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.
Hi Megan,
Just made it in ~12 minutes and love it! Knowing that I had to wait for the magic to happen was helpful.
b
Just made this for the first time- THANK YOU for the heads up on the time it takes… the 12 minute mark and things really changed! Super smooth and tasty. I used roasted almonds and added salt, nothing else. After 15 minutes it was like liquid silk. Thanks again!
The use of a fairly cheap coffee/spice grinder (can be bought for less than $20) shortens the butter making time hugely.
Grind the almonds in a coffee/spice grinder for a few seconds (producing a powder) and transfer to a food mixer. You can then achieve almond butter in a matter of minutes. Occasionally I add a little good quality Maple Syrup and sometimes Manuka Honey as an immune system booster when anyone in the family has a cold or flu.
Thanks so much! Made the raw almond butter yesterday in my mini Cuisinart and it took probably 12 mins total to get the consistency that I like. Just salt and raw almonds….perfect! Today I decided to try some pecan butter and it took much less time. Love how easy this is!!! So much more economical! I’m following Haylie Pomroy’s Fast Metabolism Diet and this is a great method for phase 3 and all of the healthy fats that you eat!
Can you publish nutrition facts per tbsp, please?
Haven’t tried the recipe yet, would like to know if you can use slivered almonds to make the almond butter
Is it compulsory to use a blender with a S blade?
Thanks so much for all those yummy recipes you share on your website. I love it!!! 🙂
That’s just the blade that works best on my food processor– feel free to use any other machine or blade that works for you!
I was wondering ifyou could use sliced almonds instead? Will that work as well?
I don’t see why not!
PATIENCE MEANS SELF-SUFFERING!!
I really wanted this to work. I only had about 2 cups of Almonds, so I tried it with that. I guess there weren’t enough almonds since I had to keep scrapping the sides every few seconds. An hour later, still no butter!!!
So after that horrible attempt, I tried using Sunflower seeds and I don’t know why, but the lumpy flour kept getting stuck underneath the blade which resulted in me stopping every minute to remove the blade so I could scrap the hard pieces.
It was a waste of money and time, of course.
Maybe a better attempt at this in the future, but right now I’ll stick to the store bought butter.
I made this using the twister jar of my blendtec. raw almonds only and in less than two minutes, i had great almond butter. yum!
Just wondering how many of you have followed through with this recipe… and how many of you have had to replace your blender/food processor since then?! I want to try this recipe, but don’t want to burn out the motor in my blender in the process! is a heavy duty processor like a robot-coupe required for such a task?
Just wondering if you use high speed or low speed?
Can I use chopped peeled almonds?
Sure!
i made 2 jars of this for mothers day (mum and grandma). it worked out beautifully. i used a food processor and as mentioned in the article you need patience i almost added oil because it was taking for ever! thank god i didn’t the oil extracted from the almonds was enough. i added a bit of salt and sugar. it tasted perfect. I am sure mom and grandma will appreciate this tomorrow 😀
I just bought a vitamix yesterday. One of my main reasons was to make nut butters… i’m sad after reading all the comments about it not working so well. Is there any hope it will work? i got the dry container too….
Hi Lily, I haven’t tried making almond butter with my Vitamix yet but a few people have posted here that they used their Vitamix with great results. Someone posted their almond butter turned out perfect. They set their Vitamix “on high for about 30-45 seconds, scraped down the sides and pulsed a couple times and it turned out fabulous.” So I hope this helps. Others have posted they froze their almonds first so the almond butter did not get too warm (stayed raw) to avoid the blender overheating. While I have an older Cuisinart 11 food processor, the bowl is not BPA free. I called Cuisinart and they said their bowl, lid and “pusher” (i.e. tamper), are now BPA free as of 2102, but not all their plastic is BPA free. They do sell BPA free replacements, but it’ll cost over $100. So I’m glad you have a Vitamix to make almond butter because their website says their containers are BPA free.
