Almond butter is a product made from crushed or diced almonds. Although tasty, almond butter is getting pretty pricy these days. But not to worry, we found the best alternatives for almond butter.
Almond butter can be substituted with similar nut butter products like peanut butter, hazelnut butter, sunflower seed butter, cashew butter, and walnut butter.
In the next article, we are going to talk more about all the similarities and differences between these high protein kinds of butter, so keep on reading if you are interested.
5 Best Almond Butter Substitutes
Sunflower Butter
If you have any nut or tree nuts allergies this is the perfect substitute for any kinds of nut butter. Sunflower butter is a paste made from sunflower seeds and usually sugar and salt. It is rich in Vitamin E, magnesium, protein and it is highly nutritious. No surprise here, it tastes like roasted sunflower seeds with a few earthy flavors. The texture is smooth and the color is light brown.
How To Use Sunflower Butter In The Kitchen
I recommend using it like you would use any other nut butter. Spread it on toast, add it to your oatmeal (or cereal), sweeten your smoothies with it, drizzle it on top of waffles or pancakes. But, also this butter can be a great substitute for peanut butter cookies or brownies. That means it can be put in various baking and cooking recipes.
Sunflower Butter Recipe
This recipe is one of the easiest things I ever made in the kitchen. It requires little time and only a few ingredients. But, to make it even more fun and of course, give you a few alternatives, I’ve prepared two very simple recipes for this butter so you can pick your favorite.
Simple Sunflower Seeds Butter
This can not be more simple. All you have to do is add 4 cups of sunflower seeds ( you can use either salted or unsalted ones, I prefer non-salted ones) and put them in a blender or a food processor, at high speed.
Give it a little time for all of it to really blend in, and if needed, turn off the blender, and stir the mixture and start blending again. When you see your product is a smooth paste, then you know that you’ve achieved your goal. You can store your butter in the fridge for up to a week.
Sunflower Seeds Butter With A Coconut Twist
As I said before, you can add a little bit of salt and sugar to your recipes, but did you know you can also enrich your butter’s taste by adding a little bit of coconut oil or sugar? If you are feeling ready to improvise and spice things up, you have to try this recipe.
This recipe requires 3 cups of sunflower seeds, two tablespoons of melted coconut oil, a pinch of salt, 1/3 cup coconut sugar, and vanilla or rum extract. It is up to you If you want to roast your sunflower seeds. By roasting them you are going to get a slightly more bitter and earthy taste of your butter. Put all of your ingredients together in a food processor/blender and blend until smooth ( note that you will have to stop to scrape and mix the butter a few times so it blends evenly and smoothly). And there you have it, a nice sunflower seed butter with a coconut surprise. Store it in a jar and keep it in the refrigerator.
Peanut Butter
Peanut butter is a popular spread made from roasted peanuts. The texture can be either smooth or crunchy. This butter has become very involved in our daily diets and lifestyles because of its nutty flavor and high protein dose.
This product contains many nutrients and can help lower your cholesterol. It is a daily protein snack for people of every age and it is the most sold nut butter in the world.
Ideas For Using Peanut Butter
- Peanut butter on toast- Spread your peanut butter on a piece of bread, add some fruits to it, or eat it plain. I guarantee you that this will give your day a kick start.
- Peanut butter chia pudding – Making chia pudding is easy. Add 1/4th of cup milk, two tablespoons chia seeds, some of your favorite fruits, and to top it all of, add two tablespoons of smooth peanut butter. This is truly my favorite breakfast that can be literally be made in 5 minutes. This gives your pudding a natural sweetness and a nutty taste.
- PB&J sandwich- A kid’s favorite snack that can be made at any time of the day because it is that easy. Just slam some peanut butter and some jelly on a piece of bread and top it off with another piece of bread.
- Peanut butter dog treats- You can give peanut butter to your furry best friend( as long it does not contain xylitol which can be harmful to your dog). You can just give it to them with a spoon or mix it in their snacks.
- Cookies and brownies- Peanut butter can easily be put in many baked goods like cookies, brownies, and cakes.
