Almond Butter
Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 09:32AM 
Almond butter is a healthier alternative to peanut butter. Not only is almond butter tasty, it’s also packed with nutrients – from manganese, vitamin E, magnesium and tryptophan. Other health benefits of almonds include:
- Lowering your LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol linked to heart disease and atherosclerosis) and reducing your risk of heart disease. These benefits are partially due to their high monounsaturated fats content, the same type of health-promoting fats that are found in olive oil, which is associated with reducing the risk of heart disease. Almonds are also high in antioxidant vitamin E.
- Almonds protect against diabetes and cardiovascular disease by decreasing the after-meal rises in blood-sugar and by providing antioxidants.
- Eating almonds promote weight loss. Studies have shown that when one incorporates almonds into their diet, they are less likely to reach for foods that encourage weight gain, such as processed carbohydrates.
- Almonds are high in protein. A quarter-cup of these nuts contains 6.5 grams of protein, which is more than an egg, which contains 5.5 grams.
Here is the recipe for almond butter:
Ingredients
2 cups almonds
A pinch or two of sea salt (optional)
Directions
Place the almonds into a food processor. Start your food process and scrape the sides to ensure that all the almonds are blending. Process for about 10 minutes. The almonds first start off as powder, they will eventually turn somewhat doughy. You'll want to keep processing until they become buttery. After approximately 10 minutes of processing (it could take longer depending on the strength of your processor) your raw almond butter is done. You can add a pinch or two of salt and mix by hand - I don't but feel free to.
Store in an air-tight, glass container in your refrigerator for up to one month.
And you may notice that my almond butter is totally creamy, but that's based on preference.
If you have tried making almond butter or have a different variation of the recipe, I’d love to hear about it.
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