How To Make a Nutritious Almond Butter

You can’t beat homemade almond butter.

It’s surprisingly easy to make too.

It goes great on crackers and toast and you can also add it to cakes and biscuits for an added nutty favour.

It’s also super nutritious, since it’s packed with all the wonderful nutrients of almonds (obviously!)

And if you have little ones who are ok with nuts, it can be a great way for them to get a healthy dose of protein and good fats (it does look cunningly like peanut butter, which unlike almond butter is usually laden with salt and sugar!).

But what I didn’t realise until very recently is how incredibly easy almond butter it is to make yourself.

You’ll need a food blender to make almond butter, but it doesn’t need to be a state of the art, expensive, beast of a machine (although a beast is fine, of course!) – I’ve just got a simple hand blender with a mini chopper attachment, (like this one) and my almond butter always turns out a treat.

Raw almonds aren’t the cheapest things in the world to buy, but if you buy in bulk, making your own almond butter should still work out cheaper than buying shop bought versions (which are expensive!).

And seriously, trust me on this – homemade almond butter looks and tastes just as good as the expensive whole food shop versions.

Always use organic almonds if your budget allows.

8 Great Benefits of Eating Almonds

We all know nuts are good for us, but almonds really are something else.

Did you know that almonds:

1. are packed with nutrients – a small handful of almonds contains fibre, protein, healthy fats, vitamin E, manganese, magnesium and phosphorous, as well as riboflavin (vitamin B2)
2. can help prevent heart disease due to their healthy monounsaturated fatty acid and antioxidant content
3. support healthy brain function.
4. help maintain optimum skin health
5. help control blood sugar levels
6. aid digestive health
7. contain powerful antioxidants that can help prevent diseases such as cancer
8. help maintain healthy teeth and bones.

So in a nutshell (sorry), almonds are a whopping great big powerhouse of nutrients!

If you want a more detailed ‘sciencey’ explanation of all the wonderful health benefits of almonds, there’s a great infographic here.

But now onto the yummy stuff!

How To Make Almond Butter

This recipe is super easy and takes about 30 minutes.

What You’ll Need:

• 2 cups raw almonds
• a blender

Instructions:

How To Make Almond Butter – Step 1

Place the raw almonds on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes on 180 degrees (350F). The almonds will darken in colour, like the ones in the photo below.

Baking the almonds for a short time helps release the nut oil and also makes blending easier.

How To Make Almond Butter – Step 2

Place the almonds in a food blender with an S shaped blade and blitz for a few minutes.

The almonds will gradually turn to a fine breadcrumb type consistency like this:

Keep blending and after 5 minutes or so, the mixture will gradually turn into a paste type consistency, like the next photo below. And that’s it. You now have your very own homemade almond butter. It really is that simple.

Note: Depending on your blender you may have to blitz your nuts (ouch) for longer than 5 minutes – just blitz away until you have a consistency something like the the photo above.

Personally, I like almond butter that’s still a little bit coarse, but if you like it super smooth, just keep blending for a little longer until the butter reaches your desired consistency.

How To Make Almond Butter – Step 3

Scoop out your almond butter, pop in an airtight container (I’m a big sucker for Mason Jars), eat and ENJOY!

Have you made almond butter? How did you get on?