Chocolate Almond Butter

October 3, 2014

Chocolate Almond Butter


Last week I killed my food processor that I had for about 10 years. It was sad, but life goes on.
I considered hiring a ninja to replace the deceased kitchen tool.
Think about it for a moment, a ninja - in addition to mixing, chopping, blending and grating food - could be sent on missions to track down secrets, have enemies assassinated or plant misinformation. SIK.
But then I thought: wait, where would I “store” a ninja?
I couldn’t possibly leave him on the countertop or on a shelf (talking about crowding up your kitchen, right?)
Not to mention that I would need to feed him. And what does a ninja eat, say, for breakfast?
Moreover, what if he’s one of those people that wakes up super cranky in the morning. I certainly don’t want an angry ninja walking around my apt at 7am chopping my furniture.
Nah, too much of an hassle and not really a good idea after all.

Almonds

So I dragged myself to the closest appliance store to my house to buy a new food processor.
I got very overwhelmed, there are like 100 different models of food processors available on the market.
Different brands, different sizes, different colors. It was all very confusing.
A store clerk came to help. “Well" he said "as you can see there is a large selection, but this one right here, it’s like the Ferrari of food processors”
As I love a Ferrari like the next guy, I bought it immediately.
Seriously, who doesn’t want a Ferrari food processor?

Chocolate Almond Butter

Now that amazing piece of kitchen technology resides on my countertop, in all of its glory.
I could cry everytime I look at it, it's so beautiful.
My extra-large, super-duper, nearly state-of-the-art food processor.
I have not come across a task that this food processor can’t handle.
My previous one would start to smell like it was burning up if I was processing something for more than 2 minutes.
This dude doesn’t even hesitate, it just plow right through.

Chocolate Almond Butter

I like it so much because I consider the food processor to be one of the most useful pieces of kitchen equipment there is.
It can replace the whisk, the pastry cutter, the mandolin, the mortar and pestle and the grater.
It can produce herb pastes, tapenade, hummus, salsas, seasoned oils, compound butters, banana ice cream, flax seed eggs and - last but not least - nut butters.
I could have never made nut butters in my old food processor, but now I can.
So there you have it, chocolate almond butter.

Chocolate Almond Butter

On some level, you probably already know that, sure, it’s super easy to make your own nut butters. But if you’ve never actually made homemade nut butter, I don’t think you quite understand how easy it is.
Nuts, meet food processor.
Food processor, it’s go time.
Almonds go through a few stages on their way to becoming spreadable almond butter. At first the mix looks crumbly and dry, but pulse a little longer and it starts resembling actual almond butter.
After about 15 minutes magic happens. What seemed like perfectly fine almond butter becomes soft, smooth and perfect almond butter.
This is the stuff that almond-buttery dreams are made of. Plus chocolate. Addictive.

Chocolate Almond Butter

Chocolate Almond Butter                                                                                                              Print this recipe!

Note. I prefer using roasted almonds because I like their deep flavor. Buying roasted almonds saves a little bit of time, but you can always roast them at home.
Place raw almonds on a baking sheet, and roast in the oven at 350°F (180°C) for about 8 to minutes, flipping halfway through and making sure that they not burn.

Ingredients
Yields approximately 2 cups

2 cups / 10 oz / 283 gr unsalted roasted almonds
1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil (I used Nutiva)
2 oz / 56 gr dark chocolate (I used Dagoba)
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 tablespoon raw coconut palm sugar (I used Madhava)
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Add almonds to the bowl of your food processor and run continuously for 2 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. At this point, the almond butter will look gritty and dry, almost like couscous.
Run the food processor continuously for another 3 minutes, then stop and scrape down the sides. At this point, the butter will start clumping together.
Run the food processor again, the nuts will start to release some of their oil, making the mass more pliable and more inclined to stay within the path of the spinning blade, so you won’t have to stop as often. Still, I recommend stopping the food processor every 3 minutes or so to give the food processor a break and to scrape the sides bottom of the bowl.
After 10 minutes, the mixture will start to look a lot more like nut butter.
Continue processing, it will take roughly 20 minutes in total to get a very smooth, creamy, and almost liquid like butter.
In the meantime, place coconut oil and chopped chocolate in a medium size heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the boiling water. Stir with a wooden spoon until chocolate and coconut oil are completely melted. Use pot holders to remove the bowl from over the boiling water. Let mixture sit for a few minutes.
Add melted chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, sugar, and sea salt to almond butter and process again until smooth.
Transfer to mason jar or container and store at room temperature or in fridge for up to 3 to 4 weeks.

Nutrition facts

One serving (about 2 tablespoons) yields 198 calories, 16 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbs and 4 grams of protein.

