If you’re a lover of good food, you may well have tried almond butter. Maybe you’ve given up the ubiquitous peanut butter (aflatoxin anyone?) and are looking for a substitute?
Or perhaps you eat paleo? Almond butter features regularly in baked paleo style treats and makes a great addition to a healthy smoothie.
It’s a bit on the expensive side to buy though, so have a think about making your own. I’ve never actually tried the commercial stuff because of the price, but holy almonds, the home made version is tasty!
Here’s how to make it:
- Take some raw or toasted almonds and put them in your blender. I’d use a couple of cups of nuts at least.
- Turn your blender on and let it run until your almonds are liquidy and creamy/chunky.
That’s it. Seriously! No other ingredients or fillers required.
Although………you could add some cocoa and make it CHOCOLATE almond butter……
Now, in a high powered blender the process may take 2-3 minutes. I use my thermomix which makes the process very fast, it’s a very powerful machine. If you want to use a food processor, it will take longer but can be done.
I also like to ‘pre-treat’ the almonds I use. First up, I like to use truly raw almonds, these are available where I live in Australia but I am aware they are no longer available in the U.S. Raw almonds in the U.S. are actually pasteurized, though they are still classed as raw and are labelled according. If you live in America and want truly raw (non-pasteurized) almonds, look for an imported, raw brand, like this one.
I then soak the almonds for 24 hours, in water with some rock salt sprinkled in. Once they’ve finished soaking I drain them and spread them out on my dehydrator trays to dry. The result is a beautiful crispy, slightly salty nut with plenty of crunch and a low phytic acid content. Using these soaked and dehydrated nuts to make almond butter gives the butter a slightly salty taste which is just delicious.
Store in the fridge and eat it off the spoon whenever you get the munchies.