Do you love pecan pie? How about toasty, nutty pecans on top of coffee cake? Or those cinnamon-sugar pecans around Christmas time? Mmmm absolutely yes.
A few days ago, I was strolling around Trader Joe’s checking out all of the new products when I noticed that there really weren’t that many nut butters besides almond and peanut. And I hate to break it to you, but cookie butter doesn’t count.
Anyway now I feel like I’m on some sort of quest. I MUST MAKE ALL THE NUT BUTTERS. Or at least a few. Anything I can smear on toast or spread all over my pancakes is a must.
Ingredients in homemade pecan butter
As you can imagine, this delicious salted maple pecan butter is made with super simple ingredients but the result is unlike anything in this world. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Pecans: I recommend using plain, raw pecans in this recipe because we’ll be adding our own flavors and toasting them to perfection.
- Maple syrup: you’ll just need a couple teaspoons of maple syrup for the perfect amount of sweetness.
- Cinnamon: for a little cozy spiced flavor.
- Vanilla: the warm vanilla flavor really shines through in this pecan butter recipe!
- Sea salt: a pinch of sea salt makes this pecan butter irresistible.
How to make homemade pecan butter
The best part about this paleo pecan butter is that it’s completely easy to make and only takes about five minutes!
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Evenly spread pecans on an ungreased baking sheet. Toast pecans in oven for 7-9 minutes, being careful not to burn nuts. Mine were perfectly toasted at 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow nuts to cool for a few minutes.
- Add your toasted pecans to your food processor and process for 5-10 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary. At this point the pecan should start to clump together. Continue to process until you reach the desired consistency.
- Add in maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt and process again until smooth. If the nut butter starts to thicken up too much, you can add 1-3 teaspoon of coconut oil and process again until smooth.
What does pecan butter taste like?
This homemade salted maple pecan butter is creamy, nutty and delicious with the addition of a splash of maple syrup, vanilla, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. A little bit of salt goes a long way too. You’ll find that it tastes a little like the top of a coffee cake crumble. Mostly it just reminds me of those sweet fall flavors that I can never get enough of.
Tips for making homemade pecan butter
- Use a food processor. It might tempting to try making your pecan butter in a high-powered blender, but a food processor is much easier for scraping down the sides and getting the right consistency.
- Be patient! Ten minutes can seem like a long time processing the pecans, but they will turn smooth and creamy the more you process them and the more the pecan’s oils are released.
- If you need to add some moisture, add a little coconut oil, not water. Water will cause the pecan butter to seize up as it interacts with the pecan’s natural oils.
How to store homemade pecan butter
Store your homemade pecan butter in a mason jar or container and store at room temperature or in fridge. If you store at room temp, simply give the pecan butter a stir before you use it.
Homemade pecan butter will stay good for a couple of weeks at room temp, and up to 4-5 weeks in the fridge.
More flavor combos to try
Feel free to experiment with different flavors and nutritional boosters in this homemade pecan butter! Here are some ideas:
- chia seeds
- hemp seeds
- vanilla bean
- chocolate and/or cocoa powder (try this dark chocolate pecan butter next!)
- honey
Bake with your homemade pecan butter!
That’s right, you can use this homemade pecan butter in tons of different baked goods to give them a wonderful, toasty flavor. Try these:
- Grain Free Salted Chocolate Chip Pecan Blondies
- Toasted Pecan Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Grain Free Omega-3 Fudgy Walnut Skillet Brownies
- Vegan No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
- 5-Ingredient Grain Free Maple Peanut Butter Cookies
My other recommendation: spread it on toasted multigrain bread and top with sliced bananas. It’s also wonderful on apples, rice cakes or swirled in yogurt.
I hope you love this easy homemade pecan butter recipe! If you make it, please leave a comment and rate the recipe below. We really appreciate it — xo1
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Homemade Salted Maple Pecan Butter
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups raw pecans
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Evenly spread pecans on an ungreased baking sheet. Toast pecans in oven for 7-9 minutes, being careful not to burn nuts. Mine were perfectly toasted at 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow nuts to cool for a few minutes.
- Add pecans to food processor and process for 5-10 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary. At this point the pecan should start to clump together. Continue to process until you reach the desired consistency.
