What's a good non-nut almond paste substitute?

November 29, 2020 4:57 AM

I have a recipe for some buttermilk rolls that I'd like to make, but it asks for an almond paste filling. For allergy reasons, I need to avoid nuts and peanuts. What might I use in place of almond paste?

(The recipe is for a sweet bun, but savory ideas are welcome, too. Thanks!)

posted by stillmoving to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

Trying to picture your rolls - are they like cinnamon bun style? If so, I just made a batch with apple butter instead of the cinnamon filling, and they were amazing.
posted by papayaninja at 5:02 AM on November 29, 2020 [3 favorites]

Some Eastern European recipes have a poppyseed filling where you grind the seeds instead of leaving them whole, along with butter, sugar, etc. It wouldn't taste the same as almond paste, but it has a similar texture and it's similarly rich and slightly bittersweet.

Or what about the sweetened red bean paste that's used in East Asian desserts? Again, different flavor, similar texture, similarly rich.
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:04 AM on November 29, 2020 [20 favorites]

A paste of figs or dates?
posted by tmdonahue at 5:59 AM on November 29, 2020 [4 favorites]

Follow-up on nebulawindphone: you can buy poppy seed paste already made in a can. I used to find it in my neighborhood grocery store. See this link for an example. Because of the can, I liked to freshen it with a small dose of liquor, orange or brandy or rum.
posted by tmdonahue at 6:02 AM on November 29, 2020 [2 favorites]

Sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds are my go-to nut replacers. What about a mixture of tahini and honey, like this? The same blogger has other recipes where she also adds some sliced up sesame halva to the mixture, I think.
posted by en forme de poire at 6:12 AM on November 29, 2020 [4 favorites]

2nding sunflower or tahini.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 6:23 AM on November 29, 2020

Possibly sweetened chestnut paste (as long as no allergies to chestnuts. Despite the word nut being in the name, I believe they are not actually in the same botanical category as tree nuts).
posted by kinddieserzeit at 6:47 AM on November 29, 2020 [8 favorites]

Jam, marmalade or compote?
posted by bunderful at 7:44 AM on November 29, 2020

red beans
posted by aniola at 7:47 AM on November 29, 2020 [3 favorites]

See if you can find WowButter in your area--its made of soybeans and has a very similar texture and flavor to nut butters, though it may get melter than almond paste does. If not, nthing poppyseed paste or apple butter, whichever sound more delicious!
posted by Grim Fridge at 9:44 AM on November 29, 2020

Various concoctions based on cream cheese are used in pastry. Search on "cheese in pastry" for examples. It could be flavored with just about anything.
posted by SemiSalt at 1:00 PM on November 29, 2020

Maybe consider black sesame paste like what's used in some Chinese pastry? Would also be very visually striking. But some nut allergic people also have issues with sesame seeds, so you would definitely want to check first.
posted by potrzebie at 1:25 PM on November 29, 2020

there are a bunch of recently-fashionable tahini bun recipes all over the internet. here's one. The filling is just tahini, sugar and cinnamon. should be delicious. [edit: if sesame is also no good then just use a sweet cream cheese filling.]
posted by fingersandtoes at 5:29 PM on November 29, 2020