a tablespoon of neutral-flavored oil to the blender to help the process along. You may need to use up to 4 tablespoons total when blending a difficult batch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Almonds have more iron and calcium when compared to peanuts, but both are considered good sources of monounsaturated fats. Research suggests that regularly eating almonds may help to lower LDL cholesterol (a risk factor for heart disease). Almond skins are also a good source of antioxidants.
Surprisingly, homemade almond butter is not always cheaper than the store-bought version. If you compare them on a cost-per-ounce basis, 1 ounce of whole almonds costs more than 1 ounce of almond butter. In this case, homemade is better because of the flavor, not necessarily because of the cost.
Almond butter can be spread on toast, pancakes, waffles, sandwiches, and muffins. You can also add it to smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal, and more!
Looking for more easy ways to use almond butter? Try it in my Banana Snack Cake, Freezer Fudge, Vegan Banana Bread, or Almond Butter Brownies.
How To Make Almond Butter (No Added Oil!)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound whole almonds (3 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spread the almonds out in a single layer on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Place them in the oven to roast for 10 minutes, then remove the pan and let them cool for at least 10 minutes before moving on. (Placing very hot almonds in your machine could melt it, so be patient!)
- Transfer the cooled almonds (it's okay if they are slightly warm) to a large food processor fitted with an "S" blade. Secure the lid and start processing. The almonds will start to look like flour and stick to the sides of your machine, but after 4 to 5 minutes of processing, it will change into a thicker consistency and release from the sides of the machine.
- You can stop and scrape the sides of your food processor at this point if you'd like to, but the whole process can be relatively hands-off with almost no scraping required. In fact, you can let the machine run for 8 to 10 minutes without scraping, and the nut butter will form on its own! This is the advantage of using a food processor, rather than a blender. (See tips in this post if you prefer to use a blender, though.)
- Once the almonds have been processed for 8 to 10 minutes, they should reach a runny, drippy consistency. At this point, you can add in a 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt or ground cinnamon, if you'd like added flavor. Do NOT add any wet ingredients, or it could affect the final texture.
- Store homemade almond butter in a 16-ounce mason jar. It will need to cool completely before you add the lid, so it won't collect steam inside the jar. Adding moisture to the jar could affect the shelf life. Almond butter can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 1 month when no moisture is introduced, so always be sure to use a clean spoon or knife when using it.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this homemade almond butter recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it.
You can actually make almond butter in your Vita-Mix & it’s much quicker. The trick is to add a little coconut oil to the almonds because they don’t have as much natural oil in them as peanuts or other nuts have.
I am a patient person, but couldn’t wait those last 5-10 minutes, so I threw a little less than a tablespoon of unrefined coconut oil in to the almonds and 3 minutes later I had almond butter. Next time I’ll try to be a little more patient; just didn’t have time for patience today. 😉 It’s DELICOUS!
I do not have a food processor. Will this work in a blender, or would it burn out the motor?
Just used 1 1b raw almonds from Trader Joes $6.00. Put it in my Cuisine Art food processor. In the beginning I had to knock down the crumbs on the sides about 5 times in 10 minutes, then I just let it run for another 10. It clumped like when making a dough, then as it got hot and started steaming it melted into a nice smooth cream. 🙂 I added 3/4 tsp real salt and it filled a pint mason jar perfectly. Instead of Justin’s $9.00/lb butter, I am going to check out Dekalb Farmer’s Market in Atlanta to see how much organic almonds are per pound to see if i can save even more. 🙂
I have a Breville food processor and although I had to stop it about 8 times to quickly scrape down the sides (coconut oil tip duly noted!), the butter was done in 15 minutes. And it tastes great! Thanks for the recipe.
I make almond butter the same way, but I always sprout the almonds first. This provides so much more nutrition and is much more digestible. All you do is soak the almonds for 12 hours in salted water. You will notice a teeny white bud appear on the pointy end. Rince, then dry on low heat in a dehydrator or oven for 12 hours.
So organic ensures that yucky chemicals aren’t used in the pasteurization process? Are you an idiot? Or do you not know what pasteurization means? maybe I’m the idiot, but last time I checked, pasteurization is just heating the food up to 145 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 seconds or so. I don’t know what chemicals are needed to achieve a higher temperature, except gas or nat. gas… Maybe you don’t know what organic means. I don’t know. Anyway, I hope your shit works, because if I gotta go on another page to find out how to make almond butter, it would just take too much time out of my day.
When this law was passed in 2007, two methods of pasteurization were suggested: steam heat or exposure to propylene oxide gas. If the almonds are exposed to the gas, they can’t be labeled as “certified organic.”
Ignorant. You must be a very unhappy person with a miserable life. Otherwise you would’ve given your ‘knowledge’ without using words like “idiot” and “shit”. If you know everything, why look at these sites for information?
I love crunchy almond butter. I haven’t tried it homemade yet, but look forward to making it. I like almond butter on brown rice cakes for breakfast.
Just made this; absolutely divine! Took me about an hour ‘tho, as my poor little processor threatened to give up the ghost on more than one occassion!
