Walnut Butter (your ultimate guide + recipe!)

- Skip directly to processing them below.

- Place the walnuts and 1 tablespoon of salt in a large bowl or stainless steel pot. Cover with 8 cups of water. The nuts should be covered by about 2" of water as the nuts will expand. Cover with a tea towel, lid, a plate or whatever fits. It doesn't need to be air-tight.

- Let soak for 7-24 hours. Use a colander to drain them and rinse them very well. Do not reuse or drink that brown water. Begin processing.

- place the walnuts in a single layer on the mesh tray that came with your dehydrator and dehydrate them at 115 °F (46 °C) for 6-24 hours, turning occasionally until crisp and dry. The time will depend on your dehydrator, its size, how full it is, and the climate. Begin processing.

- If you don't have a dehydrator, you need to roast them. Place the walnuts in a single layer on a baking tray and roast them for 10-13 minutes at 350 °F (175 °C), turning 2-3 times, until nice and toasty. Let cool 5 minutes before placing in the food processor. Begin processing.

- If you didn't soak your nuts, you'll just need 6-10 minutes of roasting time. Stir them after about 4 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before placing in the food processor. Begin processing.

- Put the nuts in the food processor and process until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, about 5-10 minutes. Do not overheat your food processor! Take breaks if your food processor starts to warm up too much. Once it's been working for about a minute, I remove the pusher so that the hot air can come out.

- In the first stage, you’ll have something that looks like walnut meal. Then it’ll form a thick, paste-like mass. Then it’ll break down into a liquid.

- Blend for another minute so it’s easily pourable and similar to almond butter. Don't process it so long that it's incredibly runny.

- Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months or freeze for 4-6.