Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Almond Butter

One of my all time favorite foods that is healthy and tasty is nut butter.  If you’re an avid reader of healthy living blogs, then you probably know I’m not alone.  Whether it be peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, or almond butter, I love them all.  Today I’m going to share with you my latest nut butter creation, Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Almond Butter.

Making nut butter from scratch may seem intimidating but it’s really pretty easy.  I’m going to walk you through it step by step so that you can do the same in your own kitchen!

Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Almond Butter

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups raw almonds
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup (or more, to taste)
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• dash of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spread out the almonds onto a baking sheet.

Roast almonds on a baking sheet for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring every five minutes or so.

Once the nuts have cooled for a few minutes, put them into your food processor and begin to process.

It should take about 7 to 10 minutes before the nuts begin to butterize.  The picture below shows the nuts after they’ve been processed for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, scrap out the contents of one vanilla bean.  After the almonds have begun to butterize, add the maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla bean.  At this point my nut butter was forming large clumps so I added one tablespoon of coconut oil to smooth it out.

Feel free to add more maple syrup and/or cinnamon to taste.  Last of all, add a dash of salt.

With a little patience and a food processor, making nut butter from scratch couldn’t be easier.  And the taste?  Let’s just say it’s well worth the effort (and that I may have eaten my weight in almond butter the night I made it).  Just sayin’.