Hi,thank you for this recipe. I tried it using roasted almonds but after more than 30 minutes I gave up. I did the first 20 minutes in the food processor but after not seeing any improvement I transferred the lumpy mix to the blender. It got better afterwards but not as creamy as I expected (actually a bit dry). Could you please make me any suggestions? Should I use raw almonds? Is it normal to be so dry? Im not sure if I did something wrong.Thank you!
I’m so glad I found this! I’m from NZ and have just started trying the Paleo diet to live more of a healthy lifestyle. 200g of almond butter is $12.99 where as I can get 450g raw almonds for the same price!
That sounds easy. I just hope that my food processor won’t die after running 30 minutes 🙂
I made some tonight using the cuisinart food processor – placed in oven at 400 for 10 mins (may have left it too long) – any who – followed your directions from here, no salt, sugar or coconut oil was added and only stopped it once after 2 mins to scrape sides. I want to thank you for this recipe. Mine came out a bit more brown than your pictures but again I may have left it in oven too long – I think 5 mins would have been best. I tried on some multigrain toasted bread and it was heavenly!!!! Placed in a mason jar and into the refrigerator – very smooth, and great taste. Took about 15 mins in cuisinart food processor.
Hey Megan,
Thanks so much for posting this recipe!
I bought raw almonds, and soaked and dehydrated them (in my dehydrator) and assumed this would treat them at a high enough heat (they were in the dehydrator for nearly 6 hours.)
I’ve had my almonds in the food processor for nearly an hour after it hit that initial “cakey” texture, and it’s still doughy, not silky and smooth.
Do you think it’s because they weren’t roasted at a high enough temperature?
This is the processor/blender that I own, so I figured it work! http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/cuisinart-bfp-10ch-blender-food-processor-powerblend-duet?ID=280144&pla_country=US&cm_mmc=Google_Home_PLA-_-Home+Electrics+-+Food+Processors+-+PLA-_-28903465036_adc_pg_305_11056_51dc8d4de4b0a3ee5b276fb3_28903465036_c-_-_mkwid_86279013750USA|dc_28903465036%7C-%7C86279013750USA
I’d appreciate your insight 🙂
All The Best,
Katie
My guess is that the almonds weren’t totally dry in the middle after dehydrating. If there’s even the slightest bit of moisture, the almond butter won’t turn out as silky smooth. There’s no need to roast them, but maybe try dehydrating them overnight next time? The only other thing I could think of would be that they didn’t process long enough or you didn’t use enough almonds– make sure you use at least 3 cups of almonds for each batch, and sometimes it can take up to 30 minutes of processing. (If it isn’t smooth after 30 minutes, I’d try adding a little bit of oil to help facilitate blending.) Hope that helps!
Thanks so much for this website!!! I’m going to give the almond butter a go!
How can you make it slightly chunky? Just process for less time?
I’d process it until it’s completely smooth, then add in some extra nuts and process again briefly so it has a chunky texture.
Thanks, I’ll try it.
Thanks for the great ideas and pictures and great directions! My mom just stopped her statins and no more margarine either, She’s been nuts about almond butter lately as a substitute – almond butter and raw honey on a nice piece of gluten free toast. It’s so good to know it can make it here at home for her, knowing that at the very least it will be fresh oils entering her system and not rancid (which, I hear, that taste can be masked by the roasting process). It was a hot day so I just heated up the almonds in a pan in the stove. Worked like a charm. Took exactly 10 minutes. Thank you so much!!! They are waiting in two pretty mason jars for her to get home, and this is going to be part of the holidays this year, I’m sure!!! you’re awesome!
I made this today for the first time and it turned out exactly like you said. So yummy & creamy!
I make almond butter in my Vitamix with a bit of Canola oil within 50 seconds. Just amazing!
I Have what might seem a strange question – I like whole and flaked almonds, but hate the taste of ground almonds and marzipan (I’m not sure why when its the same nut but hey ho, I have strange tastebuds!) My question is – before I attempt to make some butter and find that I don’t like it – does it have a strong marzipan flavour or is more like the original nut? (Told you it was strange 🙂 )
No, it doesn’t taste like Marzipan– it just tastes like almonds!