- Add in maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt and process again until smooth. If the nut butter starts to thicken up too much, you can add 1-3 teaspoon of coconut oil and process again until smooth.
- Transfer to mason jar or container and store at room temperature or in fridge. If you store at room temp, simply give the pecan butter a stir before you use it.
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
More homemade nut butter recipes to try:
Homemade Salted Dark Chocolate Almond Butter
Homemade Salted Vanilla Honey Peanut Butter
Chai-Spiced Almond Hazelnut Butter
67 comments
Mmmm looks so good. I can never get enough of those fall flavors! I’ve been thinking about trying to make a pistachio butter…
http://www.thesunandthespoon.com
I totally want this on everything. Actually, just pass me a spoon & let me go to TOWN! pinned 🙂
Looks soo yummy! Reason 100 that I NEED to buy a food processor!
I love fun butters like this. Awesome recipe!
You can’t go wrong with vanilla and cinnamon in my opinion. I’m surprised at how easy this looks!
This sounds so good …will have to make some when I finish my peanut butter.
Ohhhh my goodness. This sounds SO great. Pinning it for sure! Can’t wait to make it.
This looks amazing, love pecans!
How long does it keep?
Made this & ate it all up. So good! Thank you 🙂
Monique, if you never do anything else in life, you have already made this world better. This stuff is simply heavenly. I made a batch yesterday to go in cookies (also delicious), but had to make another jar today so I can eat it by the spoonful. And on toast. But mostly by the spoonful. Thank you for sharing this!
Haha thank you so much for saying so!
Just made this and it is SERIOUSLY so good. Perfect fall flavors. So excited to slather this on ~everything~
Amazing! Enjoy!
Does the pecan butter make 1 or 2 mason jars? Looks yummy but I want to make enough to share with friends!
Makes 1 small mason jar!
If I wanted to give this as a gift, how long does it keep?
For quite a while! You can store it in the fridge and it will keep for 2-3 months!
What a great recipe! The added ingredients (though I omitted the salt) make the pecan butter incredible. I seriously just made 13 cups of it to give away to coworkers as a holiday present. It only took about 2 hours. I haven’t cleaned up yet, but I just have to soak and wash the food processor! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe. An organization I’m in sells awesome fresh pecans every year as a fundraiser, so I certainly think I will be making it again and again!
That’s seriously awesome – thanks for sharing!
Mine didn’t turn out very buttery 🙁 or at least not like the picture. It was much drier although still tasty. Any suggestions?
You could try adding a teaspoon or two or coconut oil!
This recipe sounded so delicious i bought the pecans and followed the recipe exactly, except i was using a ninja blender and i believe that is where i messed up. it never got smooth like regular nut butters tried adding coconut oil like you suggested and it didn’t work either. i was so excited to have this with some pumpkin waffles :/
Hi, Jessica. Yes, in the blog post I note that a food processor is essential and that I wouldn’t recommend using a high powered blender. Sorry that it didn’t work out for you!
This stuff is amazing!!!! I followed the recipe as written (except I doubled everything) and the taste and smell is divine. I actually liked my spatula clean because I didn’t want to waste any. Best nut butter I have made so far. Thank you for the recipe!!
Thanks for this truly AMAZING recipe. Best nut butter I’ve ever had.1 question though. Should I refrigerate it and how long should I keep with no preservatives? Merry Christmas btw
Mine was very runny….but still tasty. Any ideas?
Sarah, I had the same thing happen, only because it was actually done way before I thought it would be. Most nut butters take a lot longer, so I didn’t think it was really done when it looked done after only a few minutes. I let it run longer, and it turned very liquid-ish. Next time, try processing it for a shorter time and keep a close eye on it.
Sarah, in my experience, the processing time listed in the recipe is way too long. I don’t know if pecans are different from other nuts, or if it has something to do with the nuts being warm, but it only took me a few minutes, in total, to process this. As soon as the nuts start forming a ball that moves around the food processor, add your other ingredients (I also increased the cinnamon to 1/2 teaspoon, because I love cinnamon). As soon as the ball turns into nut butter that is churning all around the sides of the processor…stop, because you are done!
OMG!!! Just made a batch of this heavenly yumminess! My husband may eat it all before it makes it on to anything. We’ve been doing the wild diet and looking for healthy treats to help us not miss sugar so much. Thank you for the fabulous recipes! ?
