nut butter Archives - Ari's Menu

Honey Roasted Macadamia Butter

December 18, 2013 · by Ari ·

Drippy, sweet and melty honey roasted macadamia butter. All it takes is one ingredient and 5 minutes to create your new favorite spread.

I’m really not the “DIY” type. As much as I love anything homemade, especially when it’s heartfelt, bringing myself to devote hours of time to a craft that I will inevitably be unhappy with when I finish is just not something I can usually do. I am, however, in total awe of people who can/do. Honestly, anyone that can make things look pretty, or at least not look like a kindergartner made it is totally impressive in my book.

Most of the time when I see a “Beautiful #DIY Gift Idea #Christmas” on Pinterest, I steer clear, and remind myself that the “5 Minute Up-Do” I found took me more like an hour, and I still wasn’t satisfied with the result.

But food? That I can do. Even DIY food. I love making people treats, especially things you can’t buy in the store, and I adore stuffing my family’s stockings with homemade nut butters, granola, and puppy chow rather than candy canes filled with m&ms.

So meet my newest obsession. The best, drippiest nut butter I have ever tastes. Now, if you like a more solid texture, not to worry! Stick this baby in the fridge, and you will get more of a traditional peanut butter texture, but I LOVE the way it drips right off the spoon, and has almost a melted texture. Macadamia nuts are the best nuts for spreads, in my opinion. They always come together super easy and quickly with no food processor starting and stopping. This DIY project will literally take you 5 minutes. 10 if you include dishes, ~~but I wouldn’t know since I don’t actually do those~~.

I found my honey roasted macadamia nuts at Trader Joe’s, but I’m sure you could also find them online, or make your own!

Honey Roasted Macadamia Butter

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Yield: approx 1 1/2 cups

Honey Roasted Macadamia Butter

Drippy, sweet and melty honey roasted macadamia butter. All it takes is one ingredient and 5 minutes to create your new favorite spread.

Ingredients

16 oz honey roasted macadamia nuts
pinch sea salt, optional

Instructions

Place macadamia nuts in your food processor. Blend until a smooth and creamy butter forms, about 3-5 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary. Store in an airtight container refrigerated for up to one month, or in a cool, dry place for 2-3 weeks.

https://arismenu.com/honey-roasted-macadamia-butter/

Cinnamon Raisin Sunflower Seed Butter

February 18, 2013 · by Ari ·

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, there are a few things you’ll know about me.

1. I am addicted to nut/seed butters. Peanut, almond, pistachio, macadamia, pecan, sunflower….you name it, I love it. and 2. I am obsessed with all flavors of PB&Co, but my two favorites are white chocolate wonderful and cinnamon raisin swirl.

It’s funny, sometimes I have ideas floating around in my head for months before I get around to making them, and sometimes I just go to the kitchen to get a glass of water, and before I know it, I’m whipping up some new recipe that I had no plans on making. We were out of most of our nut butters, so I stuck some sunflower seeds in the food processor to make more, and before I knew it, this came out!

Okay, maybe not before I knew it. I must confess that sunflower seeds took longer to process, and form a nut butter than anything I’ve tried before. BUT with patience (and overheating my food processor), I finally got the result I was looking for! Thick, creamy, slightly sweet, with the bold flavor of cinnamon, and sweet, soft raisins in the mix. It was well worth the wait.

I’ve learned a little bit of patience since I first started making my own nut butters. I used to quickly get frustrated that it wasn’t coming together quickly enough, and add oil to help it along. Well, I’ve learned that *most* of the time, it really isn’t necessary. Most of the time, if you are patient, it will come together on it’s own, but patience isn’t really my forte, so I recommend spending the time while you wait reading a book, or blogging, or making dinner to keep yourself occupies. 😉

In the end, it’s 100% worth the wait. Pinky promise.

Cinnamon Raisin Sunflower Seed Butter

8oz roasted sunflower seeds (I used salted, if you don’t, add a pinch of salt)
1 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp brown sugar (depending on how sweet you like it. I used 1 1/2, but I love sugar, and could have easily added more…)
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

Place sunflower seeds in your food processor. Blend for 3-4 minutes at a time (less if your food processor starts to sound like it needs a break–give it one!), scraping down the sides of the bowl in between. Eventually, sunflower seeds will form a paste-like consistency, then finally a nut butter consistency. This took me about 30 minutes.
When seeds have reached your desired texture, add cinnamon and brown sugar to food processor, and blend to combine. Start with 1 tbsp brown sugar, and add the rest at your discretion.
Remove sunflower seed butter from food processor and fold in raisins. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. I do not refrigerate mine, but you may if you like.

