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.
Thanks for sharing your simple recipe to make a homemade almond butter. I used a magic bullet and turned out great. I’ll make my own almond butter, it’s cheaper.
Wow! Totally worked. I only had raw, organic, slivered almonds on hand. I roasted them for 14 minutes on 250, then put them in my basic old food processor. Only took about 5 minutes! Maybe because they are slivered, but I’m sold on making my own. Almond milk is next! Thanks!
I don’t have much patience which is one of the reasons I haven’t gotten into cooking / baking! But I really want to develop some skills in making some tasty things! I live with my boyfriend and his family, and am not sure what they have but I’m hoping they have a food processor because I have a good amount of almonds still and this would be super cool to make! Thanks for sharing! Its so simple, and easy I am going to have to make patience my thing waiting on the creamy goodness for thirty minutes!
https://curlycaroline.wordpress.com/
Does anyone know how long this lasts in the Refrigerator?
I LOVE the fresh ground almond butter at my nearby Whole Foods, but at $10.99/lb it’s quite pricey so I thought I’d try this. (I’ve learned that different Whole Foods have different prices for this!) Easy peasy to make -done in 6 minutes with my Cuisinart. But the taste isn’t the same so I’m not loving it. I used Kirkland (Costco) roasted almonds. Anyone know what kind of almonds are used at Whole Foods?? Does the fresh grind have salt sprinkled on their almonds. Trying to figure out how to make THAT one 🙂 Thanks!!
You can try adding some honey when the almonds are in the food processor to add some taste to it.
I ran out of peanut butter for a recipe and decided to google for a substitute and came across your site. I have all kinds of nuts on hand so when I read how easy it was, I just had to give it a shot. Oh my gosh! How simple!! Works great and tastes delicious! I had questioned for just a split second if my protein bars would be affected by using this versus store bought peanut butter but they are perfect. I love having things made at home by me and knowing whats in it. I can’t believe that I’ve never tried this before! Texture is thinner than store bought but you also are eating something that is pure! LOVE
hi, this is kind of a silly question but so far I can not get anyone to answer it. when making almond butter everyone says to use whole almonds I have a really big bag of sliced almonds and cant afford to “test” this theory. I know you can opt out of roasting them so far the only reason I have found that people do not opt out is it takes longer to break down, and if you take care in roasting the slices would that work? thanks for any help you can offer
JeanneMarie
Hi someone else use the some almonds they don’t have to blend as long
I’m going have a try myself at making this I make my own almond milk and cashew milk
Hi
I tried this yesterday using ground almonds as I didn’t have any wholen ones (cheaper as well for future Ref).
I warmed 170g of ground almonds up as directed and then put them in a in a liquidiser. Honestly it took no more than 8 minutes to finish and I scooped 150g out of the liquidiser . If it works works on ground almonds it is bound to work on your slivered almonds. Good luck ( you won’t be needing it).
Can I do it with a blender? I don’t have a food processor. My blender has several speeds
I would say unless you have a very expensive and powerful blender it cannot get the blades moving fast enough to work for this recipe. However you can always just go the age old route of just trying it and seeing what happens. If it doesn’t work you can just throw the almond bits into muffin batter! Lol
Hope to try this one day when I get a processor…
I just bought a nearly-new Cuisinart food processor on Craigslist for $30.00! The seller was given this for Christmas and had a small kitchen. And she isn’t into cooking. Sure beats paying retail! Just an idea! ;D Now, back to making me some almond butter in my “new” food processor…
Thanks so much for the advice and encouragement! I’ve been thinking about making almond butter for a long time, but today I actually did it! Note: I found myself having to stop the food processor often to scrape down the sides, so I moved the whole operation to my stand mixer (paddle attachment). This worked fine, and made it easier to blend the almonds as the process went on.
Again, thanks for the push!
Petra
Made this today.. succumbed and add a little honey and salt. But its AWESOME! Thanks so much!
Can always just buy a really high quality almond butter. Very hard to find, but they are around for sure. Wyldsson do a great one… https://wyldsson.com/product/almond-butter/. Watch out for nut butters with added oils, sugars and salt. Not good.
