Hello friends! I hope this blog finds you healthy and in good spirits! (and if not reach out to me and lets see if some nutrition therapy can improve your health). I just got back from a much-needed trip to the desert for some breaks from city life and to clear my head. What a treat it was to be in nature, exploring such an amazing landscape. I highly encourage a trip to Joshua Tree, the town/area is so eclectic, spiritual, and beautiful in its own way. Being a southern Oregon native where we are spoiled with streams, lakes, mountains, and tall trees the desert is most definitely very different from what I am used to but the Joshua Tree beauty is extremely unique (I shared some pictures below).We finished out our weekend soaking in tub in the middle of nowhere! Visiting Wonder Valley Hot Springs made our trip beyond amazing. Words can’t describe how perfect it was to watch the sunrise from a private tub filled with geothermal heated mineral water with my partner! Now back to the food 🙂
I wanted to share one of my favorite snack/meals to bring on my outdoor adventures. Nutritious, easy to make, and calorie dense are some of the qualities that I look for in my snacks so that I can keep energized on my adventures. I am not going to teach you how to make a PB & J in this post however I am going to teach you my trick to getting that perfect sandwich with my favorite homemade almond butter.
Any nut butter will provide you with healthy fats and protein but I prefer almond butter as my stomach does not seem to like peanuts or cashews in large quantities. If you have bought almond butter before it can be pretty pricey, up to 12$ for 12oz which is just crazy. Instead I like to make my own almond butter and now prefer mine over store bought. I would say the trick to get a smooth, flavorful butter is to dry roast your almonds before blending. I’ll detail below….
Ingredients/Kitchen tools
- 1# organic almonds
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Sheet pan
- High-powered blender or food processor
To start layer your almonds an un-greased baking sheet, sprinkle sea salt on top and place in a pre-heated oven at 425F.
Roast for 5 minutes. Take the pan out and shake or turn your almonds over to prevent burning. Return to oven and roast additional 3-5 minutes. Stay vigilant during the roasting process, burned almonds don’t taste very good! If you start to smell them they are done. They should be slightly browned but not dark.
Once all roasted place them in your food processor or high-powered blender
Turn your machine on high and blend until the almonds start sticking to the side of the machine
Once the almonds pass the powdery phase they will start to look almost wet and stick to the sides. This is the time to turn off your machine and scrape down the sides back in to the blade. You will likely need to repeat this process 3-5 times.
Eventually your almonds will be almost to the perfect creamy state but don’t be alarmed if they start to ball up as shown. Use a spoon to break apart into smaller pieces and continue blending.
Once your almonds reach butter state, scrape the sides of the bowl down into the butter and blend one final time
Your almond butter should be well blended, creamy and ready to enjoy however you like. I like it as is but sometimes I will add some sweetener for a little treat. I have tried honey, agave, and maple syrup which were all great.
I want to emphasize that if you are using a sweetener STIR it in at the end of blending rather than blending it in. If you blend it the viscosity of the butter may change creating a watery texture.
