Toasted Pepita Butter

I put off trying to make my own seed or nut butter for a long time, imagining that it'd be a messy, laborious process and therefore not worth the trouble.  But, I finally decided to try it when I was looking for more ways to eat pepitas (aka pumpkin seeds) because of their fabulous nutrition content (among other things, pepitas are high in zinc and amino acids, which are both especially important for vegetarians).

It turns out that making your own pepita butter is super easy.

Kind of ridiculously so.

I now feel silly buying a jar of nut or seed butter.

This method below works for other nuts and seeds-- not just pepitas.  You might just need to eliminate or adjust the amount of the oil (almond butter, for example, can be done with very little oil or none at all).  Also, with pepitas or other nuts or seeds, you can add a little salt and/or honey if you feel like a little flavor boost.  Or, throw in some chocolate chips-- I won't judge.

Here's how it's done:

Gather your ingredients.

Spread your pepitas on a pan.

Toast until some are browned and puffy.

Put in a food processor.  My cute little mini-chopper is perfect for this job.

Process, stopping to scrape the sides if you need to.

Go 'till you've got a smooth but crumbly paste.

Slowly drizzle in the oil with the machine running until you get a smooth butter.

Put it in a jar in the fridge for storage.

Put it on a rice cracker; put it on apples; put it on a sandwich with jelly.  Most importantly, put it in your face.  Your face will thank you.

I know, I know, the color is weird.  It has, at times, been called "booger butter" at our house.  You'll get over it once you taste it, I promise.

(Control-click or right click on recipe to print.)