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July 24, 2012

Raw Almond Butter

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I feel so guilty knowing that I ever bought nut butter from the store.  I never knew how much cheaper it is to make it at home... quite honestly, I didn't know it was possible until a few months ago.  Plus, it's super easy, incredibly convenient, and oh so fresh and healthy!

So let's calculate how much cha-ching! we save by making almond butter at home:

One 3lb bag of raw almonds costed me $10.99 at Costco (YAY for food in bulk!), with the capability of making me ~5.5 cups of raw almond butter.  That's only $1.99 per cup!

Compare that to Artisana's raw almond butter (the brand I used to buy ~1x a month), which costs $11.99 for a 16oz jar, or $5.99 per cup!



So after making this almond butter and trying to count how many jars of almond butter I've gone through (and extra dollars I've spent) over the years, I want to slap myself.  Hard.

But you don't have to slap yourself for wasting any money, because now you can make almond butter at home too  :)


Raw Almond Butter:
(makes about 1.5 cups)
   3 cups Raw, unsalted Almonds

Directions:
1.  Add the almonds to a food processor and pulse to chop.
2.  Blend the chopped almonds for about 10-15 minutes, scraping the sides when necessary.
3.  Add salt or stevia/sweetener to taste (I didn't, but it all depends on taste) and scoop/pour into a pretty sealable jar.  Store tightly sealed in the fridge.

Note:  I used a 4-cup processor (yes it's small and anal retentive, but it works!) that recommends running for a max of 60 seconds, so it took me a little longer than it would a person with a normal sized processor.  However, the process is actually kinda fun so I didn't mind the extra 5 minutes or so.  While you process, note that a ball of nut butter will form, which I hear is totally normal so don't worry if that happens to you, just split it up while you scrape down the sides of the processor.  After processing a few more times the ball will disappear.  When it looks nice and buttery, just run it a couple minutes longer to make sure it'll stay like that after refrigeration.




Enjoy!

23 comments:

  1. Yum, I love making my own almond butter!

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  2. Wow, price differential really speaks for itself! No reason not to make my own now :)

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  3. I love making nut butters at home! I just made homemade pb for the first time and I am never turning back!

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    Replies
    1. I have yet to make peanut butter, I'm scared it won't turn out as tasty as the storebought stuff D:

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  4. Looks delicious!! I love homemade nut butter:)

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  5. I make this all the time with a touch of raw honey :) My favorite right now is Cashew butter!

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    Replies
    1. Mmm raw honey sounds delicious! (and so does the cashew butter....)
      :)

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    2. oooh I will try both the Almond (with some honey too) and the Cashew butter!

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  6. I keep meaning to make almond butter (I find myself going through it at a rapid pace). It's always so rewarding being able to make things instead of buying them! AND almonds are one of the best nuts for you! :)

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  7. Apparently you need to get a Trader Joe's near you, a jar is only 5 bucks there, and they have both raw and roasted in both salted and unsalted! Just a note [: My food processor is itty bitty and very old...can't handle things like this anyhow. :(

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    Replies
    1. It's not really raw, just not roasted. :( Just so you know...

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  8. Can this be done with a regular blender?...

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    1. If your blender is powerful enough, I'm sure it can. I made my first nut butter (pistachio butter) using a blender, however almonds will take much longer to release their natural oils so be prepared to blend for longer than 10 minutes! Also, I would suggest chopping the almonds before blending to make it easier on the blender.

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  9. Do you soak your raw almonds before making butter? I thought it was important to soak them first.

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    1. Soaking almonds helps us absorb the nutrients better, but I didn't soak them. I think since the almonds are completely pulverized we can absorb almost the same amount.

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  10. Can anyone recommend a good machine to process the almonds.

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    1. I use a Cuisinart 4-cup food processor. A larger one will work better though (the smaller the processor the weaker it is and longer it will take). My sister has a 10-cup which worked well, and my friend made this using what I believe was an 8-cup? Ashley from the Edible Perspective (famous nut butter lover) uses a Cuisinart 11-cup food processor:
      http://www.edibleperspective.com/faq/2012/2/27/general-how-long-have-you-been-blogging-the.html

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  11. have you tried it with a champion juicer

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  12. I didn't realize that making almond butter was that easy.

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  13. Making this as we speak for my Mum's birthday, on my late Nana's 30 year old kitchen whizz - It's needed a few moments to catch it's breath outside in the cold :) ~Shells

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    Replies
    1. Haha hope you like the almond butter! :)
      PS: Happy birthday to your mother!

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  14. alimccannell@mac.comJuly 27, 2012 11:20 AM

    Does it separate in the fridge or in storage? It drives me NUTS (no pun intended) when all the oil goes to the top and then you get this rock hard mess to deal with at the bottom. How is that prevented?

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    Replies
    1. I hate that too! Luckily, my almond butter hasn't separated once... it's pretty thick similar to peanut butter. I'm not sure if this makes a difference, but I stored my almond butter in a glass jar with a tightly sealed cap.

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