When you are cleansing, you may get tired of crunching on all the raw foods. We understand this well and are here to offer you healthy, protein-filled options that involve zero crunching. Nut butters are incredibly easy to make and go great in smoothies, on apple slices, or they are delicious on their own. If you eat them with a spoon, you may run into a dog with peanut butter in mouth situation.
Here’s The Deal
If it’s a nut or seed and you enjoy eating it, you can most likely make a butter out of it. If flaxseeds are your jam (well, butter in this case), make them into butter. There are endless options and flavor combinations with which you can experiment.
To Soak Or Not To Soak
A lot of nuts, seeds, grains, or beans are coated in enzyme inhibitors and toxins, which protect them while they are growing. The human body cannot digest most all of these toxins and enzyme inhibitors, especially phytic acid. When foods that contain phytic acid are consumed, the acid joins with important minerals like calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, and iron in the intestinal tract, blocking their absorption and inhibiting the body’s ability to properly break down the given food.
However…soaking the nuts, seeds, or beans releases these chemicals and helps you absorb the minerals and nutrients. By soaking these foods, you ultimately remove nutritional inhibitors, making these foods taste much better.
A Few Notes
- Always discard the soaking water from nuts and seeds. This should never be used as water in a recipe.
- If you purchase raw nuts and do nut wish to soak them, you can dehydrate them if you want.
- It is always best to opt for raw nuts and seeds. These are free of processed ingredients and don’t contain tons of sodium or added sugars.
- The reason you soak nuts or seeds before making nut butter is because they blend much easier. Make sure to dry them quickly before blending.
Sample Nut Butter Recipe
- 2-4 cups of raw nuts or seeds, soaked and dried
- 1-2 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon raw agave (optional)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
Instructions:
- Add the soaked and dried nuts to a food processor and blend away. Blend until the nuts or seeds become like a powder. Once this happens, add the virgin coconut oil and continue blending. Add more or less depending on how you see the mixture blend. More oil is usually necessary when using raw nuts.
- If you want, you can add the raw agave or sea salt to add a little more flavor to the nut butter. Continue blending until you get a creamy consistency. The blending time will vary depending on the speed of your food processor. It could take anywhere from 10-20 minutes.
- Store this in an airtight container in the fridge for up to six weeks.
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
