Friday, August 16, 2013

Almond Butter - Easy and Delicious

Almond Butter

Wow, talk about easy! Making almond butter is not only very easy, it is also economical. I use purchased roasted nuts for ease of preparation; but the nuts may be roasted at home in a skillet or in the oven. And since the roasted nuts are already salted, I do not add any additional salt.  If you prefer an unsalted product, by all means use unsalted roasted or raw nuts. I make small quantities to keep it fresh.

I love almond butter just as it is and do not add anything else; but if you like, you may add cardamom or cinnamon for a bit of spice. Dates or raisins may also be added to make a sweet spread. Add spices or dried fruits to the food processor after the almonds have turned into butter and process a little longer until you have a uniform butter. I use the food processor to make the nut butters as I can scrape out every bit of it out (versus the blender) and it is so easy to clean too.

Note:  This process takes about 15 minutes; at first it might seem that it takes too long. But just when you think nothing is going to happen, the nuts release their oil and almond butter appears! A very satisfying endeavor :).

An important reminder: Although almond butter is nutritious, this is a concentrated food and very easy to consume so do practice portion control so as not to overload your caloric budget :).

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:

1 cup dry raw Almonds
1 cup roasted, salted Almonds

Method:

Place the almonds in the food processor bowl fitted with the metal blade.

Turn on and keep the machine running; at first the nuts get pulverized and stay powdery.

Soon you will see the color change as the oil is drawn out.

Keep the machine running still and then the amazing change happens: enough oil is drawn out and TA DA! ....... you have almond butter!!

Stop the motor and scrape, loosen any bits stuck on the sides or bottom, and push to the center of the processor bowl to make sure all of the powdered almonds get incorporated.

Let the machine run for a minute or two more until you have a uniform almond butter.

Scoop into a clean container, label, and refrigerate.

Serve on toasts, crackers, rice cakes etc.

Enjoy!!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tks Geetha good and delicious one.

The murukku or other snacks which we are preparing in home is very hard to take.What is the reason and what is the various perfect mixture and the way to have crispy snacks without adding baking soda?

chitra said...

A very good recipe. I have noticed that when you refrigerate nut butters, they become hard and difficult to spread. How do you use it once out of the fridge? (without microwaving, i am not a huge fan of it) Also can this stay outside the fridge?

Geetha said...

Hello Anon, I am not understanding the first sentence of your comment. All or most crispy Indian snacks are prepared without any baking soda or other leavening - deep frying makes them crispy. When deep frying, place only what fits comfortably in the frying pan; crowding results in uneven cooking. Also, the temperature of the oil should be maintained so that the food cooks evenly without being under or over cooked.

Geetha said...

Hello Chitra, Thank you for comments. Commercial nut butters do tend to get a little hard to spread when refrigerated especially when you get towards the bottom of the jar. But the homemade almond butter does not; it stays pretty well homogeneous. I have not had any problems with it. When cold nut butter is placed on a warm toast or roti, it gets soft and spreadable quite fast. You probably could keep a small portion for a day or two without refrigeration while storing most of it in the fridge. I hope that helps. Happy cooking!

Anonymous said...

Dear Geetha,

good day!.

what i meant was your almond butter receipe.it is so taste and good.

what i want to know is ,is there any perfect mixture composition for having crispy murukku or the incredients should have to be needed for making crispy snacks.

last time i have tried with ghee and while fryig the oil got blasted .the thig is i and my family not usually buying snacks from shop since we want to taste homemade snacks.

Geetha said...

Anon, There are so many varieties of snacks; every region has its own special ones. They use different types of flours and the proportions vary depending on the recipe. Murukkus use 3 to 4 cups of rice flour to 1/2 cup of urad flour. Typically, the traditional family recipes are your best bets. I will post some family recipes when I can. Happy cooking!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Geetha and will wait

Geetha said...

Hi Anon, Soon then :)