Homemade Pecan Butter

Name: Homemade Pecan Butter Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 19 min
Ingredients: 1 pound shelled raw pecans; ½ teaspoon light brown sugar; ½ teaspoon cinnamon; ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Creamy Homemade Pecan Butter is a unique nut butter that is as easy to make as it is delicious. In fact, with only four ingredients, a food processor, and a few minutes, you too can make your own preservative-free, smooth, or crunchy pecan nut butter.

An amazing nut butter bursting with rich flavor, Pecan Butter is full of roasted pecans with their naturally sweet, buttery, nutty goodness. Add in a touch of cinnamon and brown sugar, and you won’t believe how utterly incredible it tastes slathered on a piece of toast, a graham cracker, or straight from the jar.

Three jars of pecan butter with graham crackers.

Roasting the pecans before processing them intensifies their nutty, sweet flavor. Similar to peanut butter or almond butter, roasted pecan butter can be substituted for any other nut butter in most recipes. The beauty of this recipe lies in its simplicity, and once you try it, you will be hooked.

Why you will love this recipe:

Pecans are naturally sodium-free, cholesterol-free, and gluten-free!
Pecan nut butter packed in a pretty glass jar makes a fantastic and unique hostess gift.
It’s easy to make either smooth or crunchy, or both! You decide.

Ingredients – here’s what you will need:

Raw pecans on a wooden plate, plus salt and cinnamon on a smaller plate.

Pecans – you can, in fact, make pecan nut butter with nothing more than some freshly roasted pecans. However, I like to kick it up a notch by adding the simple ingredients below.
Brown sugar – with its deep caramel flavor sweetens it up just a bit. You can substitute maple syrup or honey, but be careful and don’t add too much. Homemade pecan butter is already a little more liquid than purchased nut butter.
Cinnamon – adds its unique flavor profile and enhances the other flavors.
Kosher salt – balances and enhances all of the other flavors and brings them together in one tasty spread.

Directions – here’s how to make this recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Pour the pecans onto a rimmed baking sheet and spread out evenly. Place in the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Add the pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, and kosher salt to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

Process for 30 seconds; the pecans will be coarsely chopped. (If you are making crunchy pecan butter, remove one-quarter of a cup of the chopped nuts and set it aside.

Pecans processed for 30 seconds. — After 30 seconds

Process for another 30 seconds; the nuts will be finely chopped. (One minute)

Processed pecans after one minute. — After 1-minute

Process for another 30 seconds; the nuts will be a fine meal.

Pecans processed into a fine meal. — After 1 minute and 30 seconds

Process for another 30 seconds; the nuts are starting to form clumps and come together.

Processed pecans coming together in clumps. — After 2-minutes

Process for another 30 seconds; a thick paste is starting to form.

Pecans processed into a thick paste. — After 2-minutes and 30 seconds

Process for another 30 seconds; the paste will still be grainy.

Processed pecans after three minutes. — After 3-minutes

Process for another 30 seconds; the mixture starts to look like peanut butter and has become glossy and soft.

Processed pecans starting to look like pecan butter. — After 3 minutes and 30 seconds

Process for a final 30 seconds; you should have a smooth and creamy pecan butter.

Pecans processed for four minutes, smooth and creamy. — After 4-minutes

At this point, taste your nut butter and add additional brown sugar or salt if needed, and process for a second or two until everything is combined.
If you are making crunchy pecan butter, add the chopped nuts you set aside earlier and stir to combine.
Spoon into jars, cover, and enjoy!

Frequently asked questions:

How should I store this homemade nut butter?

It will be fine at room temperature on your kitchen counter for a week or so. However, since it doesn’t have any preservatives, you should place it in the refrigerator if you will be storing it any longer.

What to serve it with?

Of course, just like its cousin peanut butter, the most popular way to eat this nut butter is with jelly on a PB&J sandwich. However, my husband and I both enjoy it spread on graham crackers. It would also be great on pretzels.

Here are some additional ideas: use it instead of peanut butter to make pecan butter fudge, tarts, bars, cookies, or pie. You could also add it to overnight oats or yogurt or spread it on pancakes, a piece of celery, banana, or apple. Additionally, you can use it to make protein or energy balls or smoothies. In most cases, anything you can do with peanut butter, you can do with pecan nut butter.

What variety of pecans is the best?

This is a tough one, and the answer is: it depends. While all are delicious, in the North Florida, South Georgia area, Elliot and Stuart pecans are the two most popular varieties. Many folks say Elliots are the best with their sweet taste and high oil content, but Stuarts come in a close second and are more commonly available. It may be different where you live.

I used Elliots in this recipe, but most of the time, when you purchase pecans from the grocery store, it doesn’t say what variety they are on the bag. The most important thing is to ensure they are fresh and buy this year’s crop when buying pecans. Also, inspect the nuts to make sure they are plump and light or golden brown. If the nuts are dark, they are probably old.

How to store fresh nuts:

Because of their high oil content, you should always store raw pecans in the refrigerator or freezer to prevent them from turning rancid. Properly packaged, they will keep in the freezer for up to two years.

Do I have to add the sugar and salt?

Nope! You can certainly leave out the other ingredients if you want your recipe to be 100% free of anything other than the pecans. But, I think they enhance the flavor.

How can I make a chocolate nut spread like Nutella?

If you are a fan of Nutella, a chocolate spread made with hazelnuts, you can add some cocoa powder and confectioners’ sugar to your nut butter for an excellent pecan chocolate spread.

I like to add about one teaspoon of cocoa powder, three teaspoons of confectioners’ sugar, and one-quarter teaspoon of vanilla extract for every half cup of pecan butter.

Sharon’s tips:

Because it doesn’t contain any preservatives or emulsifiers, your pecan butter will be a little thinner and not look exactly like the thick and creamy peanut butter you purchase at the grocery store. It also may separate a bit and have a little oil on the top that needs to be mixed in before serving. But, have no fear, it will still be delicious.
Depending on your food processor’s age, size, and strength, it may take you slightly longer or less time to make this nut butter.
Also, depending on the variety and age of the pecans you use, your nut butter may be thicker or thinner after processing. It will thicken a bit after it is refrigerated.

More pecan recipes:

If you follow my blog, you know I am a huge fan of pecans and use them in any recipe that calls for nuts. Here are just a few of my favorite recipes that I think you might like:

★ If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and give this recipe a star rating. I would love to know how you liked it!

Thanks so much for visiting Grits and Pinecones!