ALMOND BUTTER
7 April 2009
Almond Butter
ALMOND BUTTER : Every once and a while I get a hankering for peanut butter. But I normally put it aside when faced with the astronomical price of Sfr 5 (~$5) for a small 250g jar. In Switzerland peanut butter does not rank amongst the basic, inexpensive food staples - it is an imported oddity, that many Swiss people, like my husband, have never tried. The whole idea of peanut butter & jam sandwiches, not to mention banana left him cold. That was of course until he tried it and like the rest of us, fell hopelessly in love with this sticky nutty spread. It makes me think of the film Meet Jo Black when the butler asks him what he would like, ‘just the butter & a spoon?’.
There is another perversity in this whole peanut butter loving situation and that is that it normally gives me a stomach ache. I think it has something to do with the oils they use to make it. Which got me to thinking about making nut butters in general and people with peanut allergies. It must be especially hard on children not being able to eat certain foods and helpful for mothers to have tasty alternatives. Coincidence would have it that I had two packages of whole almonds and a little free time, so I set about making my own almond butter.
Rave reviews is all I have to say. Absolutely delicious! The only issue I ran into was the desire to further reduce the amount of oil used, however the choice was between that and ruining my new blender, so I decided not to risk it. However if you do try this recipe with less oil please let me know how it turns out. I also recommend substituting a little almond oil instead of sunflower, it adds to the almond butter taste, which has a slight sweetness with a hint of sea salt to compliment.
RECIPE : SWEET PEA Blog
- 250gr whole almonds
- 1/2 cup sunflower oil (you can substitute a few tablespoons of almond oil)
- 1 tablespoon fine white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- First put the oil into the blender.
- Add half the almonds & blend
- Gradually add the rest of the almonds
- Finally add the sugar & salt
7 April 2009 at 6:48 pm
This is wonderful! I’m scared to try any peanut butter products right now, but I think this is way better than my favorite spread! Thanks for sharing Erika!
8 April 2009 at 11:17 am
Alisa: do you have peanut allergies then? I actually prefer the taste of the almond butter now. Plus almonds are a great source of nutrition! I just found out they are actually the seed of the fruit of the almond tree
here is the link http://tinyurl.com/zepc5
1 May 2009 at 11:06 pm
I love peanut butter but this is so much better! Also very easy to make and creamy. I think almonds are better for your health than peanuts anyway. Thanks for the sampling the real thing! Marjorie
5 May 2009 at 12:19 pm
Marjorie: hi thanks for your note. It is an easy recipe to make, you just need a strong blender to get a thick, smooth texture, without using excess oil. Perhaps hazelnuts would also be worth a try!