Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter
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This Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter is intensely chocolatey, ultra-creamy and full of roasted pecan flavors! It’s sweetened with dates and finished with rich cocoa and melted dark chocolate. Perfect on toast, over oats, with pancakes, or enjoyed straight from the jar!
About This Recipe
If you’ve been following this blog for a while now, you know that I LOVE pecans and that I firmly believe that life without chocolate has no meaning.
This Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter is the result of combining my love for pecans and chocolate as well as my passion for creating homemade nut butters!
It’s wonderfully chocolatey, full of roasted pecans goodness and has sweet, salted caramel undertones with a hint of vanilla!
I love having it on everything from breakfast baked oats to overnight oats, slathering it on toasted sourdough bread, on top of ice cream for dessert or with sliced apples for an afternoon pick-me-up snack!
Just like my holiday spiced Homemade Pecan Butter, you don’t need to add any additional oils because the pecans release their natural oils during processing. The final result is a beautiful, decadent and creamy roasted dark chocolate pecan butter that tastes good on EVERYTHING!
Why I Love It
- Easy to make! Simply roast, process, and store!
- Intensely chocolatey and full of roasted pecan flavors.
- Perfect for gifting.
- Tastes better than Nutella and is better for you!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutes
- Pecans: Raw, unsalted pecans so that we can roast them to perfection in the oven. Pre-roasted pecans won’t taste as nutty or as good as freshly roasted pecans in this homemade nut butter.
- Dried Dates: I used pitted dried Deglet Noor dates (noor is also spelled ‘nour’), which add natural sweetness as well as subtle, caramel undertones. Any type of fresh or dried dates such as Medjool, Sukkari, Ajwa, and Bahri dates will work. Alternatively, use 1-2 teaspoons (or more to taste) of maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar, agave syrup or date syrup instead. Leave out the dates if you prefer a less sweet chocolate pecan butter.
- Dark Chocolate Baking Gems: I used Hu’s 70% Dark Chocolate Gems which are refined sugar-free and sweetened with coconut sugar. Feel free to use any type of dark chocolate or chocolate chips you love.
- Dutch Process Cocoa Powder: I highly recommend using a Dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder. It has a richer and more chocolatey flavor than natural cocoa powder. However, a natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not alkaline treated) like Hershey’s would also taste good if that’s what you have on hand.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds warmth and hint of vanilla flavor.
- Fine Sea Salt: Balances the roasted nutty and sweet chocolate flavors.
Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter
This Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter is intensely chocolatey, ultra-creamy and full of roasted pecan flavors! It’s sweetened with dates and finished with rich cocoa and melted dark chocolate. Perfect on toast, over oats, with pancakes, or enjoyed straight from the jar!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Breakfast and Brunch
- Method: Pulse
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten-Free
Ingredients
- 2 cups / 230 grams unsalted raw Pecan Halves
- 4 pieces / 30 grams pitted Dates (I used dried Deglet Noor dates)
- 3 tablespoons (about 1.6 ounces) / 45 grams 70% Dark Chocolate Baking Gems (or use chocolate chips or squares from a bar) – chopped
- 2 tablespoons / 12 grams Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I used Dutch Process)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
Instructions
- Roast the pecans: Preheat oven to 325°F/165°C. Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper (nonstick cooking paper). Spread the pecans out evenly in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, until you can smell toasted pecans and they’re roasted but are not burnt. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until cool enough to handle – about 5 minutes.
- Process: Carefully, transfer the pecans to a food processor bowl and add the pitted dates. Process, pausing to scrape down the edges, until smooth and creamy. It will look crumbly at first, then start to form into a ball and clump together before becoming smooth.
- Melt the chocolate: Melt the chopped dark chocolate baking gems in the microwave on high in 20-30 second bursts, stirring each time, until fully melted.
- Add the chocolate, cocoa and salt: Add the melted chocolate, unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder and fine sea salt to the food processor bowl. Process briefly until evenly combined and completely smooth – 1-2 minutes. It should drip down from a spatula or spoon once done. (It will also be slightly runny now but will firm up and thicken once at room temperature or if stored in the fridge.)
- Storing: Store in a jar or airtight sealed container for up to 1 week in a cool dry area or in the refrigerator for 4-8 weeks (recommended for fresher flavor and longer storage).
