Shown above with mashed banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
3 cups pecans
- Process in food processor or Vitamix blender until creamy.
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SIDE NOTES:
~ This is so easy to make, and so unbelievably delicious. Since pecans are softer than almonds, this is something you can easily make in a food processor. You just have to be sure to have enough pecans in there to give the machine something to process. As far as using a blender – the only reason I recommend the Vitamix, in particular is because it has a tamper, which is necessary to push the nuts into the blade as it’s blending. If you have another type of blender that also uses a tamper – should work just fine (though might take longer). If your blender doesn’t have a tamper, use a food processor. If you have a Vitamix…..For the large container, use 3 cups minimum. For the smaller container, use 2 cups.
~ The flavor of this nut-butter – using nothing but pecans – is amazing. It tastes like there’s already maple syrup and cinnamon in there! And – you can make it as chunky or creamy as you’d like.
~ Method 1 – roasting the pecans: Place pecans on a cookie sheet, and roast at 250 for about 10 minutes. Let pecans cool down a bit before you blend them. They should be just warm to the touch (about 100 degrees). In my experience, if the pecans are blended while they’re too hot, or too cool, the consistency of the butter isn’t right (pastey instead of creamy).
~ Method 2 – soaking and dehydrating the pecans (my prefered method): Soak raw pecans in water at approximately a 3:1 ratio (water to pecans), and add a little high quality sea salt as well (the salt actually helps to improve their digestibility and nutrition). Let soak at least 7 hours or overnight, and dehydrate at about 100 degrees for at least 24 hours. The pecans must be bone dry if you want to turn them into butter.
Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Egg Free, If on a strictly raw diet – use raw (preferably germinated) nuts and careful that they don’t heat up as you’re blending.Nut Free, Sugar Free, Vegan, Grain Free, Raw
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WHY BOTHER SOAKING & DEHYDRATING?
In short – Nuts & seeds contain “enzyme inhibitors” which prevent them from sprouting prematurely. This is the reason why (unless cooked) they can last, unspoiled for decades, or longer. They are in a dormant state, and simply won’t break down.
Of course, once they’re in someone’s belly, you want them to break down. But, if they contain these enzyme inhibitors, your body will not be able to digest them, AND, if you’re eating the nuts with other foods, the enzyme inhibitors within the nuts will prevent you from breaking down those foods as well. That means poor nutrient absorption, and usually a belly ache. (Any of you get that bloated feeling – like you have a belly full of rocks and/or constipation after eating a lot of raw nuts?)
Think about it – you can have a packet of seeds that you planned on planting 12 years ago – just sitting in your junk drawer. After all that time, you can still plant them & they will sprout & grow. The reason they last that long is because of the enzyme inhibitors – keeping them in that dormant state. But now we want to grow these seeds into plants, so how does that happen? The thing that gets rid of the enzyme inhibitors is a long soak in water. Sprouting & growing only happens because the seeds get wet (from rain). After soaking in the moist dirt, the enzyme inhibitors are deactivated, and a few days later, you see something green popping through the dirt.
The only other thing, besides water, that will deactivate enzyme inhibitors is heat. So – cooking your nuts & seeds will also deactivate the enzyme inhibitors, making them more digestible. The only thing is that cooking also kills the valuable enzymes along with the enzyme inhibitors. And this, in a nutshell (pun intended) is what the whole raw food movement is about. Eating food with those delicate & beneficial enzymes intact – this is what the “big deal” is with raw food. It’s an entire discussion, in & of itself that I’ll save for some other time. All I can say for now, is that yes – enzymes are extremely important and don’t get the attention they deserve. Most people don’t even know they exist. Will elaborate on this in another post, but hope this small amount of info helps to explain why some of us nutty people take the time to soak our nuts & seeds =)
