Banana Nut Butter

Hands down, y’all, this is the best nut butter you’ll ever taste. This banana nut butter is like almond butter and banana bread’s love child, so clearly, you just can’t go wrong making this one. 

A while back, I found an almond and cashew butter at Costco made with dried banana. I was in love. I went back almost weekly to restock. Unfortunately, you know how Costco is with their products; it’s here one day and gone the next. I kept telling myself that I’d find the ingredient list and make it at home one day. I finally made it last week, and let me tell you, it’s everything I remember and more. 

You can smear this on anything and be happy as a clam. You can eat it on toast, sandwiches, oatmeal, waffles, and definitely straight off the spoon. The last option is how most of mine gets used. Not only do I love the flavor, but I really like the creamy but slightly chunky texture from the hemp seeds that I added. And, it’s so easy – just a whirl in the food processor and boom, easy, peasy. 

For this recipe you’ll need:

• Dried banana chips: If you can find the ones with banana as their only ingredient, that’s best. I used Bare Baked Banana Chips because they only use banana. Still, it’s okay if you can only find banana chips with some sweetener or oil. 
• Roasted almonds: I bought the roasted so that I didn’t have to have an extra step of toasting the nuts. If you buy raw almonds, just make sure that you toast them to bring out the toasty, nutty flavor. Since almonds are the nut that is the bulk of the recipe, I chose the unsalted variety to control the sodium a bit. 
• Roasted Cashews: Again, if you get the raw, just make sure you toast them. Since these nuts are used in a lesser quantity, I did buy the salted roasted cashews. If you buy all unsalted nuts, make sure you add about 1/2 tsp. of salt or to taste when you blend everything up. 
• Molasses: This gives a touch of sweetness, but a more complex flavor than honey, agave syrup, or sugar. 
• Vanilla extract: Something to round out the flavors and make it taste more like banana nut bread. 
• Hemp hearts: These add texture and essential omega-3 fatty acids, which are important in heart health. You can also substitute flax seed or chia, but I think hemp hearts provide a better texture in this recipe.
• (Optional) Neutral oil: A little oil can help make smoother nut butter, but be sure to use a neutral-tasting one like avocado, canola, or light tasting olive oil. 

Tips for making nut butter:

• You’ll need a heavy-duty food processor or blender to grind the nuts. The nuts will start off as meal, then move into clumps, then finally into creamy nut butter. This takes at least 10 minutes. I wanted a super creamy consistency, so I blended mine for closer to 20 minutes. I scraped down the sides every so often to make sure that everything was evenly blended. 
• Use the oil if you’d like, but you can leave it out altogether if you blend for a more extended time. 
• If you store this nut butter at room temperature, it will naturally separate. It’s okay, you can just stir it up again. However, I do recommend keeping it in the fridge to not only prevent separation but also to keep fats in the nut butter from going rancid. It should keep in the fridge for about 3-4 weeks, but I have a feeling it won’t last that long!

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