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!
I made this with my Nutribullet and it worked so well! I “roasted” the almonds on the stove in a pot for a few min and then put into the bullet and after about 10 min and stopping every min or so to scrape from the sides I have awesome almond butter! I am so pleased and will never buy expensive store bought again!!
HELP! so i soaked the almonds, then dehydrate and roasted. Place it in my food processor and I made butter in 2 minutes!I was so happy so I added a pinch of salt and one Tbsp of maple syrup, start mixing and everything turned into a solid mass !!!! why??? What can i do to make it soft so I can spread it? I don’t want add any oil . Can you help me to understand what went wrong and how to fix it ? Thanks !
I’m not sure of the science behind why that happens, but I’ve seen almond butter get thick and sticky when I add maple syrup to it, too. I’m not sure how to fix it once that happens! (I don’t think adding oil would help.) I’d probably just press that version into a pan and stick it in the fridge or freezer so you can enjoy it like fudge!
I have a Ninja 1500, bought and soaked raw almonds, dried them on a dehydrator over night, but them in the Ninja and got nothing but very finely chopped almonds, tried to add a little olive oil and nothing. Just finely chopped almonds. Any ideas?
I used a ninja professional and I had to just keep blending and scraping the sides it probably took 35 min to get the butter the consistency that would work. good luck!
I am so glad that I found this blog. I tried to make my own almond butter according to instructions on another blog and they were to bland 1 min then scrape down the sides and blend 2 more min and scrap the sides again and then 1.5 min more and done! well that just gave me some almond meal. I left the mess in the processor and went looking for better instructions and found yours! Thanks because now I have some lovely almond butter. I have a ninja professional and I think it took longer than 20 min but I don’t think my almonds are roasted. I bought them at Costco and the package didn’t say. your instructions are clear and the pictures helped a lot with what to expect and once I saw them I realized that it was just beginning the process and needed to keep going. I was worried about the heat and you explained that away for me. I am ready to try many other recipes now too.
Wow! You were certainly right about the patience factor required for this nut butter. I have been cringing at the cost of almond butter in the grocery store lately and decided to give those almonds a whirl (literally). It was also an exercise in patience 🙂 Thanks for the recipe and tutorial!
Great instructions! I eat almond butter spread on stalks of celery for breakfast. Delicious. Sometimes I stir in pine nuts when I can find them.
Oh my! That took me over an hour. I did soak my almonds but they were fully dry before I started (2days drying and half a day in the sun) I still don’t have a good consistency but I have simply run out of time. I think the recipe is good, but I won’t be trying again until I have a better processor., if ii ever do try again…
I just did this – and WOW – you are right. I will never buy it again. My fresh almond butter was sooooo much better!!! It is cool how all of a sudden it comes together at the end. I am in nut butter heaven right now!
Without this great, picture laden tutorial I don’t think I would have made it to the end of the process. I would have probably pitched it part way through thinking it wouldn’t work. Thanks!
I’ve now made two batches of almond butter, following your guidelines. I lightly toasted three cups of raw almonds in the oven, and let them cool for just a bit before putting them in my Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus food processor. It went amazingly quickly, and I had satiny-smooth almond butter in just about six minutes! (Which was good, because it was a noisy process). And I had to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl only once. For the first batch, to be used for almond butter cookies, I didn’t add any other ingredients. It was rather bland, but perfect for its intended use. For the second batch, I added a small amount of kosher salt and a couple of teaspoons of raw sugar, to make it more palatable as a replacement for peanut butter. No need to ever buy ready-made, organic peanut or almond butter again. This way, I can control the quality of the ingredients. Thanks – simple but genius!
Thanks for this! I used a magi mix and was a quick process. Keep the cool recipes coming
As long as it doesn’t get above 118 degrees it is still considered raw, so even though the almonds do get heated up during the process of making the almond butter, it’s still not enough to make it not raw!
What is the shelflike on this?
