Raw Recipe: Almond Butter
Making nut butters can be a little tricky. I used to think that I had to do them in my Vitamix, which would drive me batty with all the scraping down that was required. Other times, I would have a fail, only because I quit too early. I didn’t realize how much time it takes, and the process that the nuts have to go through. But if you have a little patience, you can make nut butters that are fabulous. You will never want to buy them again! Almond butter is a good one to start with.
I used my Kitchen Aid 12 cup food processor. It is a strong processor. The bottom warms up a little bit but if you are using an older processor, or a processor with a much weaker motor, common sense needs to prevail.
After 2 minutes it will look like this.
After 4 minutes it will look like this.
After 6 minutes it will look like this.
Around 8 minutes, the almond mixture will ball up. Just let it keep going.
At 10 minutes it has begun to redistribute, but it is not done yet. You want to wait until the oils get released.
At 12 minutes the almonds have released their oil and the butter is ready! If you want to add honey or salt, stir it in by hand.
*Chef’s Note: If using soaked, dehydrated (dried) almonds, you may need to add a little oil. This recipe requires the use of completely dry almonds.
Almond Butter
MAKES 1 1/4 CUPS ALMOND BUTTER
- 2 cups Almonds
- 1 tablespoon Raw Honey (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt (optional)
- Place almonds in food processor. Process for 8-12 minutes. You will need to scrape down the sides in the beginning. If you choose to use the honey and salt, stir in by hand after the butter is made as it will seize the mixture if you try to add it before.
*Chef’s Note: If using soaked, dehydrated (dried) almonds, you may need to add a little oil. This recipe requires the use of completely dry almonds.
Nichole Smith wrote on September 25, 2011
That was amazing! Thanks for sharing. I just made some for the first time and it worked exactly like you said! Yum 🙂
Stealthcook wrote on September 25, 2011
Oh I used roasted almonds a just a bit of grape seed oil
Stealthcook wrote on September 25, 2011
I am making this now, and just to be safe, although I have a new 1000watt food processor, I am processing it for a minute and turning off the machine for a minute or so while I am doing other things. My concerns are I am in a 220V country and the machine was expensive, so I want to be extra careful. Good results. Haven’t added sweetener yet – that’s the next step – almond carob balls. Trying to keep sweetener to a minimum as I am preparing this with a diabetic guest in mind.
Nikki Kagan wrote on September 24, 2011
I know that Trader Joes in the East Coast has a great almond butter recipe with roasted flaxseeds. This recipe sounds great! I’d like to try adding the flaxseeds too! thanks for sharing!
Joe wrote on September 16, 2011
Thanks for the recipe! How many ounces did the 2 cups of almonds make?
sjaan wrote on September 7, 2011
great! it worked fine on a magimix food processor and it was nice to see the steps. (really helpful you posted the pictures, thanks)
i would like to dive into chemistry because there must be something happening in the structure of the almond-cells…something is giving up and then the oil is released… may be i can find it in the bible of mr Mc Gee
🙂
thanks for posting Susan!
Renee wrote on September 4, 2011
awesome! Worked wonderfully. 🙂 I have a large food processor so I found that I had to stop it and scrape the sides down every 30-60 seconds, making it a very labouring process but the holiday fudge made the process ohhh so worth it!! It definitely gave my (new) 900W food processor a workout, when it started to get warm I just switched it off for 30mins and came back to finish it when it cooled down. 🙂
Maureen wrote on September 3, 2011
You mentioned in one of the comments that the almonds need to be dehydrated. How did you accomplish that? My processor is an older Cuisinart so I had to let it rest. Just curious, if you add oil, which oil would you use? I was thinking Flaxseed oil.
gale wrote on August 28, 2011
Worked just like your said! My food processor is over 18 years old and I hesitated at first. I thought I would try it and if it got too hot, I would just stop and have almond meal to bake with. It’s yummy warm. Thanks!