Vanilla Bean Almond Butter

If there was one food item you couldn't live without, what would it be?

That's a tough question. I think I would have a hard time living without my collection of nut butters. 

Yes I said collection. I really must take a picture to show you one of these days.

One of my forever all-time favourite's is the maple cinnamon almond butter I make. Anyone I give it to dies and goes to heaven.

...and then asks for the recipe. hehe. It's a winner that's for sure.

Anyway, I got to thinking and I realized that I don't really have many nut butter's in my recipe collection here on the blog, which isn't very fitting seeing how much I love the stuff. Healthy fats are delicious you know.

So I've sworn to myself that I'm going to come up with many more nut butter recipes. From almond to peanut, and sunflower to hazelnut, you name it.

Today I've got an almond butter recipe that's got a pretty simple list of ingredients. Raw almonds that we roast for extra flavour (let's face it roasting makes everything better), a bit of sugar, pure vanilla extract, and a pinch a sea salt to round out the flavours.

Here's a quick 4 step example of what your almonds should look like on their road to becoming almond butter.

I could eat this all day long. Of course one of my favourite ways to enjoy any nut butter is on my oatmeal. Don't knock it until you try it. I've even got my relatives from England putting peanut butter on their oats and granola now. My second favourite way is straight off the spoon.

If you want to make an almond taste better, this is the way to do it.

Vanilla Bean Almond Butter gluten free, vegan, vegetarian | makes about 1 1/2 cups

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw almonds
• 1 tbsp cane sugar (or other unrefined sugar)
• 1 vanilla bean, slit lengthwise and all seeds scraped out (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and roast them for 10-12 minutes, until fragrant and golden, stirring once during roasting.
3. Remove from oven and let the nuts cool for a few minutes, then place them in the bowl of your food processor. Process until you get a smooth and creamy nut butter to form; about 12-15 minutes. Scrape down the bowl of the food processor as necessary.
4. Add in the sugar, vanilla bean seeds (or extract), and sea salt. Process again to combine everything until incorporated.
5. Store in an air-tight jar or container. 

*Tips*

• Don't let the almonds cool down too much before processing. They are easier to turn into nut butter while they are still warm.
• I like to scrape down the food processor every few minutes or so to scrape down the sides and help the almonds along.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 2 tbsp Calories: 164 Fat: 13g Saturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 60mg Carbohydrates: 7.7g Sugar: 3g Fiber: 3g Protein: 6g