Here’s how to make almond butter at home, with step-by-step photos. No added oil required! This process is similar to making your own coconut butter or peanut butter, but when it comes to homemade almond butter you’ll need a little extra patience.
Almond Butter Ingredients
This homemade almond butter is made with just one ingredient— almonds! I use raw almonds, as I prefer their more mild flavor, but you can use roasted ones if you prefer.
There’s no added oil required for this recipe, as the almonds will release their natural oils during the process. Look for organic almonds, if possible, as all “raw” almonds are required to be pasteurized in the United States, and organic almonds are steam pasteurized, rather than using chemicals.
Almond Butter Benefits
Almond butter has been getting a lot of positive attention lately, possibly because it has more vitamins, mineral and fiber when compared to peanut butter. (Because peanuts are a legume, they also aren’t a part of the Paleo or Whole30 diets, which has many people looking to almond butter as an alternative.)
Here are a few other benefits of almond butter:
- It’s a good source of monounsaturated fats, which have been associated with a lower risk of heart disease.
- Almonds are one of the best natural sources of vitamin E, an antioxidant, and may also help lower cholesterol.
- It’s a good source of magnesium, which is thought to promote healthy blood pressure.
- Studies have shown that people who regularly eat nuts & nut butters tend to avoid weight gain, despite the high calorie content in nuts. This may be due to the fact that nuts and nut butters are satiating and help balance blood sugar levels.
Homemade Almond Butter in a Blender
I use a food processor to make my almond butter, but you can use a powerful blender, if you’d prefer. I recommend adding 1/4 cup of oil to the recipe in that case, to help facilitate blending. My old 2-speed Vitamix would produce a burning smell when trying to make almond butter without the oil, but if you have a 10-speed Vitamix, the lower settings will help to avoid that.
How to Make Almond Butter
As I mentioned before, making almond butter really just requires patience, but I’ve included step-by-step photos below to help you gain the confidence you need. I think it helps to have a visual example!
To get started, I recommend warming your almonds in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350ºF. This step is optional, but it can save you and your food processor some time, as the almonds will heat up regardless from this process.
Add the almonds to the bowl of your food processor, fitted with an “S” blade, attach the lid and start processing. I use one pound of almonds at at time, which is roughly 3 cups.
Be prepared, the food processor will be running for a while. You’ll notice that the ground almonds will start to collect around the edges of the bowl, so be sure to stop and scrape down the sides every few minutes, just to keep everything blending evenly.
Depending on the size of your food processor, you’ll notice a change start to happen around the 10 to 15 minute mark. As the oils are released from the almonds, they’ll start to stick together and form a large mass that moves around the bowl. You’ll also notice that the almond butter is getting rather warm
After about 20 minutes of consistent processing– right about the time when you think you’re never going to wind up with almond butter and want to give up– magic will happen. You’ll finally have a grainy-looking almond butter. Don’t worry, you’re almost there!
After a few more minutes of processing, your almond butter will become smooth and creamy.
Let the almond butter cool, then transfer it to a 16-ounce container with a lid. I don’t recommend sealing the almond butter until it’s completely cool, so that it doesn’t create steam inside the jar. (Steam will cause it to spoil faster.)
Homemade almond butter can be stored for at least 2 weeks in the fridge, but mine often lasts longer as long as I am careful not introduce any moisture to the jar.
Is Almond Butter Healthier than Peanut Butter?
I started using almond butter as a replacement for peanut butter in many cases, because peanuts tend to be more susceptible to mold that produces aflatoxin, which has been associated with liver cancer. (source) On the bright side, aflatoxins may be reduced by as much as 89% when you grind peanuts into peanut butter! (source) Hence, why there are still plenty of peanut butter recipes here on my website.
Homemade Almond Butter (1-minute video):
How To Make Almond Butter (No Added Oil!)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups almonds (one pound)
Instructions
- To make the process faster, warm the almonds in an oven preheated to 350ºF degrees for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the almonds to a large food processor fitted with an "S" blade, and process them until creamy. You may want to stop and scrape down the sides every now and then, but this process will take up to 25 minutes. The almonds will first look like a flour with clumps, then will form a ball that moves around the food processor, then it will turn to a grainy almond butter before it becomes silky-smooth. Be patient! Just when you'll want to give up is usually when the magic happens.
- Once totally smooth and creamy, transfer the almond butter to a glass jar and store it in the fridge. I've found that almond butter with no additives usually lasts at least a month in the fridge, but be sure to check for signs of spoiling (such as mold or a bad smell) each time you use it.
Video
Nutrition
Almond Butter Nutrition per tablespoon: Calories: 102, Fat: 8g, Carbohydrates: 3g, Fiber: 2g, Protein: 3g
Almond Butter Recipes
You can use your new almond butter in the following recipes. They are some of my favorites!
- Almond Butter Blondies
- Almond Butter Buckeyes
- Almond Butter & Spinach Smoothie
- Almond Butter Brownies
- Almond Butter Pancakes
- Almond Butter Freezer Fudge
Homemade Almond Butter Tips:
- You may add salt to this recipe to your tastes. I’d recommend starting with 1/4 teaspoon, but keep in mind that many recipes call for unsalted almond butter, so you’ll need to adjust accordingly if using it in recipes.
- Don’t be tempted to add liquids to this recipe, such as vanilla extract or maple syrup. They can reduce the shelf life of the almond butter and may cause the texture to seize. I’ve heard lots of feedback regarding this in the comment section below, so be cautious! If you desire a sweeter almond butter, you might try something granulated like coconut sugar instead.
- I’ve made this recipe using a KitchenAid, Cuisinart, and Breville brand food processors, all with great results. My very favorite food processor is this Breville model.
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Reader Feedback: Have you tried making your own almond butter, or other nut butters? Let me know if you have any other tips in the comments below!
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!