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This delicious Homemade Pecan Butter recipe is sugar-free, paleo, vegan, and Whole30 friendly! Made with just 6 whole ingredients, you’ll love this easy snack!
Homemade Pecan Butter Recipe
Nut butter is a dream come true! It is full of healthy fats and protein, but it pretty much tastes like dessert. It’s even better when you can make it at home so you know everything that’s in it!
You can spread it on toast, fruit, rice cakes, and more for a tasty snack. You can also drizzle it on oatmeal, smoothies, chia pudding, and waffles for the most kid-friendly healthy breakfast! With the added fat and protein your whole family will be full and satisfied for the day ahead!
Making your own nut butter at home is extremely easy but one kitchen appliance is necessary: a food processor. You can use a high powered blender but since nut butter takes up to 15 minutes to process, you can easily burn out the motor on your blender if you aren’t careful.
With a little patience, this homemade pecan butter recipe will give you a creamy apple cinnamon flavored treat to spread on everything!
Ingredients for Apple Pecan Butter
Here’s a quick overview of the what you’ll need for this delicious homemade nut butter. For specific measurements, keep scrolling down to the printable recipe card!
- Pecans
- Dried apples
- Vanilla extract
- Sea salt
- Cinnamon
- Coconut oil: Optional – You may need this if your pecans aren’t very fresh or if you like your pecan butter to have a thinner consistency.
How to Make Pecan Butter
Pecan butter is quite simple to make. All you have to do is roast some nuts and then process them down in a food processor. Let me break it down for you:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F, then roast your pecans for about 8 minutes. You should have an amazing pecan smell filling the kitchen when they’re ready to be removed.
TIP: We do this because it makes the pecans softer (saving your food processor some work) but also because it helps pecans naturally release oil as they process. Using the pecans’ own oil reduces (or even eliminates) the amount of coconut oil we will need to use. - Let the nuts cool down for a few minutes and then pop them in your food processor and begin to process.
TIP: If the pecans are too hot, they can sometimes cause the nut butter to remain thick and clumpy. If you notice steam coming out of the top of your food processor as the pecans are breaking down, turn off your machine and wait a few more minutes. - Process the pecans a few minutes at a time. Stop the food processor and scrape down the sides to make sure you get a smooth butter.
TIP: Your pecans will go through several stages before they become a buttery smooth spread so be patient! They will get there. - Viola! You have pecan butter! Once the pecans have turned into a creamy butter, you can add in the dried apples, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt. Give the processor another quick spin to incorporate these final ingredients, then store in an air-tight container.
Tips for making the BEST homemade pecan butter
- Use raw nuts. Nuts with salt and oil already on them will yield a different end result.
- Toast your pecans first. – Freshly roasted pecans are softer and release more natural oils, resulting in a better taste and texture.
- Only add oil when necessary. – It’s tempting to add oil as soon as you see the pecans starting to clump, but it truly is best if you can rely as much as possible on the natural oils from the nuts. Nuts take time to release their oil, so I suggest giving it more time to see if the oil is necessary.
- For an extra drizzly nut butter, add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil at the very end, then process to blend it in. – This is If you like your to add your pecan butter to smoothies or plan to drizzle it over a dessert.
- Use a food processor. – You will get better consistency with less work from the proper machine.
- Don’t burn your motor. – A lot of machines will need a break within the 10 minutes of processing time (especially if using a blender). Giving your pecans and a machine a break every few minutes allows the motor to rest and the nuts to release their oil.
- Be patient! 10 minutes might seem like a long time to process the pecans but the longer they are in there, the more pecan oils will release.
- Do not add water. Water will cause the pecan butter to seize up as it interacts with the pecan’s natural oils.
More Pecan Recipes
- Grain Free Fig Bars and Keto Strawberry Cheesecake Bars– The crumbly pecan topping on both of these is AMAZING.
- This Cranberry Apple Kale Salad is topped with pecans for a delicious earthy crunch.
- Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Pecans is a fantastic fall-inspired side dish.
- These Kitchen Sink Cookies and this Keto Skillet Cookie are both low carb and combine the crunch of pecans with the deliciousness of melty chocolate chips!
- The master of all desserts — Turtle Brownies are made with gluten-free brownies, sugar free ganache and caramel syrup, roasted pecans.
Apple Cinnamon Pecan Butter
Ingredients
- 2 cups pecans
- 3/4 cup dried apples
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, optional
Instructions
- Turn oven on 350°F. Spread pecans out on a baking sheet and cook for 4-8 minutes – until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the nuts. Remove from the oven and allow nuts to cool for a few minutes.
- Add pecans to the food processor and process for 5-10 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary. The pecans will go through several stages and begin to clump at some point – continue to process until you reach a creamy consistency.
- Add in dried apples, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon and process again until smooth. If the nut butter starts to thicken, add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil at a time and process again until smooth.
- Taste your nut butter and adjust the flavor to your liking.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks (sometimes longer).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
