As I mentioned above, authentic hummus is traditionally made with tahini (ground hulled sesame paste), which gives traditional hummus a "nutty" taste. However, you may not always have tahini at home, or you may not want to spend on tahini which can be quite expensive. In that case that you choose to make tahini-free hummus, you can swap out the tahini for equal amounts of almond butter or cashew butter. I personally prefer cashew butter because cashew butter is similiar in color to tahini and will not alter the color of hummus, whereas almond butter may make the hummus slightly darker in color.