Thursday, August 22, 2013

Almond Butter and My Favorite Kitchen Appliance

I have decided that the food processor is the best kitchen invention ever. Okay, so maybe major appliances like the refrigerator and dishwasher are slightly more significant, but the food processor is a close second. This is the one I own.


You can buy it here on Amazon for $99.95. There are amazing deals on them all the time around Christmas too. Seriously, if you don't own one, find a way to get one. It chops my chicken and veggies for casseroles and soups. It assists me in making a variety of baked goods. And today, it helped me make almond butter. Yep, I made my own almond butter. You can call me Suzy Homemaker.

Okay, so here's a confession: I don't like making special trips to the "health food store" for ingredients. It's a pain. But each time I tried to buy a jar of almond butter at one of my local grocers, I took issue with the ingredient list. Every jar I looked at had added sugar and oil. And I really didn't want that in my almond butter. I mean, if I am going to pay an arm and a leg for a natural nut butter, it should just be the nuts. Maybe a little salt. But mostly just the nuts.

So I bought 2 small containers of whole almonds. Each one was 6 oz. for a total of 12 oz. Yes, I'm a math wizard too!


I emptied both containers into my food processor.


Then I turned it on and let it process while I unloaded the rest of the groceries. After 1 minute, it looked like this.


I let it go for about 4 more minutes before I checked again. This time it had started to clump together, but it still didn't resemble any sort of nut butter.


I let it process for 5 more minutes. Voila! Almond butter!


I added a dash of salt, processed it for a few more seconds and stored it in a small tupperware container. You could also add a little honey, vanilla or coconut oil to suit your taste.


I love it! The natural sweetness of the almonds gives it a great flavor. I can't wait to try it in some new recipes soon.

Question of the Day

Do you like almond butter?

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