Recipe Directions

  • 1. Place the almonds only (do not add the honey or salt) into your food processer.
  • 2. Food process your almonds for five minutes, stopping every 1 minute to scrape down the sides. (Almonds will just be all powdery and you'll think you need to add liquids. But do NOT add any liquids.)
  • 3. Continue processing almondsfor an additional 15 minutes.(Yes, that's right, 20 minutes total!!) Almonds will eventually turn dough-like, then whipped, and then finally, they'll turn buttery and identical to store bought almond butter if you process them long enough! (Scroll down to "Thoughts" for a minute-by-minute play by play!)
  • 3. After approximately 20minutes of food processing (could be a bit longer or a bit less depending on the strength of your food processor), your almond butter is ready.
  • 4. Transfer creamy, spreadable almond butter to a jar or bowl. Then, optionally, add the honey and salt immediately and then stir by hand.
  • 5. Enjoy immediately. Store leftovers in fridge.

The Rawtarian's Thoughts

By The Rawtarian

Raw almond butter recipes are something of a myth in the raw food world. Why won't they blend well? What's the deal with all these bad raw almond butter recipes?

But I've got a raw almond butter recipe that does the trick.

Make this raw almond butter recipe in your food processor, not your blender, not your VitaMix and not your BlendTec. (Trust me.)

This raw almond butter recipe is simple and delicious. I love it spread on apples or raw crackers. Keep it in the fridge. It tastes best when it is served at room-temperature.

Note: Do NOT soak your almonds in advance. (Use dry, unsalted, unsoaked, unroasted almonds.)

This is a great replacement for peanut butter. And much healthier, too!

Please wear ear protection, by the way! This is a long and loud process.

Note: Note all food processors are up to this task. There is a small chance that your food processor's engine will burn out during this process, particularly if you have a cheap one. Consider letting the motor pause for a few 20 second intervals during this process to let your food processor cool down a little.

Note re: photograph: The almond butter in this photograph is a bit too chunky! Keep processing until you get the texture of store bought spreadable wet butter. I need to update this photo but I haven't gotten around to it yet!

Laura-Jane's Notes using her Cuisinart Classic Food Processor:

  • First 5 minutes: Need to scrape the sides every minute or so to ensure the mixture is evenly distributed. (Important.)
  • 5 minutes: Sticky, beginning to ball together.
  • 6 minutes: Formed a big ball. (Might need to stop briefly and bust up the ball.) 
  • 8 minutes: Doesn't need any more interference from here on. Now, little sticky crumbs.  
  • 10 minutes: Big hot sticky dough ball!
  • 11 minutes: Starting to look whipped!
  • 12 minutes: Getting wet.
  • 14 minutes: Getting smooth and creamy!
  • 16 minutes: Similar to above.
  • 17 minutes: More spreadable, almost store bought.
  • 18 minutes: As spreadable as store bought!
  • 20 minutes: Yep - it's perfect! Same texture as store bought but a little lighter in color.

Recipe Photos

Nutrition Facts

Nutritional score: 89 out of 100
  • This recipe is very low in Calories, Carbohydrates, and Sodium.
  • This recipe is an excellent source of Vitamin E.
  • This recipe is a good source of Protein, and Riboflavin.
  • This recipe is a noteworthy source of Dietary Fiber, and Iron.

Amounts per 35 g (1 oz) suggested serving

NameAmount% Daily
Calories 206 8 %
Protein 7 g 13 %
Fat 18 g 23 %
Carbohydrates 7 g 2 %
Dietary Fiber 4 g 12 %
Sugars 1.7 g
Calcium 92 mg 9 %
Iron 1.3 mg 10 %
Sodium 1 mg
Source: USDA, The Rawtarian

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Comments and Reviews

All

99 votes
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I hear you! :)

104 votes
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What brand Cuisinart Food Processor do you use? I have had trouble with my bowl breaking when I use my processor to make almond butter.

110 votes
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I used raw almonds that I had soaked for 8 hours, then removed the skins. They were still moist from the soaking when I put them into our new multi-blade Ninja. It crumbled the almonds, but they kept sticking to the side & after numerous scrapings, I transferred the almonds to our also new Hamilton Beach food processor. After a few minutes, it formed a ball which went around & around & rocked the food processor so hard that the lid unlatched ! That really freaked me out. I kept going another few minutes, but gave up out of fear of ruining the machine. I ended up with a doughy paste, which will most likely be my only attempt at making almond butter. I don`t know if they had been dry or if I had used roasted almonds, if it would have made a difference.

96 votes
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Hi Maggie,

Sounds like an epic adventure - but without a happy ending :)

Definitely want to use dry almonds for this one!