Thank you for this article. I’d like to get off of peanut butter and try almond butter but it is so expensive. Do you need a very high powered food processor. I don’t own a KitchenAid or anything of the like but only a small Cuisinart. I’m thinking that will not do the trick here since it would be on for quite some time.
time for humor? yes, it is always time for humor so here goes: I decided to try your Almond Butter and even checked out your link to making Almond Milk. When my butter was almost perfect, I decided to add a bit of sweetness and drizzled in a bit of raw honey. As it was “processing” that,, I thought it would be a great idea to add a hint of vanilla. The nut butter was probably about 30 seconds from perfection when I added the vanilla. Well, I am here to tell you that it went from being crazy smooth and perfectly creamy to an awesome ball of taffy-consistency-candy! Wow, is it ever crazy delicious but it is soooo not spreadable. All of the coconut oil I had addded to the recipe was now separated and was easy to drain off. and it is delicious. Some fo the best mistakes become the best new recipes Thanks, loving this!
If I add a little oil or coconut oil…how long will the shelf life decrease? What is the average shelf life for almond butter?
Also, was thinking of adding a little cinnamon, would that decrease shelf life?
Thanks!
Marla
with a nutribullit RX i just made 12 oz. of sunflower seed butter. i didn’t want them to go bad. i purchased too many. i saw no recipe, just put them in and hit the button. i soon saw i needed moisture of some sort to keep the seeds blending. i added 1 1/2 teaspoons of grape seed oil (better than olive) and away it went. 10 min. time and another 10 min. to clean it all up. i’ll be having sunflower butter and grape jelly on toast in 2 hours. the butter is tasty. i think i’ll put a bit of sugar in my next batch. Jiffy look out!!! here i come….
I just made this and it turned out amazing! I used 3 cups like you stated and I got about 2 cups of butter. Thank you.
I hope you don’t mind, but I shared the link on my Instagram, but this method is truly awesome. I can’t wait to check out more of your recipes. Thanks!
P.s. I wanted to rate this 5 stars, but my phone won’t let me…
I almost spent 9.99 on a small jar of almond butter at whole foods when I thought to google if you could make almond butter with a food processor at home (since I already had a bag of them.) Wow! I am so impressed. Worked exactly like your recipe says and I love that it is so clean ( we can see exactly what we are eating and how high quality it is.) Taste great (I added a pinch of sea salt) thank you such much! Now I am inspired to see what else I can make at home!
Why it smells so bad 🙁 i make it the exact same way. Could you tell me how can i fix it or this is how it smells
My first time making almond butter.It take me about 10 min in my food processor. I added a pinch of salt and 1tsp of raw honey, soooo delicious!!!! I don’t think I will buy almond butter again.
Where do you buy your nuts from In bulk? That is s good price? I couldn’t find it on your website! Thanks!
Did you ever find a source? Looking as well. Thanks!
Just made butter of mixed nuts.
How long are you able to store it, in the fridge or cupboard?
I’m so glad I read this! I started making the almond butter and thought “What the heck? I should have butter already!” I almost gave up when I saw the dry crumbly mess. Your words got me through this process 🙂
Just finished my first batch! Great taste! I started with 1 cup of almonds; wasn’t sure if my little 2-cup food processor could do the job but it whirred its’ little heart out and right at the 10 minute mark… the MAGIC happened! I added a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor (“You are the salt of the earth…” Mt 5:13)
And now on to batch #2 with a little honey this time! Thanks so much for this wonderful tasting and cost-saving recipe!
I have a Premiere wet stone grinder and the butter turned out great and got consumed really really quick. I was wondering would it be possible to add some dried goji berries to the to my next batch for an added flavour or would it ruin the process?
Hi!
I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for AGES….but I only have an old Thermomix…..could I make the butter with that? And do you usually take the brown skin off the almonds before putting them in the processor?
Thanks!
I have made this recipe many times, but today was the first time that I used raw almonds. Wow – I was surprised at how long it took versus using roasted almonds! From start to finish, it took about 25-30 minutes, whereas when I first roast the almonds following your directions, it only takes about 10 minutes. I have a 14-cup Cuisinart food processor, and the motor got really hot during the 25 minute time period. At about the twenty-five minute mark, I just turned it off and let it sit for about 5 minutes. I then added a tablespoon of coconut oil and a 1/4 teaspoon sea salt to help speed things along, and let it run for about 5 more minutes. The end result was creamy and delicious, but I think I will stick to first roasting my almonds for a bit before I add them to the processor. I am glad I decided to use the raw almonds today, though, it is fun to make things differently sometimes for comparison purposes. Thanks again, Megan, for this delicious recipe and all your tips!
I have almond butter! Whoohoo! Thanks for your work and recipe; it took 25 minutes to see butter, at 30 minutes it is smooth and creamy. I started with raw organic almonds, heated them as you suggested, used an old hamilton beach food processor. Things did heat up but the almond butter very delicious.
