Pecan Butter

JUMP TO RECIPE
I'm always looking for healthy alternatives to foods I love, I love peanut butter but it's a legume and I'd prefer to eat an actual nut butter. I found a few that were good but they were full of preservatives so I started making my own. Better for you and way cheaper if you buy the pecans in bulk.
This recipe is pretty free-form, I put a bunch of pecans on the baking tray and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees stirring every 5 minutes so they don't burn. If you'd like crunchy, put all in but a half cup or so and you can hand mix that in later.
Pop the nuts in the processor with your salt, turn on the processor and let them grind up for about a minute, it kinda depends on your processor and how many nuts you're grinding, as soon as it looks creamy, stop. If you grind for too long, it heats the nuts and they separate and the consistency suffers.
Once it is blended, you can add a little maple syrup to make it sweeter (totally optional), about a tablespoon of syrup it's pretty much to your tastes. Once you add your sweetener, pulse it just long enough to blend (1-2 seconds), you don't want it to separate.
YUM, if you wanted crunchy, now is the time to hand stir that in and pop it into a jar for storage. I put it in the fridge, not sure that's even necessary, just what I tend to do.
RECIPE Ingredients• 5-6 c. Raw Pecans • 1 t. Salt • 1 T. Maple Syrup INSTRUCTIONS1. Roast nuts for 15 minutes at 350 degrees stirring every 5 minutes2. Once nuts have cooled for a few minutes (or you can do this when they're fully cooled) pop them into your food processor (reserve some nuts for crunchy) 3. Add the salt4. Process the nuts for about a minute until it becomes creamy5. Add maple syrup and pulse for a second or two, just enough to incorporate the ingredients6. Hand mix in your extra nuts if you want crunchy7. Put the pecan butter into a glass container and refrigerate for freshness Makes approximately 16 oz.