Parent Hacks II: Homemade Almond Butter • Rhode Island Family Photographer
Once you start making things homemade (and realizing they are just so much better that way) it kind of becomes addicting. You start thinking about all the things you could make yourself rather than buy at the store. Next thing you know, you've got an almond tree, a chicken coop, and an avocado tree out back.
OK, maybe not all of the above all at once, but once I discovered that homemade almond milk is easy to make and way better than store bought, I decided to take it to the next level. What, you ask, is that level?
Almond butter.
Almond butter is used in our family even more than almond milk. We prefer it to peanut butter. It's great in smoothies, on some celery, or just a spoonful every now and then. It's not the cheapest nut butter out there, though, and we're also a little picky about how we like ours. Fresh ground only, please. When Belmont Market's almond butter grinder is out of almonds, I've been known to get a little twitchy. So, then, is it possible to make your own almond butter? YES! It's SO EASY! And so good. If you have some almonds, a food processor, and a few minutes of time...you can make this happen.
What you need:
- Almonds (roasted work best; I got mine at Belmont Market in Wakefield, RI)
- Food processor
- Measuring cup
- Storage container
Let's get started!
First, get out your food processor.
Get out those almonds and measure them. I used three cups total and have found that makes a great amount for us. Not too much, not too little. You can always tweak to your liking, though.
Look how happy those unsuspecting almonds look in the food processor. Little do they know, soon they will become almond butter!
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! Turn your food processor onto its highest setting. Then, you will need to just let it run. I've read some reports that this process can take 20 minutes or so (oh, my poor sensitive ears!) but each time I've made almond butter, it's done in about 4-5 minutes. First, you will notice that your almonds will have a ground, mealy look.
As they swirl around, you will notice that the color gets more uniform and slightly darker brown, and the mixture looks a bit more cohesive.
Give it some time. You need a little patience for this. How do you know when it's done? For me, the first time I knew because the food processor just "sounded" a little different. It was slicing through nice creamy almond butter so its sound changed. I now know to check it around the five minute mark. For any first timers, keep an eye on your food processor so you know how long yours will take. When it's done, you'll end up with beautiful, creamy, homemade natural almond butter.
Once your almond butter's done, get out a spatula and scoop it into your container. My almond butter lives in this fancy vintage green tupperware container. I think it makes it taste even better.
Now that you've got your almond butter, what are you going to do with it? Let me know your favorite way to use it in the comments! I use mine daily in my smoothies....for my favorite smoothie recipe, sign up for my newsletter below. Decadent yet healthy smoothie recipe coming up in the July edition!