Crazy Easy Almond Butter

As a family we made the switch to Almond Butter a while ago but I had treated the delicious and nutritious treat like it is pure gold.  Honestly, I would sneak it when the kids were not watching because I didn’t want to have to share the teeny tiny amount that we had that cost us a week’s salary to purchase.  Ok so I know I am being dramatic but I really did secretly eat the stuff because I didn’t want to share.

My favorite almond butter was always the fresh ground we would get at Whole Paycheck, ahum I mean Whole Foods.  You could seriously taste the freshness and for that reason we paid $7/lb for the buttery gold.  I don’t know if I got sick of giving up other foods so I could afford to feed my almond butter habit or if I finally decided to not be so stubborn and share my almond butter with the kids.  Either way I knew if that little machine at Whole Foods was all that was in between me and almond butter I surely could manage to find a way to make it at home.  Enter my awesome KitchenAid Food Processor!

Now if you put Almond Butter on the delicious pedestal like I do you are going to have a Homer Simpson “Doh” moment when I show you how simple it is to make at home.

First gather either raw or roasted almonds, I prefer to buy raw then roast them a few hours prior to making my almond butter. Just pop 2 cups raw almonds into an oven at 300 for 10 minutes.  Let them cool down before you start making magic happen

Next you need a heavy-duty food processor or blender.  I prefer my food processor because it is easy to use, has a powerful motor that has yet to overheat, and get’s the job done in less than 10 minutes.

Add you almonds with your sharpest blade and turn on.  It will be loud at first, but that only lasts a few moments as the almonds start to break down.

As the almonds start to break down they will start to stick to the sides.  Just scrape it down every minute or so and keep pressing on…

The oils in the almonds will start to be released as the friction heats up the almonds and they are broken down.  It will start to ball up into a dough, don’t stop yet!  Break it down and keep going….

At about 8 minutes of processing you get a smooth and creamy Almond Butter to rival that from Whole Foods magic machine

Place in a small container and store in your fridge or pantry for a week or two, if it lasts that long.

You can now enjoy delicious and nutrition buttery Almond gold at home.  Add it to greek yogurt, your smoothies, top apple slices, or eat it straight of the spoon if you want.   I have found the best place to get almonds is Costco, online, or Winco.  Enjoy!!