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.
Jessica wrote on June 10, 2012
Susan! mahalo for all of the fabulous recipes…. is there a benefit to using soaked/dehydrated vs. non soaked almonds for the butter?? I am making some now and definitely have found that I needed to add some oil as the “ball” just wasn’t forming?? is this what I should have expected?
Susan wrote on June 10, 2012
You would use soaked/dehydrated nuts if you are being careful to release the enzyme inhibitors. You can read more here: https://rawmazing.com/raw-food-soaking-nuts-and-seeds/ . As stated above, if you do use the dehydrated nuts, you may need to use some oils the nuts lose some when soaking and dehydrating. Cheers!
Janice wrote on June 7, 2012
I was wondering, after you have made this, what can almond butter be used for? or with?
Susan wrote on June 7, 2012
You would use it in recipes or as you would use peanut butter. Cheers!
Marcus wrote on June 7, 2012
I am interested in trying this with a food processor. I used to always buy Costco’s MaraNatha almond butter until after purchasing it three times in a row it was rancid. Costco accepted the return, but they’ve kept the rancid product on the shelf still, and MaraNatha does not respond to e-mail. What a horrible experience after I bought their product weekly for years.
Anyhow, I tried making raw almond butter in my Blendtec as a substitute, and the Blendtec overheated and shut down. I eventually had to give in and add Canola oil, which I didn’t want to. The result was not what I would call almond butter. It was more like almond meal that was held together with the canola oil. The problem with the Blendtec is that anytime something gets thick, whether nut butter or something cold, the blades just spin in the air not hitting anything because of an air pocket, or the mixture is just too thick and the product doesn’t get moved around easily and the machine overheats. I was very disappointed with the machine after all of the advertisements showing it could destroy rakes and as the above poster said iPhones.
I’ve ended up using my Blendtec mostly for making Yum sauce and salad dressings. It fails as well with trying to make frozen sorbets (it can’t deal with frozen strawberries).
Now I’m wondering if I should have gotten a food processor instead. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I don’t think I like my Blendtec and I wanted to like it so badly . . .
Amanda wrote on June 1, 2012
I tried it in my Blend-tec. It stayed all chunky and I broke a spatula because it was so stiff. I found your site then dumped it from the blender to the food processor. It turned into butter almost instantly! Thanks, you saved my day! 😀 Blend-tec good for blending i-phones. Not good for almond butter. 😉
Rita wrote on May 25, 2012
Thank you kindly for sharing! Most recipes call for the addition of oil and that simple did not make a bit of sense. Your directions and pictures were excellent and the butter was perfect. Heartfelt gratitude and God bless.
Marie-France wrote on May 16, 2012
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, finally a raw almond butter recipe to my taste. The pictures are very helpful. My machine did stop as it overheated, nontheless the result is perfect!
Thank you!
Michelle wrote on May 14, 2012
What kind of magical food processor do you guys have? I’ve been processing for an hour now and it’s not even to the ball part yet. Should I try my blender instead??
Susan wrote on May 16, 2012
If you have been processing for an hour, your processor doesn’t have the strength to do this recipe. I use a Kitchenaid. 🙂
Lisa wrote on May 13, 2012
Thank you Susan for providing the pictures! I make my own peanut butter frequently and that process is so fast that I probably would have scrapped the almond butter if I didn’t know how long it would take. I made a batch this morning and it was delish! Kind of a mild marzipan aftertaste….yummy.
LaTricia Morris wrote on May 12, 2012
Hi! Thanks for posting this. I just made some and it turned or well. Did have one question, could this technically be considered raw? It is my understanding that raw foods cannot be heated above 118 and still be considered raw. Checked the temp when I stopped to scrapethe sides of my processor and it read 160. Any way to avoid racing this high a temp. I let it rest several times to keep from overheating my food processor. Guesting it just take these kind of temps to release the oils and give you the butter?
Susan wrote on May 13, 2012
I took the temperature of mine when I made it and it never even got close to 115 degrees. I am not sure why yours got so hot. Maybe your processor. No, it doesn’t have to get hot to release the oils. 🙂