This post may contain affiliate links. Please read the disclosure policy for clarification.
All you need is almonds, an oven, and about 10 minutes in the food processor to make the easy, creamy Homemade Almond Butter. You won’t believe how simple it is to make your own almond butter at home.
Looking for more nut butters? Try my Homemade Cashew Butter, or my Cashew Almond Butter recipe!
What is Almond Butter?
Almond butter is simply ground up almonds made into a creamy spread, much like peanut butter that we all know and love, but made with almonds .
You can use raw almonds and toast them yourself (my personal preference and what I share here), or buy pre-roasted almonds, skip the toasting step and move straight into processing the nuts into butter.
Ingredients & Equipment
For homemade almond butter you just need a few things:
- Almonds – I like to buy raw organic almonds and toast them myself.
- Rimmed baking sheet – The rimmed baking sheet will keep the almonds in place.
- Food processor – A powerful food processor is what will make homemade almond butter a breeze. I use the Breville 12-cup Sous Chef and I’ve had for almost 7 years. I’ve used it for a variety of recipes and it handles so well! I’ve heard you can also use a high powered blender, such as a Vitamix, but I haven’t tried that myself.
How to Make Almond Butter at Home
Spread the almonds on a baking pan in one layer and toast them at 325ºF for 10 minutes.
Let the almonds cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to your food processor bowl.
NOTE: Almonds can be lightly warm to the touch, but should not be hot. The warm almonds also break down faster than cooled or raw almonds directly from the bag.
Step-By-Step Photo Guide
Below you’ll find photos of each part of the process so you can confidently make your own almond butter at home. Almonds are a harder nut and can take a bit longer to process and break down (compared to pecans or cashews), so patience is key here.
If you’ve never made almond butter before, these photos will help give you a visual of what to expect as you start seeing the nuts break down.
At times, it can feel like it’s taking forever (I still sometimes question when the nuts will turn into butter!), but just be patient and trust the process (and your food processor).
Part 1
The nuts first get broken down into a fine meal, also known as almond meal! Because we are working with raw almonds with the skins on, the image on the right is a very close texture to raw almond meal.
Almond flour is when blanched almonds (no skin) are processed into a flour-like texture.
Part 2
As you continue to process the almond meal, the natural oils start to release and you can see an almond paste-like consistency begins to form.
It gets very thick here. You may have to scrape down the sides of the bowl every 30 seconds to one minute, depending on the size of your food processor and how many nuts you’ve added to your bowl.
NOTE: I have a 12 cup food processor bowl capacity, and used 4 cups of almonds.
Part 3
The almond butter is almost ready! At this point, this was about 5 minutes of alternating between processing and stopping the food processor to scrape down the sides.
The longer you process the almond butter, the creamier it will be.
To Make it Creamier, Faster
While you certainly can use just almonds to make almond butter, you can also speed up the creaming process by adding a couple of teaspoons of coconut oil to help make the almond butter extra creamy.
Flavor Additions
There are a variety of ways you can add some simple flavor to homemade almond butter.
You can add a pinch of fine sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or 1 vanilla bean pod (opened and beans scraped) for a hint of additional flavor.
Ways to Use Homemade Almond Butter
And there are a variety of ways to use almond butter! The possibilities are endless. Whether you enjoy spreading almond butter on your favorite toast, adding to smoothies, or as an oatmeal topping.
Here are some ideas!
- Add to this Chocolate Banana smoothie for a nutty addition.
- Use as a topping for oats, like these Strawberry Overnight Oats.
- Spread on Chocolate Pumpkin Bread or these oat bran muffins from Oh So Deliciouso.
- In my famous Almond Butter Balsamic Dressing.
- In a variety of energy balls.
How to Store Almond Butter
Transfer completely cooled almond butter to glass jars with secure lids.
Label and store in pantry for up to two months, or in the fridge up to six months.
More Homemade Almond Butter to Try
- Homemade Blueberry Almond Pecan Butter
- Vanilla Bean Almond Pecan Butter
- Double Chocolate Almond Pecan Butter
Love Nut Butters?
Be sure to sign up for my email list here where you’ll get all of my homemade nut butter recipes PLUS ways to use them in one eBook.
Did you make this Almond Butter recipe? Don’t forget to leave a comment and review on the post! I love hearing from you and it helps others learn about the recipe too.
PrintHomemade Almond Butter
All you need is almonds, an oven, and about 10 minutes in the food processor to make the easy, creamy Homemade Almond Butter. You won’t believe how simple it is to make your own almond butter at home.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: About 2 cups 1x
- Category: Spreads
- Method: Food Processor
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 4 cups raw almonds
optional
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 vanilla bean pod, seeds scraped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325ºF and place raw almonds on baking sheet. Spread evenly in one layer and toast for 10 minutes. Let almonds cool on pan for 10 minutes.
- Process almonds: Place slightly cooled almonds in bowl of food processor and cover with lid. Process for about 5-8 minutes total, scraping down the sides of the bowl periodically if necessary. Time will vary depending on size and power of food processor, as well as how many nuts you use. See photos in post for visual guideline on what to look for during each step of processing the almonds down. The butter will get very thick before turning creamy. The longer you process, the drippier and creamy the almond butter.
- Cool and store: Transfer cooled almond butter into jar with lid and store in fridge.
Keywords: how to make almond butter, almond butter recipe, DIY almond butter
NOTE: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Please see my disclaimer page for more information.
Rate this Recipe