This pecan butter is beyond delicious. The first batch I made didn’t last more than 2 days between me and my boyfriend. I am obsessed x) I’m looking foward to it slathered on Ezekial toast in the morning.
I just finished making this beautiful treat! This is like heaven! Truth is I can’t put my spoon down! Thank you for sharing this amazin recepie. In love!
Can you can this recipe? If so how long in a hot water bath?
Just made this and it’s soooo good! I added 2 tsp more of the maple cuz I have a sweet tooth! 🙂
But super simple and very good! Ty
Can you can the pecan butter
You bet!
Omg- just made this and literally eating it with a spoon -it is that yummy! Thanks for the recipe 😊
With a spoon = the BEST way to eat it 🙂
favorite nut butter ever!!
This recipe is a real confidence booster for a new home chef. It turns out perfect and unbelievably delicious. I added 3 tsp of coconut oil and a wee bit more maple syrup, only to meet my desire of creaminess and taste. We have over 25 pecan trees and this is now going to be a staple in our home!!!
Thank you for sharing the greatness!!!
Absolutely! So delicious. And very jealous of your pecan trees – wow!
I made this this morning to spread on top of our waffles along with sliced strawberries and it was beyond delicious! It tasted a lot like pecan pie filling. Thanks Monique!
YUM love that idea! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
It took everything within me to not eat the whole batch with a spoon! highly recommend. Delicious and super easy.
So glad you loved it!
Very easy and delicious
Glad you enjoyed!
Healthy delicious recipes and easy to make.
This is DELICIOUS! This has opened up my eyes to the world of DIY nut butters and I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
I’m so glad! Hope you find more recipes here that you love 🙂
This is so easy and delicious! I put it on apples, and this would be amazing to pipe into mini pumpkin muffins that I make in the fall. I also think this would be a really cute hostess gift. I like to make freezer jams too, what better, homemade bread, nut butter and jam…..So good!
Love those ideas!! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
HELP! I’ve made this four times. The first two were absolutely AMAZING! The second two batches were, well to put it nicely, not so much. They were bitter, and thick, and separated. I made sure let the nuts cool and not too grind for too long so it didn’t get hot. Any ideas? If it hadn’t been so amazing the first two times, I’d just move on. But I’d love to figure out what I did.
If you double the batch there’s sometimes an issue with processing. Also, be sure to let the nuts cool completely. If the nuts were bitter, it sounds to me like your pecans might be old!
I have made this five times. It is so delicious! I put it on apples and it is so yummy.
So happy to hear that! Perfect snack 🙂
So delicious! The flavors are great together! The one tip I have is before roasting the pecans, toss them with the maple syrup, then bake them. I find that any nut butter seizes up when adding maple syrup after it has been broken down and doesn’t get as smooth as it should be. By adding the maple syrup before roasting, you still get the wonderful flavor and it processes into a silkier nut butter.
Great tip! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Easy to prepare. Excellent taste – better than peanut butter or Nutella! Smooth texture after only 6 minutes in the food processor. We sustituted the honey with molasses treacle.
Wow! I just made this and it is so delicious! I want to put it on everything or just eat it off a spoon. I’m going to make some more to give to friends. Next up…Ambitious Kitchen Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter.
Love that! Glad you enjoyed!
What can I use of I don’t have coconut oil?
I would highly recommend coconut oil for this recipe.
I made this about 2 week ago and it’s almost gone. I wanted to make it a little bit lighter so I used just 1 TBSP of maple syrup and wicked some of the oil. The consistency was nice and thick afterwards and the flavor was amazing. I eat this most nights on a slice of multi grain toast topped with banana slices. I love how easy it is to make, the pecan butter is so delicious. I can’t say enough how much I love this! Thanks for the recipe.
Ohh such a perfect treat! Glad you found this recipe and it is a hit 😍
Just made this and it is so easy! I followed the instructions and made it exactly as directed and it is delicious, definitely 5 stars! The only thing I will do differently the next time I make it is reduce the sea salt by half, the 1/4 tsp was a bit too salty for my taste, but it is so amazing I can get past the salty on my way to making my next batch. Thanks for a great recipe!
Amazing! Yes, feel free to adjust the salt to your taste preference 🙂