Adventures with Hazelnut Butter

Are you hooked on nut butter like I am? If so, you've probably thought about making your own nut butter. Go ahead, try it! It's definitely a richer taste than commercial brands...and I'm talking organic nut butters. Every nut or seed butter that my boyfriend and I have made blows away any store bought brand that I've had. Although, I haven't had raw nut butter which by the way, raw nuts and seeds are not a part of my healing GAPS diet due to nuts being hard to digest.

So let's start with a rich hazelnut butter. We made this last weekend and it is D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! Hazelnuts are definitely more involved than other nuts because of the process of removing the skins so try hazelnut butter on a day when you have time to do a few extra steps.

1) First, you'll want to soak raw organic hazelnuts. This goes for any nuts or seeds. The reason for soaking is to remove the phytic acid on the nuts. Wikipedia states that phytic acid is in the hull of nuts. Nuts produce phytic acid to protect themselves from being tampered with before germination. Phytic acid in nuts binds minerals during digestion so we loose important minerals that we would otherwise absorb. Also phytic acid inhibits enzymes that we need to digest our food. So it's very important to take this first step and soak the nuts overnight. Especially if you have digestive problems. According to the Weston A. Price foundation soaking nuts for 18 hours provides more removal of phytic acid.

Fill the jar half way with hazelnuts (they will expand). Soak nuts in a salt water solution. A high quality salt like Himilayian crystal salt and clean water. Use about a teaspoon or less of salt in a jar.

2) After the hazelnuts have been soaked, rinse and drain repeatedly until the water runs clear.

(these are clean nuts after rinse and drain process)

3) Remove skins to take away the bitterness in the skins. Place 1 cup of hazelnuts in a pot of boiling water. Then add 1 tablespoon of baking soda. This is the trick to removing the skins easily. Let boil for about 3 minutes.

4) Rinse in cool water. Grab a friend to help and have a party removing the skins.

5) Pan toast or oven toast the nuts at a low setting to further help with digestion. For this batch we used duck fat which helps to bring out the flavor. Hey if the French can cook with duck fat then, we can too! Animal fats also aid in digestion.

6) Get your blender or food processor and get ready to go! Once the nuts have cooled off. Place the nuts in the blender using the recommended setting. Process until you are satisfied with the consistency.

(used a Vitamix to process the nuts)

I know it's a lot of work but, it's definitely worth it! Enjoy your hazelnut butter with a bit of honey and savor the taste. Hazelnut butter is rich and has a warm, earthy flavor. Mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm!

(store in a glass jar & refrigerate)


Have fun with fashion and a healthy life!