Am I Nuts?

I will throw it out there that I had to Google "nut butter" to really know what other types were out there beside peanut butter.  We had been using Nutella trying to put some weight on "Free Spirit" but I knew that there was no way that was a "nut butter" and more of a "nut spread."  It was too smooth and tasty to be exactly what Paleo would want us to eat.  Sadly.  I've been pinning a gillion things and many of them talk about using a nut butter or making your own.  

Raw Almond Butter made by yours truly.  I know.  I'm in shock.

Two weeks ago, I bought our first "official" nut butter besides peanut butter.  Justin's Hazelnut Butter is amazing.  A little chunky and dry for my hubby's taste but the kids approved.  In case you don't know, Justin's costs an arm and a leg.  Like $10+ a jar expensive.  After using some in a recipe on Friday (which was over half the jar), I figured there MUST be a way to make this for way cheaper.  So last night, before I got to my main recipe, I jumped into the unknown and make my first batch of Raw Almond Butter.

Disregard my scratched food processor.  She is loved
and I'm hoping that is normal due to recent use.

Raw Almond Butter

Recipe from Desserts with Benefits

Prep Time:  1 minute

Cook/Blend Time:  10-15 minutes

Serves:  1.5+ cups

INGREDIENTS:

1 package of almonds

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add your almonds to your food processor.  So say to soak them but I didn't.  I had no idea that some like you to soak them but I was working to quickly to read the "comments" and discover this.  It worked just fine dry.

2. Pulse the almonds until they are chopped.  I really wasn't so sure how much was enough so I just did it until it was pretty chopped with no big chunks.

3. Blend the almonds for about 10-15 minutes, scraping the sides if needed, which I needed to often.  Being a newbie to cooking I had no idea how much was enough.  It seemed like FOREVER it was just almond dust.  As I was about to give up, things started heating up.  Literally.  The almonds were producing some serious heat and steam.  Then a sort of cheese ball looking thing started smacking around in the processor.  This is normal for some.  I broke it up and kept blending.  PS...blending means leaving it on the whole time or at least on my machine.  Then the magic happens.  Moisture starts building and the almonds start becoming more of a butter.

4.  You can now add some sweetner or salt to taste but opted out of this.  I figured I would be using this for baking which would include sweetening if necessary.  Store in an air tight container or jar in the fridge for future use.  Take a taste too.  Takes like nut butter.

NOTES:

This sounds so funny but when my machine started to smell like she could do no more on the butter field (ie smoky-ish), the magic started happening.  She must have known that I was about to give up.  Mine does not look as moist as the original recipe but maybe next time.  

Go ahead.  Give it a try.  If I can do it, so can you.  Felt really good to use my almond butter in the recipe that followed because it was like I really made all of it.  Proud moment for this newbie in the kitchen.  Might have made my mom a little proud too.  One of these days I need to show you what my kitchen looks like after cooking.  Is it normal to be that messy when you cook?  The hubby just loves all the dishes.

Enjoy!