If you are going to spend all of your time to make your own almond butter, and probably destroy your food processor at the same time. Then take it form me, and a actual almond grower, do not buy your almonds from trader joes. Trader Joe’s does not sell fresh nuts. If you want good tasting butter then you need to always dry roast and use quality Nonpareil variety almonds. Trader Joe’s sells a majority of low quality nuts. you get what you pay for…
Do you have a website?? I have not found locally grown organic almonds in my area. (I live in Chandler, AZ)
Thank you,
Tammy
I was so inspired reading this blog. It’s been difficult to get Almond Butter where I had previously… Trader Joes and Costco. Since the Almond Butter recall a few months back it has not been at Costco and the times I’ve seen it at TJ they now have cashews in the ingredients and I don’t want cashews in my almond butter! So, I tried it in my Vitamix and it worked well. I used 4 cups of the raw almonds I get at Costco and 4 T of grape seed oil and churned away on hi for about the 1st 25 minutes (stopped a number of times to use a large spoon and scrape around to mix up top and bottom) and mainly on med. for last 15 minutes. Yep, took about 40 minutes but the results were well worth it! One recipe I saw called for Sunflower Oil (or maybe Safflower oil?) or peanut oil but I only have grape seed oil so I googled and found someone who uses that for their Almond Butter. So thanks for the inspiration and getting me past the hump of fear to try!
I’ve been wanting to make my own almond butter…
I made this a few days ago. It came out great. However, today I made protein balls in it and tried making almond butter again and the motor whirs but the blade doesn’t spin. Googled and the manual says not to run it for more than a minute at a time. It’s a Hamilton Beach I’ve had for about 9 years or so. Very disappointed.
Oh wow! I’m sooo glad I saw your post, I never had such gorgeous almond butter as the one I tried this afternoon, and I waited, and waited and waited and WOW!!!!! I always gave up way before and added oil, and now I didn’t add anything and it’s fantastic. I have a Thermomix and the temperature went up to 70C while it was churning (about 160F)… but it worked! Thank you! thank you! thank you!!!!!
Hello,
Great recipe. Thank you much. It was a ‘smooth’ kind of butter. I want to make ‘crunchy’. Could you please help me?
Cheers.
No one has mentioned using sliced almonds. Would’nt that make the whole process faster? Im going to slightly roast and try. Anyone try this yet?
My Q is above. OMG… Just used 2 cups sliced almonds. Roastd 10 min at 350. Put in Vita-mix hot with a little salt and grapeseed oil. I had almond butter in 1-3 min. I got a 32 oz bag at Sams Club, but $13!!!! Worth it, no busted motor. Yes, i know, it wasnt organic.
Just made my very first almond butter in a very old GE Food Processor. works great. Hadn’t made peanut butter since kids were home 30 years ago…will start again because it is better.
I wanted to make a Spiced Almond Milk recipe I saw on Simple Green Smoothies, but I didn’t have any almond butter. So I thought, “Ha, I’ll just make some. Can’t be too hard.” Found this recipe, and, voila! It came out great. I used organic raw almonds, and it didn’t take too much time. Knowing it was going to climb the sides of my Cuisinart, ball up, get warm, get grainy, and then creamy were all good to know. Knowing what to expect was really good. My spiced almond milk was delish too! A tip at the end of that recipe to put it in the Vitamix after heating it up was fabulous. Made the drink nice and frothy. Between the two recipes, it was well worth my time this morning! Yum yum!
Hi just wondering I have a optimum blender with just the one blade (it’s very similar to a vitamix) would this be ok to use. I have blened almonds before and it blends them up in 3 mins but it was not to make butter.
Homemade almond butter YUM!!!
However the quality and type of almonds DOES matter.
Dont use almonds that have been gassed with propylene glycol or oxide (think antifreeze!)
Costco’s Kirkland Brand are just that. Dont buy them. I made that mistake and then returned them with a complaint.
Check out this article
https://detoxinista.com/2012/08/are-your-almonds-truly-raw/
Any tips on how to make creamy pistachio butter? Any tips?
How long approx. will the almond butter last in the fridge ?
Great recipe, thank you! HOWEVER I did something wrong! It was looking great, creamy smooth. Then I added some honey and it turned out real thick and course. It didn’t matter how long I kept it in the food processor (started smoking) it just wasn’t going to get smooth again. What did I do wrong?
Yes, adding a liquid sweetener will do that. You can add oil or water at the same time to help keep it smooth– I usually add water to mine, but that does shorten the shelf-life of the nut butter to about a week or so in the fridge.
I will do that with my next batch! Instead of remixing what I already have, I made some of it into little balls and rolled them in melted chocolate for a healthier treat!
Next time I will add water or oil as directed.
