Creamy Almond Butter

Almond butter takes a close second to peanut butter in the rankings.  Especially fresh homemade almond butter.  You can taste the TLC.  I remember making homemade peanut butter with my mom when I was little.  She'd pull out the food processor (that she still uses to this day) and we'd sit there and wait for the peanuts to transform before our eyes.  This magic trick still works on me. 

I have always been one with a magic trick up my sleeve.  At the cafe in Colorado, we had a menu item called Magic Eggs.  We all sort of hated making them because they made a mess of the espresso machine.  But there was a secret part of me that loved it, because it really was magic.  We would crack two eggs and whatever veggies the person wanted into the steaming pitcher.  Then we would carefully begin to steam the eggs with the wand from the espresso machine.  The eggs made for a really noisy steam.  People would look up from the newspapers trying to locate the piercing bubbling noise.  The best part was watching them.  It would go from liquid egg, to frothy yellowness and then, shazam! they were scrambled eggs.  

Whole wheat sourdough toast with almond butter, honey and flax meal.

Anyway...back to the butter.  As previously mentioned, I have a gigantic bag of almonds in my freezer that has taken over six months to make a dent.  So one day while at yoga, almond butter came to mind.  Amazing what the brain streams in while doing triangle pose.

What a great way to use the almonds.  So on Sunday Cook Day this week,  I popped the almonds in the oven to toast and whipped up a nice batch of almond butter.  If you have a plethora of almonds or cashews or peanuts, give them a toast and a whirl in the processor.  It will make your toast happy.



Creamy Almond Butter
Yields about 1 cup

1 1/2 cup raw almonds
1 tsp safflower or canola oil
1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp safflower or canola oil
Pinch of salt
1 tsp honey (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Toss raw almonds with 1 tsp oil and 1/8 tsp salt.  Spread onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or Silpat.  Toast in oven for about 10 minutes, stirring a few times, until almonds are evenly browned.  Allow to cool.

Pour almonds into food processor and blend.  A dry powder will form at first.  But just trust your processor.  Keep blending.  Slowly but surely, it will start to clump up into a ball, and then will turn into a buttery texture.  While it is blending, slowly add 1 tsp oil, a pinch of salt and honey, through the hole in the top.  Continue to blend and pulse until it becomes creamy.  This will take longer than you expect.  But it will happen!  Add more honey if you want a sweeter almond butter.  Spread on toast, dip apples or chocolate in it or eat with a spoon.