But well worth the effort.
That being said, it didn’t work out any cheaper than buying it in the healthfood shop; organic almonds are very here in Ireland. If anyone knows where I can buy them in bulk I’d appreciate it hugely!!
Ooops! That was meant to read ‘organic almonds are very EXPENSIVE here in Ireland’
Just made this this morning, and just as you say, after seemingly thinking nothing was going to happen, voila! Almond butter! Good thing, too, because I think I burnt out my food processor’s attachment motor. Right after it turned to cream the blade stopped working, which was fortunate.
I’ve been making my own almond milk and have developed quite a store of almond flour. I figured this would be a good way to use some of that up. I probably had it running at too high of a speed though. Next time, after getting a replacement part, I’ll run it at a lower speed. I do have a Ninja system with a number of attachments. Maybe I’ll try it in one of them. Great stuff though!
Rich
I finally made AB and it was awesome. Thank you! Question…how long do you think this will keep? I’d love to make extra as a gift to a friend
I have been making my own almond/walnut butter for a couple months now. Needless to say my husband and I will never go back to eating that over processed stuff in the grocery store ever again. Not only is it all around better for us you save money and you know what you’re eating at the same time. Next time going to throw some cashews in as well hey why not. yummy
I love this link – thanks for all the tips – but please can you advise me what food processor I should be using. I dont have a huge budget and live in the UK. Thanks
I make almond milk. Can I use the almond meal to make butter? Maybe add cococonut oil?
I don’t think the almond meal would make a very tasty butter. Most of the fat and flavor go into the almond milk, which is why almond pulp is so difficult to work with in recipes. Please let us know if you have any success, though!
Please help! I’m using the Ninja Professional processor and I’ve been in the kitchen for an hour!!! I finally gave up because nothing was happening and it started smoking. I stopped it more than 10 times to scrap the sides down. I still have my almond stuff sitting in a bowl. I added coconut oil, but not to the sides of the processor. Any suggestions?!?!?!
Just did this Amazing!!
Thanks for the encouragement to make almond butter. One note: the reason it takes so long in a food processor is that this tool isn’t the best at releasing the oil from the almonds, which is what makes the “butter” finally happen. What worked for me was to use an old-fashioned, hand-cranked (inexpensive!) meat grinder first. One pass, and then into the food processor, which took less than two minutes to produce creamy almond butter.
I tried making AB from almonds I had soaked in water. Using my vitamix . I got a fluffy mix after much effort, stopping, scraping, adding oil, hearing lots of terrible noise. I finally stopped out of frustration. Do you think I did not process long enough ( probably 5 to 10 minutes) or was it the soaking part? Can anyone give. Me advice?
Yes, soaking the almonds will create a fluffy texture. Next time, make sure you dry your almonds completely before grinding them, as any extra moisture will affect the results.
I made almond butter in the Majic Bullet. Small amount, maybe 3/4 – 1cup of roasted almonds I had on hand. It only took about 5 minutes. Just pulse it a bit or maybe pre-chop them so it’s not so hard on the motor. It works well because it’s small. I just needed 1/2 cup for a cookie recipe and that is what I ended up with. 🙂
Just made this in a Cuisinart 9-cup food processor. I didn’t time it, unfortunately. Maybe 15-20 minutes? I paused a lot in between scrapings because I didn’t want to overheat my processor. It did get hot, but not super-hot. I used the tip to grease the bowl with coconut oil first and didn’t have much of a problem with sticking. Best of all, it turned out absolutely delicious. I just added a pinch of salt, no sweetener. I used non-organic raw almonds from Costco, which I got for $17.99 for a 1.36 kg bag (3 lb). Three cups of almonds weighed out to 451 grams (a smidge under 1 lb.) and cost $2.65.
When I saw a jar of organic almond butter in my local supermarket today for $23.99 I couldn’t believe it. Determined to do better, I bought raw organic almonds at the food coop, roasted them and followed your recipe. I used my food processor to turn them into butter and did the coconut oil trick. Added a little celtic sea salt too and voila, a delicious almond butter for less than $4 per jar! Thank you Megan!
So grateful for all the information you provide, about how almonds are called raw, when in fact they aren’t, the instructions on how to make almond butter, can’t wait to start saving $$, and I am thinking you probably have an almond milk recipe which I will look for after this thank you!
Appreciate the recipe, & the feedback on how raw doesn’t mean safe to eat.
Should I b soaking almonds same as when making almond milk before making butter?
Hi, I just made my first 2 batches of almond butter today and they turned out fabulous. I get my almonds at Costco 3 lbs for about $9 which is way cheaper than buying it already made. Thank you sooo much! I absolutely LOVE your website! Blessings!
What is the shelf life of almond butter
I keep mine in the fridge for about one month. The time may vary, but as long as it smells and tastes good, I keep using it. 🙂
Thank you so much for specifically calling out just how long this takes. I attempted it once before and quit way too early because I just knew I must have done something wrong because it wasn’t becoming nut butter-just a big lump of nuts. I do believe it’s time to give it another try.
