I’ve been on a total nut butter gifting spree lately. By the time I’m finished rattling all these nuts in my food processor, I may need a very strong hearing aid. Eric is convinced I’m slowly going deaf, so I guess covering my ears for dear life while processing nuts isn’t helping much. These things should come with ear protection, don’t you think?
Mind you, this is coming from the guy whose subwoofer and surround sound used to blast me out of the house when he played his beloved Counterstrike game on his computer. He also likes to watch movies so loud, you feel like you’re sitting in an IMAX theatre and the floor is about to fall out from under you. Yes, I’m pretty sure he’s lost more hearing than I have.
Despite the noise, I love making nut butter – it just feels so gourmet and fancy, not to mention once you get the hang of it, it’s quite easy. Without a doubt, it has to be made in the right processor though. In the wrong processor, making nut butter can be a complete nightmare with engines blown out, powdery nuts, and even melted processor parts. I’ve experienced all of these in the past, which is why I don’t recommend making nut butter unless you have a high-powered, heavy-duty processor that can handle the task. I have a 12-cup Cuisinart processor and it works very well for making nut butter, although the lid can be a pain to clean at times.
There just so happens to be a lot of nut-butter crazed people in my life, all of whom are female. Coincidence? I made this Maple Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter for my sister Kristi, the peanut butter fanatic. I’m pretty excited for her to try this because I don’t think she’s ever been around to sample any of my homemade nut butters before! It’s currently traveling across the Canadian prairies and will soon be on her doorstep any minute now…that is, unless someone else gets to it first. Did I mention a customs dude once ate half a box of my Glo bars before proceeding with the shipment? I’m kinda paranoid now.
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Chunky Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter
Yield
1 cup plus 6 tbsp
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
One of my all-time favourite homemade nut butters, if not the favourite!
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted roasted peanuts + 1/3 cup for later
- 1/2 cup raw unsalted macadamia nuts*
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- 5 tbsp Sucanat sugar*
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup raisins
Directions
- Place 2 cups of peanuts and macadamia nuts into food processor and process until the mixture resembles peanut butter, stopping to scrape down the side of the bowl if necessary. This can take up to 10 minutes.
- Process in the cinnamon, salt, Sucanat, and vanilla, adding gradually. The sweetener will at first thicken the peanut butter quite a bit, but keep processing and the heat will eventually melt the sugar and smooth out the nut butter once again. If it still looks too thick, keep processing!
- Pulse in the raisins and 1/3 cup of reserved peanuts, leaving it very chunky.
Tip:
- Macadamia nuts, thanks to their high oil content, create a super silky and decadent nut butter, however this recipe should work without it. It just might come out a bit thicker.
- I do not recommend subbing the dry granulated sugar for a liquid sweetener like maple syrup. Maple syrup has ruined batches of my nut butter in the past because it can thicken and create a strange texture in nut butter. If you don’t have Sucanat, brown sugar may work but you probably won’t need to use as much.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Still to come – the double cookie dough balls and cookie dough nut butter I made for my sister Kerrie.
I’d love if some of you could share below if you’ve had success – or not – with your particular food processor brand (or blender) when making nut butter. I think this would be really helpful for those wondering if their machine will fit the bill! Share your horror stories and successes….
I’ll start with one of my own stories. Minutes after opening a brand new Kitchenaid food processor a few years ago, I decided to process some pitted honey dates. Did I mention they were dry as a bone? Yeah, bad idea. After only seconds of processing in my sparkly new machine, I managed to melt part of the plastic on the processing blade and overheat the machine rendering it useless. I had to send it back to be repaired (which luckily they did), but my processing confidence never fully recovered…
Mmm! You could probably make a fortune selling this stuff!!
I have a 4 cup Cuisinart Food Processor. It works ok, but I have not tried to make nut butters in it. I find that its doesn’t always work with every texture. Once I tried for 7 minutes to make quinoa flour and it was an epic fail :(
This looks delicious! Quick question – is there a reason to use the food processor instead of using a Vitamix? I can’t wait to try this out! :)
I know many people use their Vitamix for nut butter making, but I personally prefer my food processor because it’s soooooo much easier to scoop out. I find a fair amount of nut butter went to waste when I made it a while back in the VM because I couldnt scoop every corner out. To each their own though!
Thanks for the advice! This will be so fun to try! Thank you! :)
I find the little bit of nut butter that is trapped in the bottom of my Vitamix is perfect for a fresh peanut butter almond milk and banana smoothie. A reward for the pounding my ears just took creating the silken nut butter.
OMG what a great tip! Thank you so much.
Great idea!!
What a great idea! Idky I’ve never thought of that. I always have random goodies left in the VM. Smoothie base!
another great gift idea! thanks
My KitchenAid has served me well so far for nut butter production. Looking forward to the cookie dough nut butter post/recipe!
I’ve never made nut butter in my food processor but it worked great for energy bars! I have a KitchenAid.
I will check back with an update on how well it makes this recipe – because I will definitely be making this soon! It looks so tasty! Thanks for another great recipe!
How I wish I had a powerful blender/ food processor to make my own nut butter! :)
Looks phenomenal!
