I know all of you have tried the classics- peanut butter, almond butter, hell even cashew butter… right? But have you ever tried PISTACHIO butter?! I’m not quite sure why this isn’t sold in stores, because it’s just as easy to make as other nut butters. Pistachio butter is so delicious on its own, but is also great in other recipes- plus it instantly makes any peanut butter & jelly super fancy. Now this recipe is definitely a little time consuming, because it takes a while to break down the oils in the nuts to create a smooth and creamy butter without adding extra oil, but it’s well worth the wait & lasts up to a month in the fridge! Making nut butters at home is really rewarding, because they taste so much better than store bought ones, are usually cheaper, and you can enjoy the cleanest nut butter ever with just the nut (and optionally coconut sugar and sea salt) as the only ingredient, instead of a bunch of chemicals and random ingredients that aren’t necessary. Let me teach you how to make it.
So of course, we’re going to need some pistachios. For this you want to make sure you get RAW & UNSALTED pistachios! This is important because the salted ones are always far too salty and will result in a very unpleasant butter, and the pre roasted ones are usually too hard and don’t break down as well. I also buy them shelled, but if you wan’t to make this even more time consuming, you can shell them all by hand. I buy the raw, unsalted, & shelled pistachios from Trader Joe’s, and they’re relatively cheap there as well.
I like to lightly toast my pistachios because I think it gives another level of flavor, and helps activate the oils in the nut so it breaks down a bit easier. You totally can skip this step, but if you choose to do it, preheat your oven to 375F. Once your oven is heated, add your pistachios to a dry baking tray & roast in the oven for 7-10 minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant.
Once your pistachios are toasted, transfer them to a food processor. Now heres where the “time consuming” part starts. This is going to take you about a half hour of food processing, so maybe don’t do this super early in the morning or late at night if you don’t want everyone around you to be really angry at the sound of the food processor. You’ll want to process this on high for 20-30 minutes until creamy & smooth, like a runny peanut butter, just make sure to scrape down the bowl of the food processor every minute or two to make sure everything gets well combined.
You can leave this as is, unsweetened & unsalted, or you can at this point choose to sweeten and/or salt the pistachio butter. I personally like to do both, because it makes it that much more delicious. I like to use coconut sugar to sweeten this because its not refined, and has an almost caramel taste that works really well with the pistachio flavor, but you could use cane sugar, brown sugar, stevia, etc. Once your butter is completely ready & smooth, add in your coconut sugar & sea salt (use really good quality sea salt for this if possible, you’ll thank me later) and process for an additional minute to make sure everything is combined. You can also add a teaspoon of cinnamon too, if you want to really up the flavor, but that’s totally optional and I only personally do that if I’m trying to feel ~extra fancy~.
-If you want to make your pistachio butter crunchy and not creamy, this is also really easy to do. Once you’re done toasting your pistachios, take a 1/4-1/2 cup of them and pulse in a dry food processor a few times until they become crumbly. Transfer to a bowl & set aside while you add the rest of your pistachios to the food processor and proceed with making your totally creamy pistachio butter. Once that’s done (and you’ve also sweetened / salted if you’re doing that), remove the blade from your food processor, add in your chopped pistachios, and stir with a spoon until well combined and crunchy to your liking.
And that’s it! This is such an easy recipe, even though its a bit time consuming, and relatively cheap as well since the ingredient list is so minimal. This pistachio butter is great on toast, in sandwiches, in cookies, granola bars, etc. & really brings a new exciting flavor into your normal routine of peanut and almond butter. This recipe is very versatile as well, as you can substitute any nut or nut combination in the same quantity & create some really fun flavors (hint hint- pistachio cashew butter is also a really good one). You can also spice this up by adding cinnamon, cacao powder, nutmeg, vanilla, really any flavors you want to any nut butter you’re making. I really hope you enjoyed this recipe as always, and can’t wait to see what you guys do with this incredible pistachio butter!
Pistachio Butter
You've heard of peanut butter, almond butter, hell even cashew butter... but pistachio butter is so easy to make and one of the most delicious things ever.
Ingredients
- 3 cups pistachios raw, unsalted, shelled
- 1-2 tsp coconut sugar *optional
- 3/4-1 tsp sea salt *optional
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 375F if you'd like to toast your pistachios before processing them. You don't have to do this, but I prefer to because it adds another level of flavor & helps release some of the oils in the nuts a bit easier.
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Take your raw, unsalted, shelled (this is very important because if you use roasted/salted ones the flavor will be too salty and strong) and place them on a dry baking tray. Bake for 7-10 minutes until lightly toasted (when you buy the roasted ones in store they're roasted for far longer than this & can end up being too hard).
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Place your pistachios into a food processor & turn your food processor on high. This will take a while, and may not seem like it's going to work but trust me it is. Allow them to process for 20-30 minutes (time will depend on the size of your pistachios & your climate), until completely smooth and has a runny, peanut butter consistency. You'll need to scrape down the bowl of the food processor every minute or two, to make sure everything gets blended.
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If you want to sweeten or salt your pistachio butter (totally optional, I prefer to do both though), once your butter is ready, add your coconut sugar and salt (do a little less at first, you can always add more) and process for another minute to make sure everything combined. Transfer to a mason jar, seal with a lid, & keep in the fridge for up to a month. Make sure you allow your pistachio butter to fully cool down to room temperature in the jar before putting on the lid & placing in the fridge, because we don't want to create any steam.
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***If you want crunchy pistachio butter, not smooth, before you blend all of your pistachios into butter, take 1/2 cup of your toasted pistachios & pulse them in the food processor until crumbly. Transfer to a bowl & then add your other pistachios to the processor and make your pistachio butter totally smooth. Remove the blade from your food processor, add in your crumbled pistachios, & mix with a spoon.
