Homemade Almond Butter

Taking a break from infuriating subjects like politicians who refuse to do their jobs and teachers who suck at theirs, here's a far more cheerful post on homemade almond butter.  I followed these instructions.  I didn't take photos of the process, so I'll use the ones from the website where I found the instructions.

I roasted a bag (almost 16 oz) of raw almonds in the oven at 350 F for 15 minutes.  I stirred them once around 8 minutes in.  I don't know if it's necessary, but I placed the almonds on wax paper, just like the instructions said.  Roasting is non-essential, but it makes the almonds tastier.

I poured the toasted almonds in our Cuisinart food processor and cranked it up.  I did this in the garage, by the way, because our toddler was taking a nap.

At first, the food processor ground the almonds into a powder.  I poured in a little honey for sweetness.  Periodically, I had to push the powder down from the mixing bowl's walls with a spatula.  Eventually the grinding extracted the almond oil and turned the mixture sticky, then creamy.  I suppose you could make it as chunky or creamy as you want.  The entire process took about 30 minutes.

My almond butter!

Aimee and I had apple slices dipped in almond butter tonight and they were scrumptious!

Why go through all that trouble, as opposed to just buying some Jiffy?

First, peanuts are legumes, not nuts, and like all legumes they contain anti-nutrients that prevent people (though not animals actually designed to eat them) from absorbing the nutrients in them.  Second, most store bought peanut butters contain all kinds of vegetable oils, which aren't healthy either.

Almonds don't have those problems, and they contain lots of mono-unsaturated fats.  Unfortunately, they also contain lots of Omega-6 fatty acids, but hey, nobody's perfect (Omega-6s are necessary, but I get plenty from all the eggs I eat, and Omega-3s are more difficult to get).  Besides, it's a snack, not a meal.  Next, I think I'll try cashews, which are much lower in Omega-6s and much higher in Omega-3s.

Also, it tastes way better than peanut butter.  I don't think it even needed honey.

Finally, I read a Popular Mechanics article years ago (which I unfortunately can't find now) in which the author advised avoiding tools that only do one job.  Aimee and I planned on buying a nut grinder until I found a discussion board where most of the members said a food processor works just fine.  I'm glad I didn't waste our money.  I'm sure nut grinders are great, but they only do one job - grind nuts.  Food processors have about a million different uses.