This was perfect. added some pink salt and it was really delicious. then I added carob chips and 4 dates…it was unbelievable! Thx for this recipe. ill be making this as opposed to buying it from now on!
Hi! Looks pretty simple except for the fact that I don’t have a food processor. Can I use a blender instead? (I apologize if that is a stupid question)
There are no stupid questions! A blender might work, too, but you might try adding a touch of oil if your motor starts to sound like it’s working too hard.
Great! Thank you!!! I’ll try this next week!
Heya hi
Love ur recipe
Please guide
Since i cant really find organic and m a little allergic to eating almonds with cover – at times they give me stomache
So is it alright if i used almonds without their cover ?
And please tell the shelf life ..
How long will it last in refrigator ??
Wud u recommend same way for peanut butter ?
Any tips on where to get a good deal on almonds other than Costco? Justade it and it’s awesome! Also what is a good deal per pound for almonds? Thanks!
I tried this last night, but didn’t get the same result like you did.
After over 20 minutes the almonds still looked very lumpy, I added oil and finally it was buttery smooth!
About using the Vitamix, the smell. The Vitamix is so powerful, that prolonged use would require the use of ice cubes to cool down the mixture
otherwise you are cooking the ingredients. The Vitamix will make a hot soup or a smoothie, depending on your desired results. I will try your recipe with the Vitamix and homemade ice cubes ( filtered bottle water)
I love your Website, Thank you!!
I wouldn’t recommend adding ice cubes when making pure almond butter– any added moisture will ruin the result. This is why I use a food processor instead of my Vitamix, to avoid using such a powerful motor.
Well I read the other comments and see that others have added extra ingredients. I think we all agree that you have a great recipe, but adding a few other ingredients will not ruin the batch. My intention was just to help others not burn out their machines, like some of them have.
The Vitamix is a very expensive machine and first learning how to use it is is crucial.
Yes, you are welcome to add other ingredients, like salt, oil, or even honey (at the end of blending), but water in particular will ruin the texture almond butter and will make it very prone to mold– giving it a significantly shorter shelf life. I just don’t want you to waste your (expensive) ingredients!
Adding ice is a brilliant move for many other recipes to prevent the blender from overheating, it just doesn’t produce good results in this particular recipe. (Many people have reported it being “fluffy” instead of creamy.)
This did not work 1 hour and still dry clay, i bought a 300 hundred dollar cuisinart super pro food processor. Still dry!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A good place to get almonds inexpensively is the bulk foods dept. at Winco, especially if they are opening a new one. I got some for $2 per lb.
I’ve been working for over two hours with my old Cuisinart and still don’t have butter yet. I soaked them overnight and put them in my dehydrator to dry. I didn’t roast them – but I’ll try that next time.
I used my vita mix to make almond butter. Because of the fast motor, yes it did achieve a smooth consistency. So I transferred the dry mixture to a magic bullet. Still little success. I decided to add a small amount of coconut oil. This helped somewhat. I didn’t want to add too much coconut oil As it would obscure the taste of almonds.
After one half hour, I still had a very coarse mixture. I gave up and put it all in the jar which is fine because I use the butter in protein shakes. The clean up in my kitchen took as much time as making the almond butter. Got to tell you, I am not convinced that this method is better than buying a $5.00 one pound jar of organic raw in Trader Joe’s.
Whoops… Meant to say, it did not achieve a smooth consistency due to the Vitamix motor speed.
I made this all the time, and the only key to make it nicely smoth without adding any oils or moist to make it creamy is patiens!!!!! if your turnout lumpy or to dry, you need to spend maybe 5 to 10 extra minutos, and it will turnout the way is suppost to be. I like adding 1 tsp of coconut oil but after my butter is ready because I like the smell.
Hi,
Would you mind sharing what kind of food processor you’re using?
.
Thanks much? Love the website! Very nice!
I have a 12-cup KitchenAid– it’s old, so I don’t think they make the exact same model anymore, but it still works great!
I was wondering if it would take the load off the food processor if you grind them first or is most of the time after they become flour like?
Yes, most of the work is done after the flour stage!
Worked great for me in my food processor. I was scared at first that my motor would overheat but it was fine. It came out great. Thanks for the receipe.
I just made this using raw almonds in my 18 year old cheap (didn’t care if I burned it up) Hamilton Beach food processor took about 30 minutes to get smooth and it turned out great…will make again & thanks for the great recipe!
I am thanking my lucky stars I just found your website!! You have so many amazing ideas! I just made the almond butter in about half the time with organic sliced almonds!! It tastes just a delicious!!
I roasted the almonds for 15 minutes. I had smooth almond butter in a much shorter time in my Cuisinart, maybe ten minutes if that. Very similar to making peanut butter. My only complaint is that it’s too thin, hope it thickens up a bit in the fridge.
I just found your website and wanted to say thanks. I needed a cup of almond butter and had no idea about it. I’ve just made it in my food processor and it was super easy – thanks soooooo much 🙂
Fan of your site, I make many recipes from it! Thanks for this one! It rocks