- Blend in smoothies- Sweeten your smoothies with some peanut butter and give them a bigger protein dose. This goes great with banana smoothies.
- Make a salad dressing- Make a unique salad dressing using peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, and powdered garlic.
- Veggie Dip- You probably heard about this one. Celery dipped in peanut butter might be the most simple, yet the weirdest of the snacks out there.
- Peanut butter popcorn- Just like caramel popcorn, you can make this alternative by melting butter and peanut butter together. Put the popped popcorn in the mixture and bake them in the oven for about ten minutes.
Hazelnut Butter
Hazelnut butter is another option instead of almond butter that has a nice, roasted nutty taste. This spread is usually mixed with other chocolate-based spreads(like Nutella), but it can be used on its own with no problem.
Now, this is not the easiest butter to find. Especially if you are looking in your neighborhood grocery stores. So I am going to say that although very delicious and exquisite, you are better of with peanut butter as your almond butter substitute.
Hazelnuts are full of nutrients, fatty acids, and vitamins. They are low in carbohydrates and have high-fat content. Hazelnuts can normalize your blood pressure and can strengthen your heart health.
Hazelnut Butter Recipe
- Roast your peeled hazelnuts in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C and leave them to cool completely after.
- After that, put them in a blender/food processor and blend them until smooth. That would take at least 15 to 20 minutes so take little breaks with your blender so as to not overheat or overwork.
- After 20 minutes or so, you should have your smooth paste, ready to store in a jar for over two months ( only if refrigerated)
Cashew Butter
This is a product made from baked or roasted cashews. It is very similar in taste and consistency to peanut butter. Although cashew butter isn’t as popular, it has the same nutritional value as peanut butter, and it has a higher concentration of monosaturated fats compared to it. It also contains lots of vitamin B6, magnesium, calcium, and iron.
How To Make Cashew Butter
It is almost identical to the peanut butter process.
- Put your raw cashews on a baking tray, and toast them for 10/15 minutes.
- When you hear the crackling in the oven that means that they are ready to come out and cool for a while.
- When your cashews have chilled, put them in a blender/processor and blend them until you are satisfied with how your butter looks, which should take no more than 20 minutes.
- Stir your mixture occasionally ( first, make sure to turn off the blending device) so it gets evenly blended and mixed.
- Put the finished product in an air-tight jar, and store it in the fridge.
Uses For Cashew Butter
This paste is mainly an alternative to almond or peanut butter. It has a thick and creamy texture and can be used in salad dressings, as a healthy spread for crackers and fruits, or to replace your heavy cream or milk in cooking/baking.
Walnut Butter
This butter is, of course, made by grinding walnuts and releasing their natural fats and oils, until they turn into a smooth paste-like consistency.
Walnut butter is not what you usually find in the markets in the ”spreads” section. You will have to visit a couple of healthy food stores to find this butter.
But, believe me, it will be worth it. If you are a gourmet like me, I’m sure you will appreciate the bitter, extra nutty flavor that this butter gives. It really is exquisite and one of a kind.
Walnuts have always been known for their health benefits and their high content of omega-3 fatty acids. So, essentially this makes walnut butter a great source of omega-3 and by far the healthiest alternative for almond butter.
It only has one flaw and that is that walnut butter is lower in proteins and higher in fat than other kinds of nut butter. It is great for people who have inflammatory or auto-immune diseases.
It also can prevent the risk of heart disease and can contribute to weight loss.
Closing Thoughts On Almond Butter
You can replace Almond Butter with all of these alternatives I’ve just named, but you would be missing out. This is by far the healthiest of all kinds of nut butter, with lots and lots of monosaturated fats(healthy fats), proteins(7 grams to be exact), vitamins, calcium, magnesium, and it is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids.
How To Make Almond Butter
You can make either smooth almond butter or a crunchy one. It really depends on how you want your consistency to be. If you want to make your butter crunchy, chop up some almonds and put them in your almond butter before you store them.
The process is the same as every other butter I named. Put your almonds in a baking tray, bake them for about 10/15 minutes, and then leave them to chill. Put your almonds in a high-speed blender or a food processor and blend until you get a smooth paste.