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Pecan Date Butter is amazing! Toasted pecans, sweet dates and a pinch of salt come together in one fantastic nut butter.
Jack and I recently discovered Pecan Date Butter, and it’s safe to say, we’re addicted! It’s SO good!
We initially bought a jar in the natural foods section at our local supermarket, and it was so delicious (we ate the entire jar within a day) – but it was also very expensive!
Good thing though – homemade nut butters (of any kind) are very easy to make, as long as you have a food processor. And, this Pecan Date Butter has just a few ingredients: (affiliate links) raw pecans, Medjool dates, and pink Himalayan salt, plus a little bit of oil. So, it’s an all-natural food, and it really doesn’t cost a lot to make a batch at home.
How to make Pecan Date Butter
After a few test batches, we discovered a few do’s and don’ts for making the perfect Pecan Date Butter:
- Puree the dates separate from the nuts then combine at the end.
- Check to make sure that every date is pitted – even if the package states pitted.
- The pecans need to be dry-toasted and cooled before making your Date Pecan Butter.
- Don’t let the food processor run for too long. This heats up the pecans, and oil will separate from the nut instead of creating a smooth nut butter.
- Use a neutral oil to help puree the dates (as needed), such as grapeseed oil.
- Pink Himalayan salt (used in the original brand of pecan date butter we tried – affiliate link) has a very high sodium percent (98%!) so you’ll only need a little for flavoring. If you substitute another type of salt, you may need to add more.
How do I serve Pecan Date Butter?
Truth be known, Jack and I eat this right out of the jar with a spoon!
But it’s also delicious on toast, slathered on apple slices, or add a spoon to your favorite smoothie or shake for some extra flavor, protein and body.
How do I store it?
We store our Pecan Date Butter in mason jars in the refrigerator to maintain freshness and prevent separation. It will safely last up to a month in the refrigerator (if you haven’t eaten it all by then!)
You may enjoy these other nut recipes:
- Homemade Almond Butter
- Coffee Nut Brittle
- Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
- Hazelnut Brownies
- Chinese Fried Walnuts
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Pecan Date Butter
The ratio of nuts to dates is about 6 to 1 to get the sweetness just right. Again, it took several attempts to exactly match the taste and texture of the jar we bought, and we feel that we achieved it. By the way, a 12-ounce jar of this product was $12.99 at the supermarket and $20 on Amazon, so making your own will save money.
Ingredients
1 pound pecan halves or pieces
10 pitted dates, about 2 ounces
1 1/2 teaspoons of a neutral oil, we used grapeseed oil
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt*
Instructions
Place pecans in a dry saute pan and over medium heat toast until browned. Toss often (every ten seconds or so) so they don’t burn. As soon as they are toasted, pour out of the hot pan onto a plate or small sheet tray to cool. Let cool completely to room temperature.
Check to make that all of the dates are in fact pitted. I found out the hard way that sometimes a few unpitted dates get mixed in.
Place the dates in the bowl of a food processor along with the oil and puree until smooth. With my high-speed food processor, it took about a minute or two to get the dates to a gummy consistency.
Remove the pureed date mixture to a small bowl.
In the same food processor bowl, add the now cooled pecans. Process in 15 second blasts, removing the cover for a second to release heat. I found out through trial and error that if you just let it go, the heat from friction and the food processor motor will heat the nuts and separate the oil from the nut solids. Once that happens, there is nothing you can do to correct it and you must start over.
Keep pulsing for 15 seconds and eventually the nuts will go from pieces to ground, to a fine ground and finally to a smooth creamy consistency. To get mine to a smooth creamy consistency took about 2-3 minutes, stopping every 15 seconds to make sure the mixture did not heat up too much.
Once the nuts are creamy, add the pureed dates back in along with the salt and pulse just to combine.
Taste and add more salt as needed.
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Notes
* Himalayan pink salt is similar to table salt and is mined in Pakistan. It has a high percentage of sodium chloride which gives it a very strong salt taste. If you can not get this salt, substitute kosher salt. Taste and add more as needed, since kosher salt is not as salty as the Himalayan pink salt.
How long should this last?
Hi Kirk – If stored in the refrigerator, I’d say up to a month.
What about using figs in place of dates?
We haven’t tried it Stacey – should work although the quantity might be different. Let us know how it works out!
I used coconut oil. It made it extra yummy!!!!
Thanks for the suggestion Nisa!
What is the best way to store this pecan butter?
We store it in the refrigerator to minimize separation, but even with that, you might need to stir it again before using/serving.
I tried this but ended up with an oily mess, so I obviously passed that “point of no return”. You say in your recipe to make sure the machine doesn’t get too hot – but that is very arbitrary. I did 15 second bursts, but then I only waited like 5 seconds and did another 15 second burst. Should I wait longer in between pulses? Like 1 minute?
Rene, this is Jack.
After my first initial flub where I got it too hot and it separated, I have made this three more times since successfully. What I learned is that heat is the enemy so I took extra time between bursts just to make sure it cooled down enough.
Just take your time, make sure you start with cooled down toasted nuts and pulse in bursts until it reaches the proper consistency.
Sort of a fussy process but the end results are delicious.
Good luck!
I’ve made the recipe twice. The first time I used dates on hand and they were smaller. The second time I followed exactly.
Both times my pacon butter was very dry. I even added a tad more oil when processing dates.
Where am I going wrong?
Yours looks so yummy.
Thank you.
Lissa Galusha
Hi Lissa – You might just need to process the nuts for longer. They will look very dry and crumbly at first but the longer you process them, more oils in the nuts are released and it should begin to resemble the photos. Good luck!
Delicious!
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I have purchased Pecan Butter with Dates on line a couple of times but so expensive. So happy to find your site. Also your helpful hints really ensured my success.
Thanks Lisa – so glad you had success with the recipe!