Apparently, I’m all about the salted treats right now. Did you see my salted caramel stuffed snickerdoodles from a couple days ago? Yeah, salty-sweet is the theme of this week.
I was feeling it was time for another homemade nut butter, and then I got a Snapchat [[add me! freshaprilflours]] from Matt of a nut butter he’d found that listed cashews, peanuts, and honey as the ingredients and asked if I would make it. Challenge accepted.
I’m not kidding when I say we have homemade and store bought nut butters in our cabinets at all times. Of the 3 shelves in our snack cabinet, almost an entire one is filled with nuts, nut butters, and rice cakes (to spread all of that goodness on, duh). I don’t normally need a reason to make a new nut butter, so any time anyone throws that suggestion at me, I’m usually on it pretty quickly (here’s where you make some suggestions for nut butter flavors you’d like to see!).
I grabbed some of the dry roasted, unsalted peanuts and raw cashews in our stash, my big jar of honey, and I got to work.
The time it takes to turn these nuts + honey into nut butter is not that long at all. It took my food processor about 12 minutes to get to the consistency I was looking for, but if I’ve learned anything about making nut butters at home and hearing feedback from my readers, it’s that not all food processors and nuts are created equal. I’ve found that raw nuts take much longer to process than roasted, so this “12 minutes” is just a guide. Don’t sweat it if it takes you a longer or even shorter amount of time to achieve the perfect consistency. The more you make nut butters at home, the more comfortable you’ll be with visual cues (this post has a nice little collage of visual cues that all homemade nut butters go through).
After I had achieved cashew peanut butter bliss, I tasted it and decided it needed some things. First of all, it was very sweet, thanks to the honey. This was totally fine, but it needed some balance. So I threw in some sea salt. BEST DECISION EVER.
We love sea salt around here (and currently, are a little obsessed with Himalayan pink salt!), and find that the saltiness it brings to foods is more prominent and the teeny bit of texture it adds is always a welcome surprise. Just make sure you use sea salt or another flaky salt for this nut butter. Regular table salt is too salty (since the granules are smaller) and will make this salted honey cashew peanut butter a salty mess. You definitely don’t want that. Grab the sea salt or any other salt with big flakes (like kosher).
I added 1/4 teaspoon, tasted, added another 1/4 teaspoon, and decided that was the perfect amount. You may certainly add salt to your liking. Plus, that means you get to taste test, and any recipe that encourages sampling before the final product is ready to share is a win in my book!
After the nut butter base was said and done, I added some extra finely chopped cashews and peanuts, because I am a chunk lover, after all. This is completely optional.
We’ve enjoyed this homemade nut butter on rice cakes, apples, carrots (YES, try it), bananas, spoons, fingers, and crackers. While it certainly goes well on most things you’d normally put peanut butter on, I preferred it on saltier things simply because of the sweetness.
What I love most about this nut butter is the cashews which bring an amazingly buttery texture and taste to every ounce of this spread. Their richness adds the perfect complement to the sweetness of the honey, and the salt + peanuts balance everything out, making one fineeeee spread. Plus, the added chunks! Love!
This is truly my new favorite homemade nut butter! I’m urging you to make it and spread the love on all things snacky.
♥♥♥
- 4 and ½ ounces (approximately 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons) unsalted dry roasted peanuts, divided*
- 5 ounces (approximately 1 and ¼ cups) raw cashews, divided*
- 3 Tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon sea salt or other flaky salt
- Place 4 ounces of the peanuts (approximately 1 cup), 4 ounces of the cashews (approximately 1 cup), and the honey in a food processor. Process until the nuts go from coarse, to fine, to crumbly, to a ball. Stop and scrape down the sides between stages as necessary. Continue to process until the nut butter reaches the consistency you like.
- Taste the nut butter and add ¼ teaspoon of salt. Blend and taste again. Add another ¼ teaspoon of salt, if you find it necessary. Blend again, taste a second time, and add more salt if needed.
- Finely chop the remaining ½ ounce (approximately 2 Tablespoons) of peanuts and 1 ounce (approximately ¼ cup) of cashews. Stir into smooth nut butter, reserving some for sprinkling on top for presentation, if desired. Store in a covered container at room temperature.
See all recipes with peanut butter.
See all homemade nut butters.
YAAAASSSSSSSS!!!!! I am a huge cashew butter fan (okay, really any nut butter – or any nut for that matter – fan) and I’m mildly obsessing over this salted honey version. Glad to hear I’m not the only one with an entire shelf dedicated to nuts/nut butters. #crazynutlady haha. And this on rice cakes?!?!? I.Can’t.Even.
Well, EVEN, Leah. Because it is so freaking good I could barely contain myself while eating it. Glad you’re on the nut shelf bandwagon too. If we have children with nut allergies, I may cry a whole whole lot.
Oh I’v never tried making a nut butter at home but this looks truly wonderful! Just love your beautiful photos Lynn! 🙂
Thanks, Jess! You’ve got to try making your own! You’ll never be able to stop!
YES TO EVERYTHING! Cashew butter is always so expensive and it never tastes just right. Now that I have my food processor out of storage I am gong to ride the homemade nut butter wave right to Happy Town, which is conveniently located in my kitchen, right next to my food processor….
This looks insanely good! I LOVE cashews and peanut butter. Delicious. I made almond butter once, but haven’t tried it again. It was surprisingly easy! Adding this one to the list :).
Yes, Olivia, you must! 🙂