107 votes
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I made a batch of this the other day that just refused to turn buttery! I have made it successfully before but this time I used almonds that I had soaked and dehydrated. Its just a thought but may be soaking affects the oil content? Seriously I was processing for over 20 mins and then I even took it out and put it in the Vitamix. Still nothing but a paste. I even added oil!

Posted from The Rawtarian's Raw Recipes App

107 votes
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You got it Joanne... you don't want to use soaked almonds for this recipe.

105 votes
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Patience is the key here, it also helps to have a food processor with a side scraper like I have here. It has a handle on top you can use to scrape the sides, saves you a lot of effort opening the top and I think that helps the almonds form to run continuously. Still I often am doing something else so I run it 5 minutes, run it again... eventually it comes together, and I don't use any oils. We use almond butter here to hold our granola bars together.

100 votes
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Hi Joel,

I love the idea of a food processor with a side scraper. What brand is it? Never heard of that before. Genius.

Your granola bars sound deelish! Yay for Canadian, to boot :) (Me too, located on PEI myself)

78 votes
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It's a Hamilton Beach! Found it at Canadian Tire, how Canadian is that eh? Lucky find really because it was my first buying a food processor and I didn't even realize how handy it would be.

62 votes
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Nice Joel! Yup, pretty pretty Canadian!

63 votes
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Caleb's Review

Raw almond butter recipe
4
4 out of 5

I love peanut butter but I have been looking for a healthier alternative. I think I have found it. Thank you for sharing.

60 votes
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My pleasure Caleb

31 votes
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tiffp's Review

Raw almond butter recipe
4
4 out of 5

Yippee this worked! Everyone's comments were super helpful (wait for the ball, keep scraping, etc). And the admonishment NOT to add the liquids till after! Thanks for another great one!

40 votes
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We are rife with admonishments here lol. Glad it worked out well for you Tiff!

44 votes
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I would like to know should the nuts be soaked to remove the enzyme inhibitors and then dried out in an oven or dehydrator?

52 votes
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Hi Reeal, many raw foodies suggest doing so, and go for it if you have the time. I personally don't soak because it's not realistic for me.

(In my recipes, it's only necessary to soak if I explicitly state a need to do so in the recipe/directions)

75 votes
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I made some almond butter in my 12 cup KitchenAid FP and it took 13 mins to make. I used a timer & scraped down the sides every 2 mins and then after 12 mins I put an 1/16 of a tsp of sea salt in the shoot of the FP when it was turned on, then let it run another 30 secs. Turned out great!

Posted from The Rawtarian's Raw Recipes App

74 votes
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Awesome Sara. Great tip. It's comments and feedback like yours that make this website (and app) great!

106 votes
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Hi, I made nut butter this afternoon with just raw almonds in a processor and I processed for around 15 mins and the result is a butter but a very dry nut butter not like the nice oily butters you can buy in jars... Is this as good as it gets or could I have done something wrong?

83 votes
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It may be the type of food processor that you use. I use a Cuisanart and I do get it to that "nice oily butter" consistency. When I start out, I have to keep stopping and scrapping it off the sides. After a few minutes of processing a good part of it turns into a greasy ball that travels around and around. It then breaks up and looks like the picture above. After a few more minutes of blending, it finally looks like nice oily almond butter. In order to keep it raw I monitor the temp stopping when it reaches above 100 degrees. I let it cool in the freezer or fridge before continuing.

I haven't paid close attention to the exact amount of processing time but the newer the blade in the Cuisanart the quicker the nuts turn to butter.

23 votes
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Hi! What model number is your Cuisinart food processor? I have gone through 2 Hamilton Beach food processor bowls. They have both cracked while I have made almond butter. I am trying to find a quality one that can take my almond butter making obsession. I make it every couple of weeks. :) Thanks!!

22 votes
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Interesting! I had this cheap FP for years and never had a problem with cracking - and I abused it haha

Black and Decker Quick and Easy: http://tinyurl.com/avdwva4

76 votes
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Great tips John. Thank you for sharing. It's comments like yours that make this place such a great resource for all.

73 votes
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As good as it gets, Claire!

98 votes
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I make raw Almond/Brazil nut butter about once a month. I soak the nuts overnight and then dehydrate at 105 degrees for 20-24 hours. I use a Cuisanart food Processor to grind the butter to the consistency that I prefer but I use a thermometer to monitor the temperature as I grind. When the temperature of the butter reaches 100 degrees, I let it cool off in the fridge or freezer before continuing. I add more almonds and brazil nuts as I go along. I usually make about 6 cups a batch.
I use far more nuts than what your recipe calls for but wouldn't overheating of the butter in the food processor still be a problem?

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