Nuts About Almond Butter

I'm going slightly nutty now and have been experimenting with different nuts to churn various sorts of nut butters. This time round, I made Almond Butter! Almond is less oily than cashew, which is why I had to add in coconut oil to encourage the natural oils to be released but the result was still a drier butter than the cashew version.

For my version of the almond butter, I used:

• 200g baked almond (you can buy raw ones and bake them yourself in an oven set at 110 deg C for 10 min)
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 dessert spoon coconut oil
• 2 drops of vanilla essence

Just like my cashew butter, the method to make almond butter is so simple and easy!

Method:

1. Blitz the almonds in a food processor until it turns into a fine powder.
2. Add in the vanilla essence and maple syrup. Blend for another 2 minutes.
3. Slowly drizzle in the coconut oil (you can substitute with another vegetable oil if you'd like) and blend for another 3-4 minutes until smooth.
4. Taste and add in more maple syrup or vanilla essence if needed.
5. Refrigerate in an air tight jar.

Besides eating but butters on toast, I tried using it as a flavour to my chia seed pudding which I also topped with fresh fig and drizzled more maple syrup. It was surprisingly very very yummy! The almond butter added creaminess to the whole dish and my breakfast was very hearty and filling. This dish is gluten-free and vegan, which still tastes great to a self-proclaimed meatarian. Haha!

I've mentioned that this is definitely a much cheaper and healthier nut butter. I bought my almonds for only S$4.95 but I chose to buy the ready baked ones. If I had chose to buy the raw almonds, it would've cost me S$8.90 for 500g. This is a lot cheaper than buying ready made nut butters that average about S$14/jar (not comparing peanut butter). There are no preservatives so I find that it's better to make them in small batches and the size of each batch is dependent on how fast you and your family consumes it. I'm mainly the one who eats the butter so a 200g batch lasts me for about 1-2 weeks.

My mum's reaction was, "Why make butter? Just eat the nut." That's true to a certain extent but I reckon you wouldn't want nuts rolling on your toast. Regardless, I think you should just try it! I'm now thinking of making more almond butter and add in a bit of cinnamon to give it a bit of kick. ;)