How To Make Almond Butter
It is funny how things have changed in the nut butter space. When I was growing up, all you could buy in the store was peanut butter. There was that machine next to the peanut butter in the store where you could grind your own peanuts for natural peanut butter, but we never did that. I never once saw anyone ever use that machine even when I worked in a grocery store as a teen. There was also that natural peanut butter with the oil slick on top that you had to stir, and the peanut butter with the jelly stripes. I wonder if anyone ever bought those. I suppose they did or it wouldn’t have been on the shelf. We never did. We were a Jif family and that was it. If you wanted almond butter, you had to know how to make almond butter at home. Maybe the alt markets had it, but not our Big Star. Now you can get all variety of nut butters with all variety of flavor added. A little innovation in the nut butter space is welcome!
How To Make Almond Butter – The Almonds
I didn’t have almond butter until well into adulthood. I ate plenty of almonds having had worked at a really big nut company, but never almond butter. Nuts, almonds included, are a both delicious and full of nutrition so having almond butter around to spread on apples or to make sandwiches with is a nice to have snack. It keeps well in the fridge, so there is really no reason not to make extra to have around.
HowTo Make Almond Butter – Add A Little Flaovr
Almonds make a fine substitute for peanuts in a nut butter although, it has a bit more of a subtle flavor. Even when made with skin-on roasted almonds, the flavor lends itself nicely to being flavored. Keeping it simple is best – a little cinnamon and vanilla works nicely. Of course, a dash of orange liquor and orange zest is very nice, too. You can even go out on a limb and make one of those chili – chocolate – almond crazy versions. Maybe even add some smoke flavour. For sweetness, it is nice to use honey. The floral taste of honey is nice with the sweet nuttiness of the almonds. Let’s not discount leaving it plain. With a dash of salt and sugar, a fine, plain almond butter can be made. It does not have to be fancy to be good.
How To Make Almond Butter – The Technique
Making almond butter at home is easy. Like making peanut butter at home, all it takes is a food processor. With the food processor, you can whip up an almond butter with exactly the texture you want – as smooth or as crunchy as you like. The almonds will get mealy, then sticky, then, after a few minutes, become a nice creamy, almond spread perfect for sandwiches and snacks.
The “How To Make Almond Butter’ video is below. The full recipe follows.
- 3 cups of Almonds - roasted, skin on, unsalted - about a pound
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- a pinch of salt
- Neutral tasting vegetable oil – like sunflower
- Set up a food processor with the blade attachment.
- Add the nuts, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and salt to the bowl of the food processor.
- Start pulsing the mixture until the nuts look like nut meal, then process continuously until a smooth nut butter is formed, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides of the bowl. This can take 5-15 minutes depending on the food processor and the nuts.
- For looser nut butters, drizzle in the oil with the machine running 1 tbsp at a time until the desired texture is reached.
- Serve immediately.
- Store the nut butter to an air tight container in the refrigerator.
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
What do you add to your almond butter? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook.
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