Pecan Pie Butter & Ants on a Leaf

Ants on a Leaf

Pecan Pie Butter

Pea-can? Pa-cahn? D-licious. Here’s a recipe for nut butter with a nice twist on what you can find commercially available. And what to do with it..besides inhaling it out of the jar with a spoon? We’ve got you covered there as well. Ants on a Leaf…a fall flavored rendition of your favorite marching insect snack.

Ingredients

  • ½ c raw almonds
  • 1 ½ C raw pecans
  • 2 pitted dates (we used medjool)
  • 2 t salt
  • ½ orange, zested
  • ¼ c almond oil (might take a little more)
  • a few tart apples, my favorite is Pink Lady
  • dried cranberries or dark chocolate chips

Method

Place the almond and pecans on a baking sheet. Roast on 300ºF for 10-15 minutes, until pecans have darkened and the almonds begin to crack a little. Let the nuts cool. Add the nuts to the food processor, along with the dates, orange zest, salt and almond oil. Blend until smooth. You may have to take off the food processor lid and scrape the sides a few times to incorporate all the nuts.

If your butter looks a little crumbly, add more oil, a little at a time, until it comes together. Once the butter begins to reach a smooth consistency, just let the food processor run a wee bit longer, until it’s as smooth as you’d like it.

Ants on a Leaf

Slice your apples and smear  on the butter, or for a more portable way of consumption: fill a sandwich/snack bag with the butter. Cut off the tip of the bag and squeeze the butter onto your apples as you see fit. Sprinkle the dried cranberries and/or chocolate chips so that they stick on the butter.


Comments

22 responses to “Pecan Pie Butter & Ants on a Leaf”

  1. These are so good! It was the perfect after school snack today for the kids. Thanks for the recipe!

    1. so glad you all enjoyed. thanks bridget!

  2. I have to say, as someone who logs enough hours to make Paleo research and recipe hunting a second job, your blog is one of the best out there. It’s my favorite by far :o). Each new recipe is innovative, delicious, and not the typical run on meat/veg/egg/sweet potato that, don’t get me wrong, is tasty but gets redundant after a while. I’ve made several of your recipes and each one absolutely delicious. Your recipes make me run out to the store immediately and pick up some of the items that seem to be lacking in my Paleo cabinet!

    On that note, off to find Almond Oil :o). Keep ’em comin’!

    1. oh my gosh. thank you so much erin!

      amazon has everything…

  3. I eat almond butter on apples regularly (which means pretty much everyday!)…I love this variation with the pecan pie butter…I will definitely be making this !!! Thanks for sharing!

    1. hope you enjoy, andrea.

  4. Every time I come to your website, I fall in love with you two more and more. Is that creepy? For sure. Got any paleo food loving single friends you want to send to CO? Male preferably. I’d be totally cool with that. Then I could eat pecan pie butter with them daily instead of by myself.

    Keep up the great work guys 🙂

    1. creepy, no–i feel it’s completely normal. and i will keep my eyes peeled for ya.

  5. Turned out great. I even ate it with pink ladies, as they are my favorite too. didn’t have almond oil so used half walnut oil and half grape seed oil, which may not be totally paleo but it’s what I had.

  6. Made it. Loved it. Thanks for the recipe :):)

  7. Tonja Pizzo

    Just found your blog (via Nom Nom)–LOVE IT!!! My kids love ant on a leaf, log, boulder….can’t wait to try out this almond butter.

  8. OMG!!! I got a new KitchenAid 13-cup Food Processor (lovingly nicknamed “the beast”) for Christmas and I just whipped up this Pecan Pie Butter, it is SO good! I did have to add 2 T of almond oil in addition to the 1/4 cup…I also added a tsp of vanilla. Yumm…

    1. merry christmas to you! what an awesome gift. one of the BEST kitchen tools around. glad you enjoyed andrea!

  9. YES! These are totally Whole 30 friendly! Making this today!! Will letcha know how it is. 🙂

  10. BEST NUT BUTTER EVER. So buttery. So perfect. & really does taste like pecan pie!! Another home run, y’all! Lovvve it!

    1. oh my gosh, thank you chrissy! what a compliment.

  11. This is so delicious!! I’m hooked. Never mind store bought almond butter. Thanks for all the great recipes.

    1. hahaha, word! so glad you enjoyed this mary. you’re very welcome!

  12. Looks like another few of my favorite things. Think I’m off to make this tonight…

  13. Looking forward to trying this…am off to buy some almond oil 🙂 How long would this keep in the fridge do you reckon?

  14. I have macadamia nut oil. Could that be used instead of the almond oil?

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