Homemade Roasted Almond Butter

For the past couple of weeks I have been spending way too much time with my dentist... Oh, don't misunderstand me.  I really like my dentist. He seems to be a very nice man.  But I had a loose filling one one of  my upper left molars which, when removed, revealed a cavity, and also a crack in one of my upper right molars...  all of which led to needing 2 crowns.  The prep work was killer and now I feel like a princess with the price I had to pay for these lovely crowns!

But the real downside here is that I can no longer eat whole almonds.  I love, love, love almonds... raw almonds mostly, but I also enjoy them roasted, plain or salted, and even hickory smoked... you present them to me, and I will eat them.  Happily.  But no longer... apparently that is likely what cracked my tooth and I was informed by the dental assistant that none of us with large fillings should really eat hard nuts of any kind or size.  Come to think of it I had a cracked tooth a few years back and it was likely from the same thing. Drat.

So, what to do with this huge stash of raw almonds I now have in my pantry thanks to a great sale at Costco last month?  Why, make almond butter, of course!  And it was actually easier than I thought it would be.  Way easier!

I decided to make small batches of almond butter and store it in a glass container in the refrigerator. So I started with 2 cups of nuts, and roasted them in the oven and put them into my food processor while still very warm from the oven... turned it on and waited to see what would happen.  At first I thought my food processor was not adequate. I could see that the nuts were ground into almond meal, but then all of a sudden it happened... creamy, almond butter!  I had to taste it right away of course.

And it is delicious. And it is thick and creamy. I am hooked!

Now I know you can add flavors if you like... cocoa, cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut... you name it.  And I just may try that. But to store it, I am leaving it plain, and then can add other goodies to it once I get over the novelty of having it at all.  I actually quit buying almond butter a couple of years ago when the price went past the point of what I call affordable. 

So here it is... plain old almond butter.  And I love it!  Hope you will too.

Homemade Roasted Almond Butter
makes about 1-1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw almonds

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Place the almonds on the baking sheet and spread them out so they are in a single layer.
4. Roast the almonds in the oven for 10 minutes.
5. While the almonds are roasting, set up your food processor with the S shaped cutting blade.
6. Remove the almonds from the oven and put them into the food processor immediately. You want them to be hot when they are being processed.
7. Puree on HIGH for a couple of minutes at a time, stopping to scrape and push the ground nuts down into the center.
8. It will take about 10 minutes for the almonds to become a creamy butter texture.
9. Remove to storage jar and store in fridge for up to a couple of weeks.

Per 1 Tbs serving.

Weight Watchers Smart Points =3.

Calories 95;

Fat 8g;

Saturated Fat .75g;

Carbohydrate 3g;

Sugar 1g;

Protein 3.5g

These values are meant to be used as a guideline.

Printable Recipe

Puree the roasted, still hot almonds in the food processor till a creamy butter appears!

How about you?  Are you an almond butter fan?

Have you made your own nut butters?