Butterscotch Pecan Butter

September 14, 2012 · by Ari ·

It’s official. I’m never buying nut butter from the grocery store again.

Making my own is so ridiculously easy, and the flavor combinations are endless. You imagine it, you throw everything in the food processor while you r~~ead all 900 unread posts on your google reader~~ empty the dishwasher, and voila! NUT BUTTER!!!!

Guess what! It’s also way less expensive this way. It would be…ummm… uncharacteristic of me to not mention saving money 😉

And can we talk about how butterscotch is one of those flavors that never disappoints? Please, tell me a time you’ve eaten something with butterscotch in it, and then thought “Well, that was disappointing.” It doesn’t happen people. Butterscotch can save the worst cookie, and it can take the most delicious pecan spread to the next level.

Butterscotch Pecan Butter

yield 1/2 pint

8 oz pecans (I used raw, but roasted would be amazing)
1 1/2 tbs coconut oil
1/3 cup butterscotch chips, melted
heavy pinch sea salt

Directions:

Add pecans to a food processor and blend until a thick nut butter forms (be patient, this takes several minutes). Stream in oil with the processor on, continuing to run it until the mixture is smooth (about 3-4 minutes).
Turn off processor, add melted butterscotch chips and sea salt, and turn processor back on. Blend until smooth.

Roasted Macadamia Butter

August 15, 2012 · by Ari ·

I don’t like pineapple. I don’t like the way it looks; I don’t like the way it smells; I don’t like how it’s all spiky and uninviting. As soon as we checked into our hotel/condo in Maui, we were handed a pineapple. Almost all of the drinks contain pineapple juice, and everything you order comes with a pineapple wedge! Steve loves them, so this was pretty much his dream come true. I, however, wanted to only eat coconut and macadamia nuts the entire trip. Oh, and fish. SO MUCH FISH. Anyway, we were given some macadamia nuts on one of our activities, and I was reminded just how delicious they are, and clearly that meant I needed to turn them into butter.

Have you ever seen macadamia butter at the store??? I have not, and I ask you: why not? I don’t get it. If every nut can be made into nut butter, why is the rest of the universe not as obsessed with this idea as I am??? I mean, it’s SO EASY. You just dump some nuts into a food processor

Look at all my red Kitchenaid appliances. They match. They are a happy Kitchenaid family. ~~I love them like my children.~~

Turn it on

~~Whisper sweet nothings~~ Stand impatiently in the kitchen for what seems like an hour, but is probably about 4-5 minutes, sighing a lot waiting for it to be done. Then, before you know it, you have this:

In fact, the macadamia nuts worked better than any other nut I’ve used so far. I didn’t have to add any oil, and it turned out the perfect drippy texture.

In fact, depending on your taste, you could make it with just the nuts, and no added ingredients. I like a little more flavor in mine, so I added a little raw turbinado sugar and some extra sea salt.

I put some on my rice cake before my long run on Saturday and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I kind of wanted to take the entire jar and pour it into my mouth, then go into a deep and peaceful food coma. That sounded much better than running at 4am. I settled for a little extra on my rice cake, and called it a day. Besides, I have big plans for this stuff. BIG PLANS.

No, my big plans aren’t eating it with a spoon. I wish.

Macadamia Butter

yield 1/2 pint

1 1/2 cups salted roasted macadamia nuts
1 tsp turbinado sugar
pinch sea salt (optional, depending on taste)

Directions:

Pour all ingredients into your food processor, and process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Transfer to half pint jar and store in refrigerator.

**Note: You may store at room temperature, but macadamias are a very oily nut. Keep refrigerated for best texture, or if keeping for more than 2 weeks.

Honey Roasted Macadamia Butter

Cinnamon Raisin Sunflower Seed Butter

Butterscotch Pecan Butter

Roasted Macadamia Butter

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