A few months ago I posted about making your own almond butter. That shiz is beyond expensive, so I was really excited when I realized we could make our own with our vitamix. HOWEVER. It came out a bit dry. I didn't mind at the time, because it was saving us money and it tasted fine.... but I have since discovered the secret to creamy almond butter. Are you ready?
Roasted almonds.
When almonds are roasted, the oils from the inside are released, thereby giving your butter a creamy consistency. (Why those same oils aren't just released from the raw almonds during the blending process is a mystery to me, but hey, now we know the trick.)
Now, you can either buy a bag (easier! faster!), or you can roast them yourself (caution! danger ahead!). In the spirit of transparency, let me just tell you that I have tried both ways. And if you're not a Martha Stewart type (ding ding ding, this is NOT me!), then you're better off just buying a bag of roasted almonds and calling it a day. I made the mistake of roasting a bag too much (read: nearly burned the house down). I still blended them up, though, hoping for a miracle. And it came out creamy alright, but it was too creamy. Like maple syrup. Which I probably would've made do with if, um, it didn't also taste like burnt almonds. Woof. The next time I attempted to roast almonds, I undercooked them (not on purpose). They started to brown and smell nice, so I threw 'em in the blender and.... it came out like powder. Seriously. I took the lid off the blender and a puff of almond powder exploded in my face. One day I will learn how to roast almonds perfectly, but in the meantime I'll continue to buy them at the store.
PS- Some recipes that use almond butter: chickpea cookies, chia almond recover shake.