Vanilla Honey Pistachio Butter

Homemade pistachio butter is the perfect alternative to almond or peanut, and will quickly become a favorite.

Nuts are a favorite food of mine. I like them in anything from salads to desserts to snacks. At any given time, I have at least four different kinds of nuts in my pantry. And usually as many nut butters.

In addition to buying jars of nut butter, making it myself is something I enjoy as well. It’s super easy, and you can customize it however you like. Like in this case, with pistachios.

If you go down the nut butter aisle at your local supermarket, you’ll find a variety of peanut and almond butters. Maybe some cashew butter. You may even spy a jar of pecan or walnut, but I’ve never seen pistachio butter, which is a shame because pistachios are pretty tasty, and super nutritious too.

You can buy pistachios shelled or unshelled. For this y you definitely want the shelled variety. You need a lot of nuts to make this nut butter, and I imagine sitting and shelling them all would not be a fun chore. But if that’s something you think you would enjoy, go for it. I also chose unsalted nuts so that I can control the salt myself.

I added vanilla and honey to my pistachio butter, but you can leave one or both out. You can use either a food processor or high powered blender to make this; a food processor will take longer, but it’s easier to scrape all the butter out of the bowl so you don’t leave one drop. Store in the fridge and use as quickly as you can — on toast, in oatmeal, or dolloped in yogurt. You can even make a pistachio butter and jelly sandwich if you want a unique lunch option that is also somewhat familiar.