I have been buying almond butter (think peanut butter, but from almonds) ever since my very healthy and very fit twin sister told me it was good for me.  I always believe what my healthy and fit twin sister tells me.

Every time I reach for the bottle of almond butter at our neighborhood Safeway, I feel a twinge of shame and anger as I willingly pay $7.00 a bottle for this apparently healthier choice.

I look over at the organic all-natural peanut butter I once bought only months ago, costing only $2.76 for an even larger bottle.  I angrily shove the almond butter in my basket, wondering does this really make that much of a difference?

While I may still wonder if almond butter verses peanut butter really makes any difference at, I no longer need to feel resentment and shame for the over-priced bottle.

Now I can make it at home for only $.60.

THAT’S RIGHT!!

Only sixty cents for the exact same amount of almond butter (if you buy your almonds in bulk from Costco). Now you can have that golden creamy goodness all day long if you want. It’s homemade, so not only is it cheaper but there’s non of that Xanthym gum stuff in it.  It’s 100% oh-nature-al.

I feel so accomplished.

Let’s get on with the recipe

Homemade Cheap! Cheap! Almond Butter

This is our goal:

I only make enough to last me about a week.   I haven’t quite figured out how long the shelf life is.  I do keep it refrigerated though, so I’m sure it lasts a while.

Because I know many of you will jump right into making the recipe without reading it all the way first and therefore missing the helpful hints at the end of the recipe, I’ll highlight a few here so you don’t end up with a disappointment.

helpful hints to perfect almond butter:

1. start with completely dry almonds.  No soaking.

2. for those of you who like to add flavorings like honey or agave, etc (a wet ingredient), make sure you add them at the end and you only stir them in, do not blend them in with the food processor.  You will end up with a sticky ball of goo.

First, if you like roasted almond butter, you can either broil them or bake them.  Since I’m too impatient to wait for the stove to pre-heat, I just turned the broiler to high.  This gets pretty hot so make sure to turn the broiler off after five minutes or so and let the almonds roast in the excess heat.  So…

take about a cup of almonds

scatter them onto a cooking sheet

and roast them in the oven for about five minutes or until they are a little toasted but not burnt.  The smell will give it away, it’s a lovely, well nutty smell and will quickly start to smell like burnt toast if you cook them too long.

(if you are not roasting, just start here)

you’re going to need a food processor.  As you can see, mine is well used (thanks mom!)

pour the almonds in.

just like that…

you can even add some cashews if you want (but you don’t have to)

turn it on and blend for 12 minutes.  You don’t really have to even do anything to it, it will mostly take care of itself.  After 12 minutes, you can add salt to taste if you like.  Like it sweeter?  You can add some honey or agave nectar. But make sure you only stir in the honey or agave.  Since it is a wet ingredient, if you blend it in you will end up with a solid almond butter ball. I haven’t figured out why this happens, but it’s happened to me a few times.  So make sure you hand stir it in.

If you are going to add anything like salt or a sweetener, wait until after it has blended.  If you add it in the beginning it will not blend properly.  Make sure your almonds are bone dry.  Don’t soak ‘em.  It only works if they are dry.  I’m not sure why, just take my word for it.

Here is what the almond butter looks like after every 2 minutes (just in case you were wondering).

2 minutes: it sticks to the sides.  You don’t really have to do anything, it will naturally works it’s way off the sides.  However, if you like super smoother butter, then you can give it a scrape

…like this

4 minutes: it’s starting to ball up

6 minutes: now it is starting to smooth out

8 minutes: getting very smooth now.  You could stop here if you want.  But let’s see what happens next!

It’s so exciting!!  Oh, is it only me? I just keep wondering how smooth it can get…

10 minutes: okay so, I don’t really see a difference.  I guess we could have stopped at 8 minutes.

But, we set a goal of 12 minutes!  So onward we go…

12 minutes! Do you see a difference?  I don’t.

Awe well,  now I know it only takes about 8 minutes to wonderfully yummy, natural and cheap almond butter.  Hubby is happy.  He’s in charge of the budget.

NOW you can add your salt and/or sweetener

make sure you hand-stir it in.  Did I mention that already?

hmmmmm….it is lookin’ very smooooooth…..yum!

almond butter with sliced Gala apples is my favorite mid-morning snack.  It’s also my favorite afternoon snack, and sometimes, a lovely midnight snack…

Enjoy.

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