If you‘re all about gingerbread ANYTHING…this one is for you! If you even mildly like gingerbread, this one is for you. Several years ago I spotted gingerbread pecan butter in the store and kept thinking how I need to develop my own recipe. Well after seeing it again recently in my local supermarket and being shocked at the price of $13.00 for an 8 ounce jar, I decided it was time to make some of my own. It ends up costing only about 2-3 dollars to make it yourself. That alone is an incentive to make this at yourself! It couldn’t be easier, and even if you‘re not a gingerbread lover, it makes a wonderful gift for the gingerbread lovers in your life.
Food processor or blender? Often I get asked whether things that I make in a food processor can be made in a blender. In this case you can use a blender, however it will be trickier. You need to use a tamper tool to continuously move the pecans so they reach the blade and you will mostly likely need to double the recipe (trust me you wont regret doubling it) to have enough volume to blend it into a butter. For this reason a food processor is my preferred method.
If you do double it, you could set aside half of it just as a plain nut butter to enjoy (keep refrigerated) and make the other half into gingerbread butter.
Preheat oven to 350 F and line a large rimmed cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat (I love my Zulay kitchen silicone baking mats-use code: R&Dbakery10 for discount at www.zulaykitchen.com ). Spread pecans in an even layer on your baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, making sure not to burn them. A key to knowing that they are ready or about ready is when you begin to smell a faint roasted nut aroma.
Remove nuts from oven and allow to cool slightly. Add nuts to a food processor and pulse and process for about 2 minutes until you have a smooth nut butter. Scape down sides of food processor and pulse again. At this point if you just wish to make pecan butter remove it from the food processor and store in your fridge and enjoy as you would any nut butters.
Add rest of ingredients to the nut butter and pulse until you have a smooth mixture. Use a spatula to scoop pecan butter into a glass container. Seal and store in the fridge for several weeks. It will firm up in the fridge but within 5 minutes in will start to get runnier.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F and line a large rimmed cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat (I love my Zulay kitchen silicone baking mats-use code: R&Dbakery10 for discount at www.zulaykitchen.com ). Spread pecans in an even layer on your baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, making sure not to burn them. A key to knowing that they are ready or about ready is when you begin to smell a faint roasted nut aroma.
Remove nuts from oven and allow to cool slightly. Add nuts to a food processor and pulse and process for about 2 minutes until you have a smooth nut butter. Scape down sides of food processor and pulse again. At this point if you just wish to make pecan butter remove it from the food processor and store in your fridge and enjoy as you would any nut butters.
Add rest of ingredients to the nut butter and pulse until you have a smooth mixture. Use a spatula to scoop pecan butter into a glass container. Seal and store in the fridge for several weeks. It will firm up in the fridge but within 5 minutes in will start to get runnier.