Let me start out by saying nut butters do not photograph well. At all. So I give up.
This weekend I wanted some almond butter, but I really don’t like any of the commercial varieties except for Trader Joe’s roasted almond flax seed butter, but TJs isn’t close. Ok, ok, so I like Justin’s and Artisana too but I’m not spending that kind of money when I have almonds at home (or in general) and a banging food processor. This was basically free almond butter to me since the almonds were leftover from a previous recipe.
Salty Vanilla Almond Butter
1 c raw almonds
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 t vanilla
1 T raw coconut oil
2 T maple syrup
3 T filtered water (you may omit this, but I like how it thins the almond butter out just a bit and reduces the fat content in this nut butter enough that you’re not getting 12 fat grams in a Tablespoon)
Toast your almonds at 350 for about 7 minutes, until they darken and become fragrant. Allow them to cool down enough for you to handle them, then toss them in the food processor and either pulse or process them until they’re a fine powder. If you have a good food processor, you can just turn it on high for a minute or two and they’ll break down to the just before nut butter phase, into a finely minced almond mixture. With the food processor still running, add coconut oil, salt, vanilla and maple syrup. Within a minute or so, your almond mixture should be looking less like almond dust and more like almond butter. Slowly add in water until the nut butter is smooth and creamy but not watery or thin. Store in the fridge for up to a week. Makes about 3/4 of a cup of almond butter.
I’ve been digging this on plain rice cakes, in oatmeal, with bananas, and, recently, in some banana soft serve. Salty almond banana ice cream? YES PLEASE.
So please, don’t judge me for not having a picture, just trust me that this is delicious and that I can’t take a flattering photograph of the nut butter alone.
Nutritional info below, I calculated this using a serving size of 1 Tablespoon on My Fitness Pal.
Per Serving:
Calories: 72
Carbs: 4
Fat: 6
Protein: 2
Yummy!! I love all almond butter….but I should try making my own.
Oh wow, that sounds FANTASTIC – and I always have these ingredients on hand. Jotting your recipe down! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to make a big batch and give away around the holidays? If you really wanted to cheat, you could just add the flavorings to a jar of good-quality almond butter! I like the Trader Joe’s brand.
There’s a farmer’s market in town that makes their own nut butters. Right now they have peanut, almond and cashew butters. I bought a container of chocolate almond butter. Theirs are all unsalted (which I like because I can control the salt intake) and it’s really tasty. It only costs around $4 or so for a pint. I have some almonds I have to use up before they go bad though, so I might try this recipe out.
You can never go wrong with Vanilla. 