Made this yesterday and it only took 15 minutes to make creamy almond butter. I chopped the nuts with my chopper and put in 180 deg oven for 1 hour. Put it in food processor and WOW. Magic happened. Tastes great. Thanks so much. Love your web site
This turned out perfect in my Cuisinart! Roasted first for 12 min then promptly processed. Took 30 min. Thank you for the easy instructions!
Oh my god, that took about a thousand years. I have a very powerful machine but it was put to the test! And I realised you just need a lot of almonds if the machine’s bowl is big.
SWEET! Totally doing this, I have been eyeing almond butter for a couple weeks, working to get my kids off of Jiff PB! It is like $8-$12 for a little 16 oz jar – I can’t do that!!!!!! Now, I know peanuts aren’t as healthy, but can you do the same with peanuts so I have peanut butter for making certain things? Does it need any oil added for the peanuts?
I’ve actually never tried it with peanuts, so I can’t say for sure. I’d try it without the oil first, then add it if needed.
Just made this using you method and it’s the first time I’ve ever successfully made almond butter at home! It’s just at the stage first before being suuuuper smoothie and I’m so excited. I have this visionary food processor and it made it in in less than 10 mins. Thank you!
I wish I would have read all these comments before trying this. I used an 11-cup food processor, and it took over an hour for the magic to happen, and I was telling my husband I wouldn’t be doing it again. Now I think I might try some of the tips above and have a better experience. I did get a nice creamy butter after all that time, but my back hurt from standing at the kitchen counter for so long. 🙂 Thanks for your website!!
I use my Champion juicer (with the plate and not the screen on) to make almond butter all the time. Way quicker. It doesn’t get quite this creamy, but I might try putting it in the food processor for a little bit after putting it through the juicer to see if it helps…..otherwise I normally add a little coconut oil to give it a creamier texture. We usually don’t have to worry too much about shelf life as it’s gone in a few days anyway! 🙂
Saw this easy recipe and had to try it immediately! I dry roasted the nuts (and because of life as a mom, did not get to blending them until they were almost cold–took a break to plant some sunflower seeds in egg cartons with the chickadees). Anywho, blended in my Cuisinart for 10 min and achieved perfection; placed in pint jelly jar; slapped a chalkboard label on it, and voila–The best almond butter ever!! The only question is ‘what is the best way to store and for how long?’
Store it in the fridge in a sealed jar– it usually lasts at least a month, if not longer.
Where is the info on what setting to use? I’d suspect “BLEND” but it never hurts to ask “how’d you do it”?
My food processor only has an “on” and “off” option!
I made this today and it worked nicely. Thanks for the tips.
I have one thing to suggest to everyone that is worried about their machines;
I took my time with this. I have a two year old and a 7 month old so I can’t spend 10 minutes blending and I was also worried about how my ninja pro would handle it. I let it rest for a while in between goes. After scraping the sides twice I’d let it rest, attend to the kids and come back. Towards the end ( at the creamy stage) I let it go for about 5 mins at a time. Did this twice.
Also keep in mind contacting the manufacture of the machine and ask it it can handle so many minutes continues running.
Thanks again…now to make some biscuits.
Hi, I loved this tutorial, it work out great for me, followed all the instructions and the result was perfect. now, I was wondering, is there anything I could add to the butter to make the flavour less “dry”. I know is confusing, because my butter is quite smooth and silky, but when I went and ate it it leaves a “dry” sensation in my mouth. Also, I love to eat this with a spoon but I assume it is better to have a partner in crime with this bad boy, any recommendations?
I think oil would be the only thing that might help the texture, but I’m personally used to it as is. I like to eat almond butter with sliced bananas, but it would also be great on celery sticks or baby carrots.
