Creamy, sweet, nutty maple-almond butter.
As a child, my favorite companion to white bread was the sticky-sweet Jif Peanut Butter that my mother purchased. I always chose smooth, although my brothers preferred crunchy.
It wasn't until these past couple of years that I discovered many alternatives to peanut butter; the first variety of nut butters that I encountered were almond butters, and after a hesitant, initial lick, I was absolutely hooked.
With the current economy, however, advocating smart shopping, it can get a little frustrating to have to spend over $10.00 for a regular jar of almond butter. Today, I'm going to teach you to create your own.
You only need three items:
1) Food processor: I use Cuisinart's 14 cup stainless steel food processor; it's gorgeous and so sturdy and dependable.
2) Almonds (raw, roasted, etc.)
3) A rubber spatula.
Throw the almonds into the food processor and turn it on, scraping the sides of the bowl ocassionally until the desired texture of almond butter is reached.
If you decide to sweeten up your almond butter through the addition of liquid sweeteners, please be sure to let the machine run a little bit longer after stirring in the sweetener, as it will cause the almonds to coagulate into one large almond-butter ball.
I chose to make maple-almond butter; I stirred in about a tablespoon of maple syrup to the almond mix, and after several minutes of stirring constantly and waiting for the maple to smoothly marry the almond butter, I achieved the creamy, thick and sweet butter made entirely from scratch.
Spending the time to churn your own almond butter is profitable for three reasons: 1) There are neither artificial ingredients nor fillers added into the almond butter. 2) One cup of almonds costs way less than its commercializeed, jarred butter. 3) Fresh, customizable almond butter - enough said.
Give it a try today! It's such a delicious alternative to peanut butter!
Comments
I like super chunky for peanut butter, but I think I prefer smooth for almond butter. Both are delicious though!
Agreed. Home-made alternatives are so much better than the processed, store-bought option. You know what is in your almond butter, it's all natural, no chemical thickening agent, emulsifiants, no preservatives, artificial flavors, gelatine or food coloring. I strongly recommend that you read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Your food will never again look the same, also check the ingredients listed on the products you buy. And finally, it's so much more fun making your own almond butter. Thanks for sharing!
I've never tried homemade. I always buy mine from TJ since it's the cheapest! but I'll bet homemade tastes waaay better, and is the cheapest!
and I'm excited to come over, too!
I would just eat that right off the spoon. You really don't realize just how economical it is to make your own nut butters. When I was younger I used to think that peanut butter wasn't a natural food because of all those weird ingredients listed on their jars.
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