nut butter

Last month, a friend's husband mentioned that he makes his own nut butter. Intrigued, I asked him about the process as I've only ever seen the "create your own" peanut butter machine at Whole Foods. He explained that the process was very easy and well worth it for fresh, customized nut butter.  Boy was he right.

Yield: 2 cups
100 calories per tablespoon
Active time: 3 minutes
Total time: 13 minutes

ingredients
2 cups almonds
2 cups roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

preparation
1. Combine the nuts in your food processor.

2. Pulse the food processor until the nuts begin to separate.

3. Process, on high, until the nuts become very mealy and somewhat oily. You'll need to scrape down the bowl to ensure the nuts are being ground.

4. Add in the coconut oil and process, on high, until a paste/consistency of your liking develops.

Other modifications:

• Use your favorite nuts.  I've also made nut butter with nut blends that included cashews and pistachios.  The texture was a bit more creamy and the nut butter had a richer taste.
• Use a different oil, or skip it all together. It will just take your nut butter a bit longer to transform from dry to creamy.