Thanks so much!
Great advice! I also added some honey and it become coarse and a bit dry. I’ll try adding a bit of oil to see if that helps. If not, I’ll try again in the future and add the honey and oil at the same time. And if that also doesn’t work, I’ll just omit the honey altogether 🙂 Maybe this explains why most peanut butters are incredibly smooth; they have lots of oil.
You only used almonds?????
I’m still waiting for mine to finish lol it’s been much longer than 30 minutes. >_< Hopefully the wait is worth it. This is my first time making a nut butter.
How much almond butter does this make, in grams? Also does almond butter have a much weaker flavour than other nut butters, so is it better for baking with?
Don’t know about the amount question – but, I’ve made almond butter a few times and have been very, very happy with the results. Recently, I’ve added a small amount of Himalayan pink salt once it’s as smooth as I like and have discovered it nicely enhanced the flavor much like salt enhances the flavor of most anything. I enjoy it in recipes but enjoy it Best right from the spoon! 🙂
Just successfully made my own homemade almond butter for the first time!!! Thank you- exactly on point that patience was key. Used a Sunbeam hand handle mixer- perfection! So excited. Thanks
considering getting into this… can I inquire what type/brand of processor is best for nut butters ?
I have tried to make my own almond butter and it stayed as crumbs for about 20 minutes, so I carried on blending, and now it’s just like a greasy dough ball – it’s not creamy at all? Do you have ant tips please? I feel so sad it hasn’t worked 🙁
Try adding a bit of canola oil. I used about a tbsp and that helped heaps!
Use a good quality cold pressed oil if using any. Canola oil is not something I woukd even have in my kitchen – on the list of really not good for you!!
Keep blending a few more minutes. I just made it and it is creamy.
Just made another batch today. Mine stayed in the “crumble mush: the blade’s just spinning pointlessly” stage for a long time so I drizzled a tablespoon of (melted: I live in Florida so we’ve reached the “it’s always melted” part of the year) coconut oil and, after a couple minutes, it moved right along to the Now! It’s Smoothing Out stage = 🙂
Great Blog!
Can you tell me where can I buy that bottle you used in the picture?
Thanks..
It looks like a standard mason jar. Most places sell them from Amazon to your general hardware stores.
Oops! I thought of using coconut oil instead. Walmart has mason jars
Remya, Its just a normal jam jar. After you have finished your jam, wash the bottle, dry it…. and good for using.
Hi, I thought it’s easier to digest if you sprout the almonds first. Could you do that and dry them in the oven?
Thank you, I’ve been wanting to switch to almond butter for a long time (from Peanut butter, which isn’t so good for me personally to be eating), but am worried about digesting unsoaked/unsprouted almonds. Am I wrong about this?
– Christine
I like making my own nut butters because the store bought ones are so full of sugar and I am a type 1 diabetic, my husband is type 2, so yeah those ones are out. I also made my own almond milk this morning. My son was amazed. Also make my own nut flours because we live in a very very small town where not much is available. I am so glad that I found this site, I put it in my favorites and will be visiting it often for keeping my family into more healthy living. Thank You Detoxinista*
Like Palyn commented above, my experience was about 6 minutes from the time I turned on the food processor. I did roast my (2 cups of) almonds before beginning and was prepared for a 20 minute wait. Imagine how surprised I was to find it happening so quickly! My blender has an edge scraper built in, which I’m suddenly very thankful for – and of course, I’m completely thankful for you posting this tutorial! We’re thrilled to be able to make our own almond butter.
Hi, what brand/model blender do you have? I have a Ninja Ultima Dual Stage blender and a Hamilton Beach food processor. Any suggestion as to which one I should use? This will be my first attempt at making almond butter. Thanks!
Hi ! I don’t have a food processor but a strong blender, can I use my blender to make this almond milk ?
thanks !
Hi, i use my bullet to make almond milk. Blend for 1 minute then strain the milk through a fine sieve into jug, you will be left with almond mulch in the sieve and lovely almond milk in jug.
Thank you very much for this.
Recipe is real simple & easy once you roast the almonds.
It took hardly 15 minutes to get there once roasted.
Used it to make protein bars !!
Can anyone please explain to me all the differences of raw vs. roasted and pasteurized vs. unpasteurized almonds? It all gets slammed together in categories with no clear definition of what is what.
