Step Aside Peanut Butter: Maple Pecan Butter Recipe

This nut butter is like pecan pie in a jar.

(Yes, you can eat it for breakfast, and no, I’m not joking around.)

I recently found a recipe for Maple Almond Butter in a great cookbook my friend Katie gave me, Food in Jars (if you are a beginner at canning, this is an awesome book filled with delicious, small batch recipes). Being a true New Englander, I love anything with maple syrup, but I figured if I was going to the trouble of making my own nut butter (which, turns out, is actually one of the easiest things you can make), I might as well make it as decadent as possible. So, I decided to try using maple syrup’s best friend (pecans, obviously) to make my own fancy nut butter.

Not only was this nut butter recipe ridiculously easy to whip up, but it’s pretty cheap to make – especially when compared to the small fortune a ready-made version would cost. Despite the fact that it tastes like a desert, it’s actually good for you (in moderation of course) since it’s just made with pecans and just a touch of maple syrup; both ingredients are rich in antioxidants, and pecans are full of healthy fats and protein, as well as vitamin B3, which aids in digestion – something especially helpful for those of us with CFS/ME and lazy digestive tracts!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this is a great recipe to get you in the spirit for eating pecan pie (especially important for me, since I’ll be spending this Thanksgiving in London). Basically, this Maple Pecan Nut Butter Recipe (aka Pecan-Pie-in-a-Jar) gives you permission to have dessert for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and not feel bad about it! Try it with some sliced apple or banana, on a rice cake, or just by the spoonful.

Step aside peanut butter!

Maple Pecan Nut Butter

Please please please do not use fake maple-flavoured syrup in this recipe (or ever) – the real stuff is worth it!

Makes: approximately ¾ cup/175 mL

• ¾ cup/175 mL pecans
• ¼ cup/60 mL almonds
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon maple syrup
• pinch of salt
• sunflower oil/walnut oil/other neutral oil

Preheat oven to 165 C/325 F. Mix almonds and pecans in an oven-proof dish; drizzle the maple syrup over the nuts and toss until evenly coated. Bake until nuts are browned, for about 20 minutes, stirring nuts halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes.

Process the nuts in a food processor until you achieve a smooth consistency, adding in the salt halfway through; the nuts will go through several stages – ground nuts, sticky ball of nut pulp, and finally nut butter. If the mixture sticks while processing, use a spatula to scrape the sides, and drizzle a small amount oil in to help loosen the mixture; however, pecans and almonds have a decent moisture content, so the nut butter should end up pretty smooth and runny without any/much extra oil!

Transfer to a clean glass jar. This is best stored in the fridge (as are any nuts or nut butters), as the fat in the nuts can go rancid more quickly at room temperature.

Inspired by Maple Almond Butter from Food in Jars by Melisa McClellan

Shared on Healthy Vegan Fridays @ The Veggie Nook