Roasted Pecan Butter and a WINNER!

This is a fun little Saturday-type thing to do.  

My sister has been toying with the idea of going vegan, and the other day she was raving about Trader Joe's Sunflower Seed Butter.  She says when she gets hungry she just eats it by the spoonful.  The idea didn't appeal to me at first,  but I tasted it and was really surprised at how rich and delicious it was.   It got me thinking about all the nut butters you don't see. 

I already know they're a snap to make in the little food processor.  I've made Tahini and Dark Chocolate Nutella, which is basically a version of hazelnut butter.  This time I'm using pecans.  Try to find good, fresh nuts.  I found a 10 oz container of pecan halves, which is about 3 cups, and fits right to the top of my mini processor.

You can use raw nuts, but the most intense flavor comes from roasting them first.  Just spread them on a dry baking sheet and roast in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent them from burning.  Then let them cool on the pan.

Roasted Pecan Butter
makes 1 cup
3 cups roasted pecans (see above)
salt to taste 

• Put the pecans in the bowl of a small food processor.  
• Run the machine, scraping down the sides as necessary until the pecans have turned to a smooth creamy butter.  This won't take long at all, just a couple of minutes at most.  See the stages below.
• Blend in a pinch of salt, and then taste to fine tune the amount.
• Put the butter in an airtight jar and store in the refrigerator.

I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything,  But you don't want to check out of this world without tasting this.  It's like everything you love about pecans only intensified about a thousand times.  You get the roasted nutty flavor, a bit of saltiness, and even though it's not sweet in itself, it will evoke all sorts of lovely pecan sense memories. A whiff of pecan pie, a hint of butter pecan ice cream, maybe. And luckily you don't have to wait for some manufacture to get hip and produce it.  You can take matters into your own hands.

 Now your only problem is figuring out how you want to eat it first.

And the WINNER of my giveaway is---

Pat @  millefiorifavoriti

Congratulations, Pat!