Almond Butter

Currently, my dog is laying across from me passed out with an empty peanut butter jar beside her, you could say she is peanut butter drunk. Prior to passing out she was walking around with her peanut butter jar in her mouth, trying to pick out the perfect spot to lay down and take a lick. She is hooked on the peanut butter to say the least. Now, I love peanut butter, but I love almond butter, too. This almond butter came about as a result of developing another recipe, I thought about using peanut butter in that recipe, but for now I am opting to try almond butter to achieve a different flavor. That recipe is not quite ready yet, I'll keep you updated on the results. In the meantime I pulled out my colorful spoons and camera, and decided to play around with them!

This is not a recipe, more of a guideline for making almond butter, or any nut butter for that matter. 

It also gave me a chance to play with some colorful spoons!

First, you want to begin by toasting your nuts. Usually for me this ends in flames, so I sent out an SOS on twitter. Ashley from Edible Perspective answered my call, swooping in to save the day (THANK YOU!!). She said to heat your oven to 300 degrees F, then every 5-7 minutes "shake" the pan, redistributing the nuts. For just over a half pound of almonds, it took me about 25 to 30 minutes to lightly toast. When you bite into the nut, it should be light golden-brown. 

After cooling completely, place nuts in the bowl of a large capacity food processor and process for 8 to 10 minutes, or until you achieve your desired consistency. Then place almond butter in an air-tight container, and store on the counter for a few days, or in the refrigerator for a couple weeks.  And that's all folks, easy peasy.