37 comments:

  1. Hi Mike, wow...I sure love this. AWESOME and to die for kind of Chocolate almond butter. Very impressive photography skill, 2 thumbs up for you. Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe.

    Have a great weekend, regards.

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    1. Thanks Amelia. I hope you had a great weekend yourself!

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  2. Oh dear - homemade nut butter is my jam...it makes me weak in the knees - no Ninja kicking involved! Loving this Chocolate A/B with coconut oil and cocoa AND dark chocolate, Mike!!
    For the longest time, the voices in my head have been fighting over a Ninja or a food processor - think they even picked your brain once....so I am incredibly curious to know what this Farrari Food Processor you walked home with, is! Please so spill...
    P.S. Your photos are phenomenal!

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    1. Thanks Shashi, and just like yourself, almond butter is totally my jam!

      PS the food processor I bought is a Stainless Steel Breville Sous Chef

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  3. This looks so rich, so delicious and I love to roast and toast nuts and spices as well. Funny thing I recently burned out my old food processor too, making coconut butter. BURNED it out. Black smoke, electrical whoosh and DEAD. Got my very own Ferrari food processor now, too. Life is good!

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    1. Life's good indeed with a Ferrari food processor, no doubt about that!

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  4. So, which food processor did you buy?? I'd love to know! And these photos would make it worth it to rush out and buy one, just so I could make this recipe!

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  5. I have to try this out right away!!! I'm the sucker that spends $10 on a jar of chocolate hazelnut butter when I could be making my own for much cheaper - thanks for the great recipe, maybe I'll finally take the plunge into nut butters! :)

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    1. You have to take the plunge Kari, it's so worth it (and you'll save so much money!)

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  6. Chocolate almond butter. Why didn't I think of that? It sounds wonderful, like something I need to make! I've been making my own almond butter for a couple of years, and when I make it I just use straight raw almonds. So I'm curious to understand why you add the coconut oil to this one - what purpose it serves. When making plain almond butter no extra oil is required. I still get the perfect texture. Thanks.

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    1. It's not really about the texture, it's because sometimes I find that almond butter can create a bit of mouth-puckering astringency, adding coconut oil helps preventing that. In addition, it makes the nut butter extra smooth and creamy!

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  7. I CANNOT believe you did not share the brand you got... YOU TEASER YOU!

    gawd, I am dying to know, because today I was trying to shred cheese on my Cuisinart and it was NOT pretty... I told my beloved that my food processor (about 20 years old), is misbehaving and "we' might need another one

    please, please, please, which one is the Ferrari?

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    1. I bought a Stainless Steel Breville Sous Chef, it was on sale at BestBuy (still pretty expensive though!)

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    2. I was afraid of the answer.... (sigh) Christmas is not too far away, maybe I can bat my eyelashes at the husband..... a hundred times. And add a tropical smile? ;-)

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    3. That should actually work Sally ;)

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  8. Yes, please tell us which processor you purchased! Mine is not working well for nut butters, and I'm looking for a new one!

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    1. I bought a Stainless Steel Breville Sous Chef, it was on sale at BestBuy.

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  9. I've always thought about making my own almond butter, but I've just never gotten around to it. Now I'm inspired! Plus, your "Ode to the Food Processor" has made me want to get mine out and make something! That's the way the Wolfpack rolls. #WolfpackEats

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    1. That's indeed how we roll man, total WolfpackStyle!

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  10. Ahhhh! What is this Ferrari beast you speak of?

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    1. A Stainless Steel Breville Sous Chef, it was on sale at BestBuy ;)

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  11. This looks like nut butter heaven!!! And yes tell us what food processor you purchased!!!

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    1. I bought a Stainless Steel Breville Sous Chef, do you have that brand in the UK?

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  12. Hah! My food processor also died last week. The blade ripped apart, but I only realised once the cheese cake was IN the oven. FUN! I hadn't thought about a ninja for replacement though? What better thing to make than chocolate almond butter after that?! Looks great!

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    1. So basically you made blade cheesecake, right? Sounds dope! ;)

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  13. Congrats on your Ferrari food processor! It sounds seriously powerful :) I looove almond butter and chocolate makes everything better. This butter looks amazing!

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  14. Oh, yummy! Looks so delicious :)

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  15. I stumbled upon your blog today and am so glad I did! I look forward to following your posts! You have a great writing style, and your recipes look wonderful.
    BUT now you have me SOOO curious. Which food processor did you buy? Please let us know!!
    Bookmarking this wonderful chocolatey goodness to try soon.

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    1. Welcome to TIY Rivki, I'm so glad you like it
      And I confess, I bought a Stainless Steel Breville Sous Chef!

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  16. You must've peeked into the cravings section of my brain when you made this! If you want to ship a bottle of this to Boston I will trade you some brownies...

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  17. What kind of processor did you get?!?!

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