Notes
- See the full article for ingredient notes, tips and tricks, variations, and more!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tablespoon (18 grams)
- Calories: 120
- Sugar: 2.4g
- Sodium: 49mg
- Fat: 11.5g
- Saturated Fat: 1.7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9.8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 5.1g
- Fiber: 2.2g
- Protein: 1.7g
- Cholesterol: 0g
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Cook’s Tips and Variations
- Process the nuts while they are still warm. The heat will help them to release their natural oils more quickly.
- Be patient. Depending on the power of your machine, it might take 10–15 minutes to reach a creamy consistency. Don’t rush it or be tempted to add water or oil! Water will make it clump and give it a pasty texture and additional oil is simply not needed because there is ample fat from the pecans and chocolate. Just keep processing and know that even if it appears crumbly and dry at first, the pecans will release their natural oils and the mixture will transform into a luscious and scrumptious spreadable nut butter.
- Use a wide mouth mason jar or airtight container for storing. It’ll be easier to transfer to a container with a wide mouth from the food processor bowl. An old peanut butter jar would work great here.
- Make a double batch. It’s SO GOOD and guaranteed to disappear fast! Double the recipe so that you can make one jar for now and one for later (or to gift to a loved one!).
- Add seeds. Chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds (or flaxseed mill), or hemp seeds would give this chocolate pecan butter a nutritional boost with more healthy fats!
- Make a crunchy style chocolate pecan butter. Pulse in one fourth to one third cup of whole roasted pecans, almonds or other nuts into the dark chocolate pecan butter like in my Chocolate Hazelnut Butter with Almonds. Alternatively, stir in chopped nuts by hand.
How to Make Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter – Step-by-Step
Spread out the pecans on a parchment paper lined baking sheet pan. Roast for 8-10 minutes in a preheated oven at 325°F/165°C until nicely roasted but not burnt (image 1).
Transfer the pecans to a food processor bowl and add the pitted dates (image 2). Process, pausing to scrape down the edges, until smooth and creamy (image 3). Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave on high in 20-30 second bursts until fully melted (image 4).
Add the melted chocolate, unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder and fine sea salt to the food processor bowl (image 5). Process briefly until evenly combined and completely smooth (image 6).
Ways to use Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter
- Drizzle on top of baked oats or overnight oats. Such as this Chocolate Hazelnut Baked Oats, Pecan Pie Baked Oats, Cottage Cheese Baked Oats, Cottage Cheese Overnight Oats or Matcha Overnight Oats with Berries.
- Spread on toast or rice cakes. Try it on a slice of toasted sourdough bread, wholewheat or multigrain brain, sourdough bagels, or rice cakes. Top with sliced bananas for a nutritious, well-balanced breakfast or snack.
- Eat it with fruit or veggies. I can vouch that is tastes great with sliced apples!
- Add to a smoothie. For a good boost of healthy fats and to make your smoothie extra creamy, chocolatey, nutty and delicious!
- Drizzle it on ice cream or yogurt. Try my Ninja Creami Peanut Butter Protein Ice Cream or Pumpkin Pie Protein Ice Cream if you have a Ninja Creami Ice Cream Maker! It also tastes great on top of vanilla ice cream or swirled into Greek yogurt.
- Bake with it. Use it in muffins, granola, cakes, baked oats, cookies, quick breads, brownies, oatmeal bars, etc.
- Eat it plain. A spoonful straight out of the jar always satisfies my dark chocolate and pecan loving heart!
Storing
- Pantry: Store in a jar or airtight sealed container for up to 1 week in a cool dry area such as the pantry.
- Fridge: Store in the refrigerator for 4-8 weeks. I recommend storing in the fridge so that it stays fresh longer.
FAQs
The time it takes to process until smooth and creamy varies depending on the type of nuts you are processing, your appliance type and its power. If the nuts are high in natural oil like pecans, it will turn into a nut butter quicker than nuts like hazelnuts, which release less oil and have a firmer exterior. If using a heavy-duty food processor or high-speed blender, it will take less time to make than if you were using an older and lower power appliance.
For reference, my Kitchen Aid food processor requires about 10 minutes to make this Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter but it takes 25 minutes of processing to make my Chocolate Hazelnut Butter with Almonds! The takeaway here is that it may take less or more time for your food processor or blender.
Both will work but I recommend using a food processor as it will be less hands on than a blender. I also personally feel I have more control over the texture when using a food processor.
It just needs more time! Continue processing and just be patient. The mixture will go from crumbly to creamy once the nuts release their natural oils. Then go in with the chocolate elements and it’ll be perfectly smooth and luscious!
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