Spiced Chai Almond Butter (Blender Recipe)
Simple Spiced Chai Almond Butter Recipe – How to Make Homemade Almond Butter in a Blender
Creamy, comforting spiced chai almond butter is an indulgence that you can feel good about—and you can make it at home in just minutes! No food processor? No problem. I’ll show you how to make almond butter in a blender with a simple chai spice blend, or any flavorings you like!
Scrumptiously simple, all-natural, rich in flavor and subtly sweet. Use just a dash of maple syrup for a sweeter almond butter treat, or feel free to omit to keep this recipe sugar free. The beauty of homemade almond butter is YOU get to control the ingredients and flavorings!
It’s the perfect festive spread to keep on hand during the fall and winter seasons. Spread this spiced chai almond butter onto toast, bananas, roasted sweet potatoes, or even use it in smoothies and baked good recipes. Better yet, package up your homemade almond butter as a DIY edible holiday gift!
I’ll walk you through how to make almond butter in a blender (or food processor), as well as how to customize this almond butter recipe with your favorite flavorings. Plus, how to use this as a base recipe for other types of nut butter using different nuts!
Homemade Spiced Chai Almond Butter Ingredients
If you don’t know how to make almond butter in a blender or have never tried your hand at homemade almond butter, now’s the time! It’s SO incredibly easy—all you need are some almonds, seasonings, and a few minutes of your time.
I love making homemade nut butters because I’m in control of the ingredients, I can keep it as clean as I like, and I can try out new flavors. Of course, you can always make a plain homemade almond butter without any flavorings, too! Simply use whichever type of almonds (or any variety of nut) that you like—raw, roasted, or roasted and salted.
I share more ideas for customizing this recipe below. For now, these are the ingredients you’ll need to make this spiced chai almond butter recipe:
Almonds – 16oz or ~2-3 cups
I made this chai almond butter with roasted and salted almonds, but you can also use unsalted almonds, or raw almonds if preferred. Don’t worry too much about the specific measurement or amount of almonds. Personally, I used an entire 16oz bag which measured out to about 2½ cups, but anywhere between 2 and 3 cups will work just fine for this recipe.
Optional Sweetener – Maple Syrup or Honey
Since I wanted this homemade almond butter to be a festive holiday treat, I added just a bit of maple syrup for sweetness. You’re welcome to use honey or any other sweetener you prefer. Or, skip the sweetener altogether and enjoy the naturally sweet, aromatic flavors of the chai spice blend!
Chai Spice Blend
To give this spiced chai almond butter its comforting, festive flavor, I combined just a few simple seasonings. My homemade chai spice blend consists of 1 Tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground cloves, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cardamom, and 1 tsp allspice.
Of course, this is totally adjustable so don’t worry too much if you’re missing one or a few of these spices! And, as we’ll talk about in a moment, you can also change up your homemade almond butter flavorings entirely using any seasonings you like.
Salt, If Needed
Even though this chai almond butter has a sweeter flavor, every homemade nut butter can benefit from a bit of salt! Salt brings out the savory flavors in the nuts, and the sweeter notes in the chai spice blend. Depending on the type of almonds you use and how salty they are, you may want to adjust the amount of salt you add to taste.
How to Make Almond Butter in a Blender
Literally, making almond butter in a blender is as easy as adding all of your ingredients to the blender and letting it rip! Blend your almonds and seasonings together until you’ve got a nice, buttery spread. As needed, stop to scrape down the sides of your blender as you go.
Now, depending on how powerful your blender is, this process can take anywhere from 5 to 10 to 15 minutes, so be patient. I made this chai almond butter in my NutriBullet blender combo, which is fantastic for homemade nut butter recipes! The nuts will go through stages—from pulverized, to a sticky ball as the natural oils release, and eventually becoming a smooth butter.
Generally, I start by pulsing the blender a few times to get the almonds broken up into pieces. Once they’re more finely chopped, I blend on low for a bit. As the pieces become more uniform, I turn up the blender to high speed. Keep in mind, you may need to add 1-2 Tbsp of oil to help the almonds blend if they start to get stuck or clump together.
Nuts like macadamia nuts, peanuts, and cashews have a bit more natural oils than almonds, so making homemade almond butter often requires some additional oil to get the mixture buttery. When I made this spiced chai almond butter recipe, I gradually added some coconut oil during blending until the mixture loosened and integrated.
How to Customize your Homemade Almond Butter
As I mentioned, this chai almond butter recipe is just one flavor possibility that you can try. You can keep your homemade almond butter plain—using just raw almonds, or roasted almonds and salt. Or, try creating new nut butter flavors all your own!
Think of this as an adjustable nut butter base recipe: 16oz nuts + 2 Tbsp seasoning, adding oil as needed while blending. In terms of seasonings, you can swap out the chai spice blend for 2 Tbsp of any seasonings you like. To make a different nut butter altogether, simply swap out the 16oz of almonds for 16oz of peanuts, cashews, pistachios—whatever you want!
Once your homemade almond butter or nut butter of choice is smooth and buttery, transfer to jars or airtight containers to store! I recommend storing homemade nut butter in the fridge, and it will last for several weeks or even up to 2 months.
For DIY edible Christmas gifts, I like to portion this chai almond butter into small mason jars and add some festive decorations. Place a cupcake liner onto the flat part of the mason jar lid and seal it on with the outer band, wrap the jar with colorful pipe cleaners or ribbons, or tie on a small gift tag with a handwritten note!
Easy Vegan BLENDER Recipes | NutriBullet Soup, Vegan Smoothie Bowl & More!
Spiced Chai Almond Butter
Ingredients
Spiced Chai Almond Butter
- 16 oz almonds, 2-3 cups
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup, or honey – optional
- ½ tsp salt
2 Tbsp chai spice blend:
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp allspice
Instructions
- Add everything into a blender (or food processor) and blend into butter.
- It will take 5-10 minutes and the nuts will go through phases—first they’ll pulverize into pieces, then the natural oils will release and it will start to form a ball, and eventually it will become a buttery spread. Stop and scrape down sides of blender as needed.
- (If nuts are sticking and clumping together, add a bit of coconut oil to help loosen and blend. Nuts like almonds will likely need more oil/fat added than nuts like macadamias.)
- Once blended, transfer homemade almond butter into jars and store in the fridge.
- Yields 2 cups homemade almond butter.