Almond Butter

Warning #1: If you do not have a food processor, this post is useless to you. Unless it convinces you to buy a food processor, in which case this could be a pivotal point in your life. I suggest you sit down.

Warning #2: Don’t be a snob and go ‘oh my God, almond butter? What kind of hippie do you take me for. Just pass me the Skippy.’ You sir —eating your peanut dust, sugar and oil—are in no position to judge my choices in nut butter. You need to stop your nut racism and give it a try. A packet of Justin’s Almond Butter at the store costs $0.99 if you want to start slow.

Almond butter is one of the easiest things in the world to make, but yet when you tell people you make your own almond butter, you sound like you have your own Food Network show. And you know what, if you make your own almond butter, you DO deserve your own Food Network show, because  you’re taking something that most people buy in the store and instead you’re making a yummier, tastier and less wasteful version. Watch your back Bobby Flay!

Something you don’t expect when you venture into your first almond butter experiment is how friggin good its going to smell. First it’s the almonds roasting in the oven, and then when you hit the on switch on the food processor, the aroma explodes. Each nut releases a burst of warm, earthy happiness. I had no idea I could love the smell of almonds that much.

Besides the fact that it just plain tastes better than almond butter you buy in the store, it also doesn’t separate the way store bought “natural” nut butters do. Yes, you need to keep it in the refrigerator, but it doesn’t get hard or need to be stirred like the store bought versions. In fact, when I make it, it pretty much stays the consistency of pudding no matter what temperature it’s at.

The recipe, if you can call it that, goes something like this:

Buy a bag of almonds.
Place almonds on baking sheet and roast at 350 for 10 – 15 minutes, until the almonds are fragrant. If they start turning black, pull them out!
Allow almonds to cool until you can touch them with your hands.
Put almonds in food processor.
Turn on the food processor.
Stop occasionally to scrape down sides of the bowl and add salt to taste.
In 8 – 12 minutes you will have almond butter.
Pour into a container and store in fridge.

That is it. You’ll be watching the almond pieces swirl around and start thinking ‘no way is this going to work.’

Three minutes later you’ll be thinking ‘okay, we’ve got almond paste, but this will not spread well on my toast.’

Then, magically (and if you close your eyes you can hear the change in the hum of the motor), it happens: creamy, dreamy almond butter.

Just try not to eat it all before you pour it into a jar. Speaking of which, if you’re making almond butter, it probably means you just finished up the last of your store bought nut butter and my oh my what a convenient container that empty jar makes for your new homemade almond butter!

Tags: almond butter, almonds