Can you share a brand/source for your almonds? Thanks!
Maybe soak the almonds first then process?
No, don’t use wet almonds! They must be dry to make nut butter. You’re welcome to soak them and then dry thoroughly before processing, if you like.
Has anyone ever made almond butter without skin? I know much of the benefit is in the skin, but I have a hard time with the grittiness. looks like a great recipe – can’t wait to try it!
Don’t try and make this yourself. Burned out the motor in my brand new food processor. Awesome.
Amazing! I have a Ninja Master Prep (used the food processor/chopper bowl, not the big pitcher) and it worked like a dream. It definitely got a little warm but kept on churning. Be sure to warm the almonds beforehand and scrape down the sides a few times. All I added was a pinch of sea salt as I didn’t have any cinnamon on hand. I will never buy almond butter again! Can’t wait to try macadamia nut butter next!
OMGOSH I did think my processor was going to explode but, PATIENCE is key ( I had to go outside my processor was deafening!) AMAZING THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for the detailed instructions. I just made up my first batch of almond butter and it was perfect. My processor handled the job well and I varied the speed at times as I watched it fold the sides down. I didn’t need to do too much scraping if sides. I guess that is dependant on brand of processor and shape of bowl.
?
if you want to add vanilla don’t use the vanilla extract whatsoever for more or less anything, its a poor product at the best of times, just get proper vanilla pods, fermented and cured, and all that other beautiful stuff that needs to be done to them to get the sweet amazing taste to really pop out. (which is what the vanilla pods you buy have been through)
use proper vanilla or drop it… honestly…
Has anyone ever used with the small handheld Braun food processor attachment ?
hi I ran across your site while I was looking for almond butter how to make in my nutria ninja with auto- IQ can someone please tell me how to use it for nut butters. thank you.
I am wondering if you use the big main bowl of your food processor or the smaller inner bowl. I am looking to do 3 cups like you did.
Use the big bowl!
Thank you! Have made nut butters in the past in my Vitamix, and you are correct – they all but burn. MUCH better in food processor! Thanks for the helpful tips as well (scrape down, wait for it, wait for it ….!). Aloha.
hi Megan!
For the past two years,we have been buying raw, *unpasteurized*, natural almonds from a local farm. Unfortunately, the farm was bought by a big company and no longer accessible to us.
Do you know where I should get raw, unpasteurized almond? I am looking for a reliable source, rather than those huge chain stores/wholesales.
Any suggestions is highly appreciated.
Can this butter be frozen?
How long do you think it would keep in the fridge? I was thinking of making it for gifts to my neighbors next winter. Have you ever tried to freeze it? I hate to run out of almond butter! I;m glad I can make my own now, Thanks,
I’m looking for all natural ingredient recipes free of toxins and sugar and unhealthy oils. This homemade almond butter is right up my alley, can’t wait to try it!
Hi, Megan – I keep coming back to this recipe again and again, love to follow your photos as I make the almond butter. Just wanted to point out though, you have two different oven temperatures listed for roasting the almonds before you process them… 250 degrees is stated in the beginning of the description, and 350 degrees is listed in the recipe section. Just wanted to bring this to your attention 🙂
Thank you for your delicious recipes!
Guys!! I just tried it with my soup blender, got tu same result in 10 seconds!?
what is the make and model of your soup blender?
Blending as I type, tasted some along the way, how have I lived without almond butter?! Thank you so much ♡
I use to always think why my home made butter doesn’t last longer after reading this I realized it was because I always used soaked almond thanks for sharing this wonder full recipe.
Great recipe and so much tastier then the store bought kind. Loved it!
Can you start with almond meal, or does it have to be whole almonds?
A few readers in our Facebook Community mentioned that you need to add oil to the mixture if you’re using almond flour or almond meal. It sounds like maybe the flours are dehydrated a bit and don’t have enough oil compared to the whole almonds.
Why kind of food processor do you use? As I mentioned in a comment above, mine burned out after 10 minutes and is smoking so much, I think it’s toast (pun intended haha).
I used a KitchenAid food processor for about 15 years (pictured in this post), and then the blade finally broke apart earlier this year. They don’t make the same model anymore, and the newer ones didn’t have as great of reviews, so I replaced it with an 11-cup Cuisinart model, similar to this one: http://amzn.to/2uPq6MX So far it’s been great!
Have never made any nut butter before, but thought I’d give it a go after seeing this recipe. You were spot on when you said it would magically happen. I dead set thought it wasn’t, then it did. Thanks so much.