My Bosch blender became broken 🙁 But I’ve made a cup of butter, not so smooth as on pictures. I guess I’ve spend like an hour for it and at the and I’ve added a few spoons of olive oil to finish the process)
in the 1970s (yes, dinosaurs roamed the earth back then), i had a champion juicer. my partner’s brother got a job where he drove past the almond orchards after the almonds had been harvested. he would stop and glean whatever almonds had been left behind on the ground (still in their fuzzy shells, of course), and split them with us in trade for almond butter. the champion juicer makes great nut butter and is fast. if you see one at a garage sale, snap it up (they were made to last). it took longer to shell the fresh almonds than to grind the almond butter. i still have the juicer and it works just fine…but alas, i no longer live near the almond orchards.
I might suggest updated the receipe to say ‘roasted almonds’, as it’s been over an hour and I’m still mixing the almonds. Wish I had of know before starting… going to take longer then I thought.
I used roasted almonds and it took under 6 minutes in my Breville 16 cup processor.
I make almond butter in my Vitamix. I use 500g of almond and add about 60ml of Grapeseed Oil as well as a pinch of Himalayan salt. I have timed myself – 50 seconds and it is done!
Just made some almond butter using my new Cuisinart food processor. It worked like a dream and took less than 10 minutes! Totally worth the new food processor cost! I did roast the almonds first as you suggested. It turned out very creamy and delicious. Next time will try adding some spices!
Thanks for this 🙂 I’ve linked to your recipe here http://www.thegreatmodernblovel.com/blovel-everything/2014/7/20/food-science-part-3-calories-in-nuts and I’m going to try and whizz this up soon x
Has any one made almond butter in the Breville BREBFP800XL Sous Chef Food Processor?
I have made it a few times and it has worked fine but twice….the unit got so hot that the first time the blade cut through the bottom of the bowl, and I got it replaced by Breville, they sent me a new one and I was making almond butter and it again got so hot that it melted the bottom of the bowl, spilling scalding hot almond butter out of the unit that actually burnt my finger….I have seen many recipes on the internet for almond butter, and I am following the recipes, and also stop the machine any times through the process to scar the sides….Breville will now not replace the unit a second time…I believe this unit is not capable of the job of making almond butter, has anyone had this happen with this particular machine. Thank you.
I just made a couple of batches using a total of 4 pounds of roasted almonds in my Breville 800CBXL Sous Chef. I had no problems but the processor ran for under SIX minutes a batch, not the suggested time. The mixture was hot each time and glistened with oils, creamy smooth. I ground roasted almonds and added them to make the mixture chunky. The processor was warm to the touch, but no sign of overheating or plastic melting. I wouldn’t want to try running it for 30 minutes with a heavy mixture in it, after hearing about your experience!
Yes!!!! My Breville BFP800XL and the blade just melted the plastic down to the gear! I had bits of plastic in my nut butter (I am sure the store brand nut butter would be healthier at this point).
I just tried this recipe with Costco brand almonds and my Cuisinart food processor. It has been going for 30 minutes and I’ve been scraping the bowl every so often and nothing. All I have is a bowl of ground up almonds. There seems to be a LITTLE bit of oil, however not enough to make some creamy almond butter.
I ended up adding some honey, thinking that would help and now I’ve ended up with what looks like tan rice krispies. This is beyond me.
I LOVE IT THANK YOU
Wow!! It really works 🙂
I have just made my very first almond butter!
I was always thinking that my machine (Siemens MK554) was too slow or otherwise too weak to manage a nut butter. You convinced me to be patient and it paid off beautifully.
Thank you soooooo much!!!
I am so going to make this butter tomorrow or event today! 🙂 I’ve just bought some nice almond, I can’t wait to try it 🙂 Thank you for all the tips 😀
With over 400 comments on this post, I don’t think mine will get read, but anyways. I have to thank you for this recipe, allthough I havn’t tried it out yet. But I gonna do so, when I’m finished writing. I goolged how to make almond butter and yours was the first result that came up. I thought it wouldn’t be possible to make your own, because most of the processors say so. But there’s hope 😀
Thanks and I’ll try it!
Elisa
Hope it works for you!