Friends – I have a new favorite nut butter: gingerbread pecan butter. This features the same delicious flavor you get from gingerbread cookies, but with a more nutrient dense spin. 🙂
Even better is that this makes an excellent holiday gift! Whip up a batch, pop the nut butter into little mason jars, add a ribbon, et voila! Happiness, delivered.
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Homemade Pecan Butter with Gingerbread Spice
Homemade nut butter might sound complicated, but it’s actually pretty simple! This recipe is quick to whip up, and doesn’t require a ton of ingredients. The pecan butter comes out creamy, and the gingerbread spice adds a deliciously festive flavor.
Plus, it goes great on oatmeal, toast, fruit, or really anything you can think of!
How to Make Pecan Butter
To make this gingerbread pecan butter, you’ll need:
- pecans
- dark molasses
- vanilla extract
- ground spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves (FYI that this blog post was originally sponsored by McCormick when it was published way back in 2015! It has since been updated with more info/tips, etc.)
The first step is to toast the pecans in the oven. Don’t skip this step! Toasting the nuts and then processing while they’re still hot makes for a much creamier nut butter. It’ll come together more easily, since the oils are drawn out.
Once the pecans are toasted, the rest is easy! Just toss all the ingredients into a blender together.
The combination of the toasted nuts, festive spices, pure vanilla extract, and molasses come together perfectly to bring out the gingerbread flavor (without needing sugar). Vanilla and cinnamon in particular just scream the holidays to me!
The biggest thing to note about the food processor step of this recipe is that it takes quite awhile, so be patient! It will likely take about 10 to 15 minutes of processing for the nut butter to become smooth.
Also, adding the vanilla and molasses at the beginning of the processing is important. Adding water-based liquids at the end of processing will cause the nut butter to seize up and become clumpy and thick. No bueno!
The final step is to enjoy, of course! If you’re making this to give as a gift, be sure to save a little extra for yourself. It’s delicious on bread, atop oatmeal, with fruit… or simply eaten with a spoon. 🙂
How to Store Homemade Pecan Butter
Pecan butter can be stored in room-temperature in an airtight container (like a jar), but I recommend storing in the fridge so it lasts longer. Generally, it should last for about a month in the refrigerator. (If you see or smell any signs of it going bad, then it’s time to toss it!)
The full gingerbread pecan butter recipe is at the bottom of this post. Happy eating and gifting, my friends!
Looking for more dessert/holiday-inspired recipes? Check these out:
- Gingerbread Maple Pots de Creme
- No Bake Vegan Lemon Bars
- Chewy Chocolate Cherry Cookies
- Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Quinoa Bars
- Chocolate Coconut Almond Energy Balls
- Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Sweet Potato Muffins with Coconut
Gingerbread Pecan Butter
This delicious pecan butter is perfect on toast, oatmeal, or with fruit!
Ingredients:
- 3 cups raw pecan halves
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon dark molasses
- pinch of salt
Instructions:
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spread the pecan halves evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes, until fragrant and very slightly darkened but not burnt.
- Immediately place the pecans in a food processor and add the remaining ingredients.
- Process until a smooth butter forms, scraping down the bowl every few minutes. The mixture will start out as coarsely chopped, then finely chopped and crumbly, then a thick puree, and finally a smooth, drippy nut butter - it should take 10-15 minutes total.