I have the same food processor as you and have made your raw nutella and some almond butter and it works great every time. I also find the lid a bit annoying to clean.
I definitely don’t recommend making nut butters in a Vita-Mix. We have one of those too and it makes me CRAZY that I can’t get all the nut butter out of the bottom. I bought the food processor for that very reason. I got the Cuisinart on your recommendation. The Vita-Mix is still a valuable smoothie and soup making machine!
Cookie dough nut butter? Yes, please! I have an 8 cup cuisineart that seems to do the trick. My first experience was not a disaster, it just didn’t taste very good (cashew). I have since learned you sometimes have to add oil or water to get the correct consistency.
Oh you know how I feel about cinnamon! This sounds to die for! I can’t actually say I’ve ever made my own nut butter but you’re slowly persuading me that it’s a must-do activity. Oh, and I think my mum and Eric would get on well because even when my mum watches movies in the basement I can hear them all the way upstairs!
Wow, that looks amazing! Maybe I’ll give it a try on my downtime after Christmas :)
I have a Holiday Giveaway leading up to Christmas, come check it out! By the way, I love your recipes!!
This is to die for!! The BEST pb I’ve ever had. No kidding, within 15 minutes if opening it, E and I devoured 2/3 of the jar. You’re the best sissy ever!! Xo
I make nut butter all the time in my Vitamix. It works best if you pair an oily nut (macadamia, walnut, brazil…) with whatever other nut or seed you desire. Combinations are key in making it silky smooth in a Vita!
As for the wastage issue that several people talked about (when using a Vitamix), I just add about a cup of water into the nearly scraped out container and then blend this water with the scraps of the nut butter. This makes a cup or so of homemade nut milk! This way I get my nut butter plus a glass of fresh nut milk!
Cute holiday header, btw!
Looks fabulous! (And what lucky sisters you have. . . ). I LOVE making homemade nut butters, rarely buy any more. And for me it’s Cuisinart, all the way. . .never had a problem with my nut butters in it (the only problem is that I eat them up too quickly!) ;)
I have a refurbished KitchenAid that I am very happy with. It’s made quite a few batches of nut butter and is holding strong so far. For really tough batches that have taken upwards of 15 minutes has sometimes resulted in the machine turning off, but the machine starts again once it has cooled (sometimes another 15-30 minutes). Personally, I would much rather have the machine shut itself down and have to wait than to have the motor explode. I also saved about $100 by purchasing a refurbished machine (which still looked brand new on arrival) and it came with a six month warrantee.
I also have a Ninja processor that I use all the time. It does not have the power to make nut butter but it is super efficient at making things like salsa, hummus, and blending soups. It is VERY easy to clean opposed to the food processor which has multiple parts and small crevices that are hard to get to. I bought the food processor to replace the ninja but I actually use both of them quite regularly.
Sidebar: I’ve successfully added maple syrup to plain cashew butter by adding it after the cashews are smooth and creamy and doubling the processing time.
Mmm awesome idea!
I love making my own nut butters! They’re so much better than what you can buy In the store. This one looks delicious! I’ll definitely be making some very soon. I have a 7 cup Kitchenaid food processor, and it works great. I thought I had broken it once when I made two consecutive batches of nut butter, but it had just turned itself off because it was overheated. My husband was afraid I would damage my hearing making nut butter, so he gave me his ear muff style hearing protection that’s meant to be used in a shooting range. It works, but I probably look a little strange.
Hi Angie and fellow OSG lovers!
I just got a Vitamix (thanks to my wonderful boyfriend!!) I tried to make almond butter in it but it was an epic fail, it sounded like the blades were just spinning not matter how much I scraped down the sides and I didn’t want to add excess oil. I know doing it in the Vitamix was not your favourite but any advice on how to do it in there? I don’t have a food processor! Do you have to use roasted nuts of can they be raw and do you ever soak then first?
THANK YOU!
Naomi
I use my Vitamix. I have used raw and roasted nuts. The roasted give a much nuttier flavour. Use at least 3 cups nuts and start on variable 1. I only go to variable 4 or 5 and use the tamper to force the nuts down. Creamy nut butter in less than 2 minutes :)
I have this bad boy and it hasn’t let me down yet. I do stick to a max of 2 cups of nuts at a time but I’ve been making nut butters with it for over a year now. :)
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-70610-500-Watt-Processor/dp/B000SAOF5S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355802459&sr=8-1&keywords=hamilton+beach+food+processor
This recipe sounds amazing! I’ve been into making my own nut butters lately (especially almond butter!) and while I haven’t had any mishaps with the actual processor, the first time I made it, it was SOO loud I thought I was doing something wrong! I thought maybe the blade wasn’t attached properly or something. Haha!
Do you know if you can sub in almonds for the peanuts and use an almond/mac nut combo?? I might give that a whirl tonight. We’ve got a white elephant gift exchange at work tomorrow, and instead of getting a cheesy gift, I’m baking and making homemade treats! I’m going to take a jar of this with me! Thanks for the recipe :) I can’t wait to make the nutella one too. mmmm!
Yes Im sure that would work fine, let me know how it goes!