Maple Roasted Walnut Butter
Peanut butter is great of course, and so is almond butter. But there are so many other nuts that make awesome butter out there too. Switch it up with this extra delicious version featuring sweet and toasty maple roasted walnuts. Roasting the nuts with maple syrup basically candies them which makes this nut butter so much more deep in flavor than your average peanut butter. This technique also creates tiny little crunchy maple crystals in the butter for a unique texture that keeps you coming back for more.
Making your own nut butter is so very easy, so rest assured it will be great if you have never made it at home before. All you need is a food processor and a little patience. Just add nuts to the processor and let it blend until everything is creamy. It might seem at some point like the tiny pieces will never reach this smooth end goal, but trust me it does get there. Just scrape down with a spatula every once in a while to continue to incorporate the pieces that get stuck too far away from the blades at the bottom. No need to add oil despite the temptation that will come. Nuts contain plenty of oil, but need to be broken down very small to release enough of it to reach the creamy stage.
Enjoy this roasty walnut butter with anything that you would eat peanut butter with, especially pears, apples, whole grain bread studded with dried fruits, and graham crackers. The warm maple and walnut flavors of this butter go really well with those guys. You could even try this technique with other nuts like almonds, peanuts, cashews, pecans, etc. Hope you try out this new way to enjoy nut butter soon!
Maple Roasted Walnut Butter
Makes ½ cup (135g)
1 cup (125g) walnuts
2 tbs. (40g) maple syrup
¼ tsp. salt
⅛ tsp. cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350’F/175’C.
Toss walnuts with maple syrup, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Spray a sheet pan with pan spray and then lay walnuts out on pan in a single layer. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until walnuts are golden and fragrant and the maple syrup has thickened. Let cool to room temperature.
Add walnuts and all of the goodness on the pan to a food processor. Blend, scraping down with a spatula frequently to keep all the pieces incorporated and continually getting blended smaller. Over about 5 minutes the nuts will follow this pattern of becoming butter: large pieces, pebbly pieces, sticking together, and then pureed. Blend for another minute after it reaches the puree stage to make it more creamy.
Store covered in the fridge to keep it freshest.
Note: The better quality maple syrup you use, the better this will taste of course. Other nuts can be used in place of walnuts. Almonds and pecans would be especially delicious alternatives I think.