Monday, February 2, 2009

Is it This Easy to Make Almond Butter?

I've always heard it was really easy to make peanut butter. Just throw some peanuts in a blender and turn it on. I guess the thing that always stopped me was that I didn't think my blender could handle it. Enter my KitchenAid food processor. We found it on sale at Sam's, and John knew I would use it, as it had an 11-cup capacity and tons of attachments. After sitting in our basement for a year and a half as we waited for our home to be built, it is now enjoying regular use, especially because of my new found lifestyle. I have opportunities to use it almost daily and it has an amazing capacity to chop up almost ANYTHING into little tiny pieces, sometimes even as smooth as pudding.

As I've searched raw vegan recipes over the post month, I have come across a lot of recipes that call for almond butter. Almond butter is something that absolutely cannot be found in our region of Mexico. So, on Saturday, when I was visiting a friend, we were talking about it and decided we would google a recipe on how to make almond butter to see if it was as complicated as I had heard it could be. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite simple, so I suggested that we try it right then and there. After all, I had given her a bag of almond for her birthday, so we basically had all we needed! Let me tell you, this was a huge success! This almond butter was better than any peanut butter I've ever had and was all natural! I immediately went home and whipped up a batch for myself. Here's what I did...

1. First I put four cups of almonds and one teaspoon sea salt in the food processor, and processed them until the nuts went up the sides of the container and were outside the reach of the blade.

2. I turned the processor off and with a rubber spatula, scraped the sides of the container and pushed the almond butter down towards the blade. I again turned on the machine and repeated this step a few times.

3. I then added about 5 tablespoons of vegetable oil (anywhere between 3 and 6 tablespoons will work, depending on how thick you want it) and kept processing until it was the consistency I wanted. Here's how it turned out...


Let me repeat that, to me, this is better than any peanut butter I've had and was as easy as it could be. I look forward to making other nut butters, such as macadamia butter and pecan butter. This is a great project for the kids, too, since they love peanut butter so much! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. I you make this, let me know how it goes!

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16 comments:

6intow said...

Thanks for sharing this. I bought almond butter recently and wondered if it would be possible to make at home. I will definitely have to try it when I run out!
~Erin

Elder Romney's mission said...

Ok Jen how much for a jar of it. Cade is on this new body building diet and no we dont have a trader joes here to buy that stuff, and no Im not as creative as you ae to try and make it!

Rhonda said...

Hmmm I bet it'll go quick in my Bosch blender too. I have that and a kitchen aid one. So it really tastes good? Imma have to try it now! You buy raw almonds right?

Bethany Cox said...

um, you shouldn't use vegetable oil, because it is usually made from soybeans; you should use olive oil, cold pressed if you really wanna be raw, and anyways, olive oil is good for your skin and hair.

Anonymous said...

Waow, I couldn't imagine it was so easy! I really will try that as I have also a nice kitchen aid.
Thanks for sharing! :)

Carla said...

wow! that is easy, and healthy!! thank you for sharing your new journey:)

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

I love almonds. Thanks.

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

RhondaLue, yes I use raw almonds.

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Hey Beth, there are probably a lot of people who would like to know what's wrong with soy beans. Why don't you share your info. Also, olive oil is a great suggestion. I'll have to try that next time. Love ya!

Anonymous said...

Wow! That does look so easy! Yum

Anonymous said...

What about using coconut oil? It could add a nice taste (if you like coconut of course!), I will have to experiment!

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

I like the idea of coconut oil, Momelo. I hadn't thought of that, but I'll bet it would taste great!

Bethany Cox said...

would coconut oil work though? because if it's pure coconut oil it will be solid at room temp, so you'll have to warm it everytime you use it. maybe. i'm not sure.

Anonymous said...

I will have to make this but it will be sunflower seed butter instead ! My 2ds is allergic to nuts. ((sigh)) Thank you for the how to's.

Blessings in Him<><
-Mary @Raising 4 Godly Men

Dreamer said...

This sounds so yummy. Did you use raw or roasted almonds? This is a must try.

Tanja said...

It doesnt look very tasty, but I printed the recipe and will try it out, because I love everything with almonds in it :o) I love to try new and original things out.