Sunday, January 13, 2013

Oil-Free Honey Almond Butter


After becoming completely frustrated at the price of Almond Butter ($6-$10 a jar) and coming up short finding one that didn't add unnecessary oil, I decided to make my own.  I found it not only incredibly easy, but also much cheaper ($2.50 a jar)!



Oil-Free Honey Almond Butter
Yields: About 2 1/2 cups
dairy-free, egg-free, oil-free, soy-free


Ingredients:

Directions:
  1. Microwave Almonds for 1-2 minutes or until warm to the touch
  2. Add Almonds, then Flax, then Salt, then Honey to Vitamix
  3. Turn to high & using the tamper, constantly push almonds into the blades
  4. Run about 3 minutes (exceeding 6 minutes could result in this horror)
  5. Spoon Almond Butter into airtight containers such as 2 pint canning jars
  6. Where are you going?  You have a Vitamix full of Almond Butter residue, now it's time to make a PB& J Smoothie to clean things up!

Hoff Thoughts: At first, your butter may be crumbly, however, I have found by pressing it into it's container and allowing the butter to sit on the counter until the container cools, you will find a consistency you're more familiar with.

The Honey & Salt are optional, the Almonds alone are just as good.  But the Honey does act as a natural preservative.

No, oil is NOT necessary - Almonds are loaded with Omega-9 (62%), Omega-6 (24%) and yes some dreaded saturated (6%) fats - they don't need any outside oils in order to get a creamy, gooey, rich consistency.

Add some whole Flax Seed for an Omega-3 hit.

Expect butter to last 1 week out of the fridge, 3 weeks in the fridge & 6 months in the freezer.

Originally, I attempted this with my beloved Vitamix and killed it.  More research revealed that it is vital to warm the almonds before blending so they release their natural oils, thus transforming almond powder to creamy almond butter.

You can make this recipe using a food processor, but expect it to take up to 15 minutes and a lot of scraping down of the sides of the container.


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