Oh and organic vs. non organic as well. What is the same and what is different in all of this?lol
Easy peasy! Became smooth and creamy around 12 minutes, but kept my food processor running (scraping every few minutes) for another 5 minutes. My friend Katie was so impressed!
Thanks, Detoxinista! xo
Can you mention in your main article that a roasting temp of 250 or less is best due to acrylamide formation at higher temps. That applies to other things being roasted too, not just almonds. Thanks! Great article!
I made the chocolate chip “oatmeal” bars….no oatmeal in it.
I ground up the almonds before putting them in a 325 degree oven.
Only took about 10 minutes to make almond butter after they were heated.
I would add the coconut oil to the almond mixture in the Cuisinart
next time. Think it would make the entire process easier.
Thanks for posting all the photos along the way so we know exactly what to expect. I took me about 15 minutes in my legacy Cuisinart using raw almonds. Delicious!
Must it be “S”blade? The blade worn out on my second round of making the butter. I went to replaced the spare part, and the sales advisor told me to use “flat blade” to blend nuts. Whereas the “S” blade for garlic or onion etc. Please advice if only “S” blade are recommended. Thank you
This was so much fun and turned out so well. I set my food processor on low after the ‘thick/sticky’ stage and meant to come back in about 10 min. We were doing some after Christmas cleaning and it ended up being about 30 min but it was perfect. Yes, you have to be patient! Will make a bigger batch next time-we use it a lot in baking as I’ve made us Paleo for the past year. This is so much cheaper.
I tried your recipe recently and after about 50 minutes with the food processor, I still had a crumbly almond paste. I accidentally purchased california almonds and they were covered in some sort of dark powder. I had to rinse them off before putting them in the oven and they were still damp when I took them out. Could this be the problem? Thank you!
Thanks so much for your simple recipe! I am in Australia and almond butter is very expensive here. $7US for a small 8oz jar.
I just tried one cup of almonds first and it was so successful that I used the rest I had, almost another cup. This has filled my store bought jar (8oz – 250g). I haven’t checked what I paid for the almonds, but I think it will be about half price or even less.
I noticed with mine that the butter no longer stuck to the blade when it was ready. I guess this is because of the oil content being at the right consistency.
Thanks again, Michele
I just used your recipe to make homemade almond butter. It turned out great. Thank you for all the detailed information. It is much better than the ones you buy in the store. I like knowing what is in the food I am eating.
Yum! I just made this and it turned out great! Very creamy! 🙂 It makes a little more than you get in the store bought jars, PLUS it costs less! I get 32 oz (2lb) of raw almonds for $14.50. It comes with 8 cups of almonds. So this recipe only costs me about $5! 🙂
I roasted my almonds for 12 minutes at 350. And it only took my food processer 10 minutes until it became nice and creamy. But I let it go for 13 minutes, to be on the safe side.
I was quite surprised to! My food processor sucks! Lol! 🙂
Thanks for this great recipe!! 🙂
Do you buy your almonds online or at a local place?
I do not have a food processor, but I do have a Vitamix. Will I still receive the desired results using the Vitamix?
Did you read what was said in the original post?
I made mine today in the blender of my Ninja. So the Vitamix will work great too.
I have a NutiBullet. Will this work, and if so, what would the process involve time wise?
I too have a nutirbullet. They don’t recommend running it for more than a minute at a.time to prevent overheating of the motor. It will shut off. I don’t thing it will work. I have a 29.00 food processor we from Walmart and it works just fine.
A Vitamix will work great. I freeze a 1 lb bag of dry roasted, unsalted almonds from Trader Joes to keep the temperature down during preparation.
It takes the Vitamix about 15 seconds to turn the entire pound of nuts into a fine crumble – during this period, the motor on my older Vitamix 5000 will labor. The newer, more powerful models shouldn’t have a bit of trouble. About 30 seconds of work with the tamper turns the mix into a paste, and another 60 seconds of processing turns it into a beautifully creamy almond butter.
Thanks for sharing Vitamix Chef as I dont have a food processor but own a vitamix .
I just tried this with my Vitamix and I got a smooth creamy result. I started on the lowest variable setting and increased it to 5 variable after it was nice and pulverized. It only took about 5 minutes for 1 and half cups of almonds which I baked at 350 for 20 minutes and put in the Vitamix while still hot.