RECIPE
Homemade almond butter
AUSTRALIAN Almonds ambassador Kyle Chalmers is off to the World Swimming Championships in Singapore next month. Kyle and his fiancee Inge eat almonds on a daily basis. Here is one of their favourite recipes.
Homemade almond butter This recipe makes about 1 2 / 3 cups of almond butter.
Ingredients:
• 3 cups natural almonds
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Optional: ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Optional: ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Optional: 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Spread the almonds across a large, rimmed baking sheet and toast the almonds for 10 minutes, stirring halfway. Let the almonds cool for about 10 minutes, so they are still warm but not hot.
2. Transfer the almonds to a highspeed blender or food processor. Blend until creamy, pausing to scrape down the sides. The almonds will go from flour-like clumps, to a ball against the side of the food processor( keep scraping down the sides and breaking up the ball), and it will turn lusciously creamy. If the mixture gets extremely hot along the way, stop and let it cool for a few minutes.
3. Once the almond butter is very smooth and creamy, you can blend in the salt and any other of the other optional ingredients. Cinnamon gives a hint of spice, while vanilla and / or maple syrup makes it taste superior to store-bought almond butter.
4. Blend until the salt and optional ingredients are evenly dispersed. If you add maple syrup, you might need to let the mixture cool, and then blend a few additional minutes, to make it creamy again.
5. Let the almond butter cool to room temperature, then transfer the mixture to a mason jar and screw on the lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Top tips:
• Be patient and don’ t give up. Whole almonds will turn into creamy nut butter, but it takes time.
• Buy natural almonds and roast them in the oven. Warm almonds blend more easily and roasting them only takes 10 minutes extra.
• Making almond butter is easy, as long as you have a sturdy food processor or blender.
industry. australianalmonds. com. au
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