When I made my Chinese Chicken Salad, I had to find a substitute for the peanut butter – the result of a peanut allergy. The substitution was hardly a problem; Whole Foods carried freshly ground cashew butter and almond butter in its bulk section. After sampling each, I decided to go with the almond butter. The rest of the recipe went according to plan.
After sampling the chicken salad, Caitlin suggested that I should make my own almond butter. I was skeptical. Just a few weeks earlier, I had made Almond-Stuffed Baked Apples, and after several seconds of grinding almonds, no such butter had appeared.
But sure enough, you can make almond butter with nothing more than a few almonds and a food processor. You just have to be sufficiently patient. It takes takes minutes, not seconds for the almonds to become smooth. Believe me though: the wait is well deserved! Add a few extras, and you have a spread that is unbelievably good!
Almond Butter
Recipe from Caitlin
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOK TIME: 10 minutes
YIELD: 1 cup Almond Butter
WHAT TO GRAB:
1 cup almonds
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
HOW YOU DO IT:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almonds evenly on a baking sheet. Cook the almonds for 10 to 15 minutes, or until well toasted.
2. Allow the almonds to cool slightly. Grind the almonds in a food processor for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the almonds have reached a smooth butter consistency. It takes 5 continuous minutes of grinding for the almonds to become smooth, so be patient! (The ground almonds may ball up after a few minutes – you can ignore this and just keep grinding).
3. Add the salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Serve on toast, with sliced apples, or as part of an ABB&M Sandwich.
duodishes
Wholeheartedly agreed that making your own nut butter is easy and cheaper than buying it. Adding the sugar and spices is a nice way to jazz it up.
Anonymous
i have been working on this for like 30 minutes now because i have to keep opening the lid and scraping it to the center 🙁
lauren
how long does it stay good?
Charles
I made this a while back, so I don’t quite remember how long it stayed good. I want to say around two weeks.
Anonymous
Works so much faster in a nutribullet using the milling attachment. I initially used the ninja to grind the almonds but because it was taking to long to get it beyond a powder stage I switched to my nutribullet. It could only be added in very small portions to the nutribullet but took only seconds to get to butter consistency.
Caitlin
Charles, I think you should add that our almond butter creation process has been revolutionized by the Vitamix. I do recall slogging through the endeavor with our standard food processor.
Charles
Agreed. The Vitamix does it all!