Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Nutty

almondb2-1

*I posted this on www.sisterlysecrets.com but the stuff is so good I had to share it twice.  *

I have a new obsession: making almond butter.

I really dislike the taste of store bought almond butter. But I’ve made several batches in the past few days, added different ingredients and it’s DEElicious. Better than peanut butter.  (Never thought I’d say that)

Today’s batch?  Dark chocolate cinnamon.  Oh.my.gosh.  It’s straight-out-of-the-bottle-with-a-spoon delicious. 

You’ll need:

-2-3 cups Raw almonds

-Food processor.  I attempted almond butter in my (Amazing, Awesome, Spectacular) Blendtec and while it can handle peanuts just fine, almonds are a lot more difficult to process so it overheated.  Boo.  So I said, “Hey mom, wanna buy a food processor?”  And enticed her with the idea of fresh almond butter every week.  (yes, it lives at her house but I visit almost daily.)

-1 1/2 c. melted 60% cacao chocolate chips.

-1 tsp. salt

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1-2 tsp grapeseed oil (or coconut if you don’t mind that hint of coconut flavor)

-2-3 tsp cinnamon.  I LOVE the taste of cinnamon so I probably put about 4 tsp. in my batch today (and still not as strong as I wanted)

-2-3 Tbs. turbinado sugar.

-Patience.  Yep, just when you think your almond butter is finished.  It’s not.  Keep going.

First step, spread your almonds onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes at 325* F. Let cool for 10 more minutes.

 

almonds-1 

Throw your cooled almonds into the processor and press start.

 

start-1

After about one minute it should look like this.

 

begin-1

After two minutes.

 

midway-1

Three and a half minutes.  Not done yet.

 

almost-1

Six minutes.  Don’t stop!

 

mixed2-1

Ten minutes.  Ahhh….beautiful creaminess.

 

chocchips-1

Now, melt those chocolate chips and grapseed oil in a glass bowl over a saucepan with almost boiling water. Remove when chocolate chips are almost fully melted. Or, you could even throw the whole bowl of unmelted chocolate chips into the processor and let it go.  It will melt as it mixes.  Cool right? 

chocolatefinger-1

And try to keep sneaky fingers away.

chocolate-1

Dump chocolate into your almond butter along with all other ingredients.

finished2-1

Voila!

And while you’re so engrossed in watching this concoction come together you’ll turn around and see this:

munchkinchoc-1

Oh my.  She’s like the chocolate Joker.   Note to self: Never leave melted chocolate bowl in the vicinity of an almost three year-old. 

 

almondb-1

Enjoy!

5 comments:

Melinda said...

Wow!!! that looks so good! I think i'll make some....

Jill said...

This is great, thanks! Landon is allergic to peanuts/peanut butter so I just bought some almond butter to see if he'd eat it. Haven't tried it yet, but this looks MUCH better. :o)

Vanessa said...

Looks delish!! Thanks for the recipe and tips!

TheKeilShpeel said...

Dang you! You're making me want to cave in. :) and what is turbinado sugar? I know white, brown and powered :)

Pete & Lora said...

OH MY. I need to try this! We are almond butter eaters but this just takes it to a whole new level! What kind of food processor did you guys get? I'm in need of one anyway so ...... perfect excuse!

LW

Related Posts with Thumbnails