Chocolate Pecan/Almond Nut Butter

I posted some pictures of this the other day on Facebook, and promised to get a recipe posted.  So... here it is!  I will preface this post by saying this, please do not expect this to taste like Nutella, funny thing is I really don't even know what Nutella tastes like!  I know funny, huh?  I've just never really eaten it, but this stuff is addicting and we LOVE it, I hope you will too!  And it's very simple to make and I have to confess, we have been eating it by the spoonful mostly (it's that good).

Still warm and fresh from the food processor.

Chocolate Pecan/Almond Butter

1 cup raw almonds
1 cup unroasted pecans
2 TBSP cocoa powder
1 TBSP honey (this can be adjusted up or down to your liking)
1 TBSP Extra Virgin Coconut oil (use a good one so you get that nice coconut flavor coming through)
2 tsp. real vanilla extract
Splash of almond extract (if desired, we really like it this way)
small pinch of sea salt if desired
pinch of ground cayenne pepper

Turn your oven on to 375 and allow to preheat.  Place almonds in a jelly roll pan and roast in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until nicely roasted.  You could roast your pecans also, but I didn't.  Remove the almonds from the oven and let cool just a few minutes, then add them to a food processor along with the other ingredients.  Let it run, stirring if necessary (a couple of times), until it is your desired consistency, it should look and sound runny, it'll thicken up a bit in the fridge.  That's it, really simple and easy.

This is the food processor I'm using if you're interested (Costco also sells it I believe):
Cuisinart 11-cup Food Processor

For the Roasted Almond Butter, here is the link to an earlier post on how to make your own nut butters, it's really fun to experiment with all the different nuts and seeds.http://budgetpaleo.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-make-your-own-almond-meal-and.html


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How to make your own Almond Meal and Nut Butters

Here is the post I've been promising you all, on How to Make Your Own Almond Meal and Nut Butters.  Being the budget minded person that I am, I was so thankful to have friends who shared with me just how easy it is to make almond flour and nut butters.  If it weren't' for their reassurance I don't know if I would have ventured to give it a try.  I've done some experimenting with different methods of making both, and I'm looking forward to sharing with you what I've found to be the simplest, easiest way of doing it.

To view larger, just click on the You Tube link in the right hand corner.

To make Almond Meal/Flour you will need the following:

raw almonds (I use these from Costco)
Coffee grinder
sifter
bowl or container for sifting the flour into

1. Place a small amount of almonds (like you would coffee beans) in your coffee grinder.  I have a Krups which works great for this, I however only use it for making almond meal and don't suggest using it for both coffee and among meal.  
2. When you are ready push the button or on my model the lid, and let it grind, I usually give it a few shakes while grinding.  It will only take a few seconds to process, it's amazing how quick it is.  Check after a few seconds to see if the grind is fine enough, if not process a little more until it's your desired texture, you just don't want to let it go to long or it will start to turn into almond butter.  
3.  When it reaches the desired texture or grind pour into your sifter and sift away.  Any remaining chunks of almond that are to large can be reground with the next batch, on their own, or throw them in with your next batch of almond butter. 

 It is a really quick process, repeat the steps until you have the desired amount of almond meal, store in an airtight container (and in the freezer for longer storage if you like).  That's it, it's that simple.

To Make Almond Butter:

raw almonds (I use these from Coscto)

Jelly roll pan or other large baking pan

Food Processor

sea salt (if desired)

Coconut oil (if desired)

1. Start by preheating your oven  to 350 degrees.  
2. Spread desired amount of almonds out into your pan, 2-3 cups is usually good depending on the size of your food processor.  Mine is an 11 cup Cuisanart and handles 2 cups with ease, 3 cups or more requires a little assistance from me along the way.  
3. Place pan in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes to toast the almonds.
4. Remove almonds from the oven and pour into your food processor with the regular blade attachment on ( do this directly from the oven and don't cool them off).  
5. Turn on your food processor and let it grind away, that's it.  When I do larger amounts I sometimes have to stop it part way and stir so the sides get mixed in well.  But when I do 2 cups I just let it go and walk away.  It does it all on it's own.  I generally don't add oil and just let mine grind until it's pretty soft and runny in texture.
6. However, if you want to up your consumption of coconut oil, or maybe you just prefer the taste, you made add 1-2 TBSP of coconut oil, macadamia nut oil or any other desired nut oil, part way through the process.  I add it when it starts to get a little dry and crumbly, which is about half way thru the process.
7. If you like you may also add a pinch of sea salt near the end.

Once again a very easy process, and so good!!  I love it when it's fresh and still warm, yum!  You can do the same with any nut you like, I also like to make sunflower seed butter too.  I watch them very closely while roasting and give them a stir now and then.  But processing them is the same technique, I do add some oil to my sunflower seed butter, otherwise it just seams to be to dry.  You can experiment with the oils too, I like using some Macadamia Nut oil, it adds a wonderful flavor.  

So there you have it, both processes are really quite simple and can save you a little money too.  I figure making my own almond meal saves me about .50-.60 cents per pound.  And making my own almond butter saves me about $1.50 per pound, and it puts you in control of what goes in to it (like combining nuts etc, ).  You can also experiment with adding some flavoring to your nut butters, like vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa powders, honey, etc. I would love to hear what kind of combinations you come up with. I hope this post has been both helpful and inspiring!   Enjoy!

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