Maple Cinnamon Pecan Butter

Name: Maple Cinnamon Pecan Butter
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 200 g Pecans; 6 tbsp Maple syrup; 2 tbsp Cinnamon; 1 tsp Vanilla extract

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Diet: Gluten Free, Low Carb, Vegan

Making your own nut butter is SO easy and this Maple Cinnamon Pecan Butter recipe is one of our favourites. Just whizz it up in your food processor and you have fresh nut butter on tap. The best thing about it is, you can create so many different flavour combinations.

Two bagel halves covered in Pecan Butter next to a jar of more pecan butter.

We would happily put nut butter on everything, or even just eat it out of the jar. There is a lot of love out there for peanut butter and almond butter, and cashew butter is starting to get a look in now too. But what about pecan butter? That deserves some major love too! Pecans are probably the most delicious nut and they are a favourite in our house.

Our pecan butter recipe is all natural, with just 4 ingredients. Making your own is not only really easy, but also much cheaper. Alternative nut butters like cashew and pecan are so much more expensive in the shops that peanut butter, so save some money and make your own. Looking for some other recipes that use pecans? Why not try our Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad, Cinnamon Swirls, Chopped Blue Cheese Salad or Microwave Porridge.

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What you will need
How to make pecan butter - Step by step
Why should you try it?
Variations
Storage
How to use pecan butter
Frequently Asked Questions
Extra tips
More spread recipes
Recipe
Feedback

What you will need

Pecans - The star of the recipe. We buy raw pecans because they don't have any oils on them and they don't have any salt added either. You can toast them first if you want, and it brings out the nutty flavour and the oil which can make a smoother butter, but we wanted to keep things as simple as possible.
Maple syrup - This not only adds some sweetness, but an incredible flavour. You could swap it for honey, but this wouldn't be vegan. Try to use the best quality maple syrup you can, as it will make a difference.
Cinnamon - This adds a lovely warmth to the pecan butter. You could add nutmeg or ginger instead, or even a mixture of the three.
Vanilla - This helps to intensify all the flavours, a bit like salt would in a savoury dish. Make sure you use vanilla extract, rather than essence.

How to make pecan butter - Step by step

One: Put the pecans in to the food processor and start to blend them up. At first they will turn in to small chunks, and then in to a powder. After a whilst, the powder will start to clump together and then it will slowly turn in to a butter.
Two: This process will take around 10-15 minutes and you will need to stop it a few times to scrape the sides down and make sure it is all getting mixed up. Once the butter is nice and smooth, add the rest of the ingredients and pulse for a couple of seconds.
Three: Scrape out of the food processor and it to a jar.

You have to have faith when it comes to making nut butter. At the start, you will think that the powdery clump in your food processor will never turn in to deliciously smooth nut butter. But it will! You will need to scape the sides down a few times, but then it just all of a sudden comes together.

Why should you try it?

All natural ingredients - There are just 4 ingredients that go in to making our pecan butter recipe. Unlike some store bought nut butters that have a whole long list of ingredients, and lots of added salt and sugar.
Easy to make - Don't be put off making your own nut butter because you think it is too complicated. Trust the process, and make sure you have a high powered food processor and it's a simple process.
Cheaper - Nut butter (that isn't peanut butter) is really expensive in the supermarket. If you buy nuts in bulk, then this is cheap to make.
Adaptable - You can adapt it with some extra ingredients to change the flavours, and we have given options for that below.

Variations

There are a few different ways that you can adapt this recipe with different flavours, however you have to be careful what you add, as you don't want to mess with the texture too much.

You could swap the maple syrup for honey, but it wouldn't be vegan any more. You could also add some cocoa powder if you wanted to give it a chocolatey twist.

You could also stir in some chia seeds that would give it an added protein boost.

Storage

This will store well in a jar for a couple of weeks at room temperature, or 4 weeks in the fridge. If you are storing it at room temperature, then give it a good stir before serving it.

If you do manage to keep the leftovers for that long, you are stronger people than us. How can it last that long when there are so many delicious ways to use it! You have been warned though: go near a jar of this with just a spoon and an empty belly and it will result in an empty jar. This stuff is legitimately moreish.

Pecan Butter spread on a bakel and some on a pink spoon.

How to use pecan butter

Dip apple slices in it
Put it in porridge
Spread on Banana Bread
On toast
As a pancake topping
On waffles

Add it to a smoothie
In a croissant
Melt and drizzle over ice cream
Dip strawberries in it
As a cake frosting

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to roast the pecans first?

You don't have to, and it will add extra time. However, roasting them first does make a difference to the taste and texture of the finished spread.

How long does pecan butter take to make?

It will take 10-15 minutes to blend nice and smooth, depending on your food processor. At the beginning, it will look like it isn't doing anything and you will think it isn't working. But, keep stopping it and scrapping down the sides and it will all come together beautifully. Trust the process.

What food processor is best for making pecan butter?

The more powerful your food processor, the quicker it will be to make homemade almond butter. We used a Morphy Richards PrepStar, which is great if you are making a large batch. However, if the batches you make are quite small, use a NutriBullet instead.

How to make this vegan

To make a vegan version of this pecan butter, you just need to use maple syrup and not honey.

Why is my pecan butter so thick?

If you find that your pecan butter is too thick (this really is a preference thing), then you can add a teaspoon of melted coconut oil, until it is your preference consistency.

Extra tips

• You can toast your pecans first, which will release the oils and make a smoother butter, but it will add on some time. If you do toast them, make sure you let them completely cool before adding them to your food processor.
• You can add a pinch of sea salt, which adds a lovely balance to the sweetness from the maple syrup.
• You will need a high powered food processor to make this. Don't be tempted to use a blender, as you won't be able to scrape the sides down as well and get the right consistency.
• If you need to loosen the pecan butter up a little, then you can stir in a little melted coconut oil. Don't add water.
• The most important tip is to trust the process. It might not seem like it is doing anything, but it will all come together. Just make sure that you are stopping the food processor a few times and scrapping down the sides.
• Making this recipe is pretty loud! So maybe don't make it whilst anyone is trying to sleep, work or on an important phone call.
• This would make a lovely homemade gift. Buy a fancy jar with a lid and then fill it up with your homemade almond butter and wrap a pretty ribbon round it.

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If you’ve tried this pecan butter recipe, or any other recipe on the blog, then let us know how you got on in the comments below, we love hearing from you!
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - we love sharing photos when people make our recipes. You can use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.

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