Oh do I have a treat for you today!
A lip smacking, spread over anything, hide from your spouse because it’s just that darn good kinda treat.
It’s loaded with fiber, omega-3s, helps to reduce inflammation, balance your cardiovascular system AND will keep you looking younger longer with it’s high phytonutrient and antioxidant content.
You can dress it up, you can dress it down.
It’s also great on a spoon. Juuust like this…
Ya, I licked that spoon the minute I was done shooting, and I’m darn proud of it too.
I honestly cannot understand why I didn’t like nut butter as a kid/teenager/young adult.
I’d like to think I’m making up for lost time.
Did you like nut butter growing up?
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Vanilla Almond Flax Butter
Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free
Soft tones of vanilla fill this nut butter with jaw dropping flavor. Ah! I love this stuff.
Ingredients
- 5 cups almonds
- 1/2 cup flax seed, ground
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 170F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon baking mat.
- Spread the almonds out onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, stirring once half way through.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- Place roasted almonds, ground flax and vanilla extract into the bowl of your food processor and process until drippy, scraping the bowl as needed. This should take between 10-15 minutes.
You may have to add a couple of tablespoons of almond oil if the nut butter isn’t breaking down easily.
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You may be wondering why I decided to roast the almonds at such a ridiculously low temperature.
I swear I didn’t just do it for the fun of it.
By roasting at a lower temperature you’ll avoid harming the fats in your almonds.
To read more about harming fats and the impact it has on our health, check out this post – which also happens to be one of my other favorite nut butters.
Please don’t make me decide which one I love more.
If you’re feeling all crazy but can’t come up with a way to enjoy this nut butter, try dropping a dollop in a bowl with dried currants and little pieces of apple.
I.die.every.time…
And so will you 
In a good way, of course.
Have a fabulous Friday! I’m off to work, run at lunch, and meet up with my new chiropractor. What do you have planned for the day?
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{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
The fact that you vanilla-ized this butter…oh that is music to my ears!!!
It looks soooo good!
I love almonds butter too! When I make a badge, me and my husband have separate jars otherwise we will eat each others parts, you just can’t stop
I never added flaxseeds to it though, will try it next time.
Work…but it’s Friday, so that’s good!
That looks amazing! I didn’t know about the low roasting. I’ll definitely do that next time. Have a great day!
Amazing!!! Who would of thought touse flax in a nut butter….leanne thats who!!! Great job as per usual!
So simple yet so tantalizing! I wish I had a real food processor!!!
Love it! I just bought 3 lbs of almonds yesterday, so I will definitely be making this on Saturday!!! Thanks for the awesome recipe
It’s been way too long since I’ve made almond butter. I made a spiced almond butter I loved, but didn’t think to roasted the almonds first. That’s next on my list (today!).
What beautiful photos! I love the composition.
Yum yum! I adore almond butter but I’ve never made my own before. I love to dip apple slices in it
Ya know what’s weird? I looooove nut butter, I’m drooling over the recipe (as usual, haha)…but the idea of licking PB off of a spoon (or fingers, or whathaveyou) always freaks me out! Straight PB is so weird to me, even though I love it on/in pretty much anything!
Really?! That’s so fascinating. Whatever works for ya!
This is just brilliant, I buy almond butter all the time, but I love this twist on it. Perhaps I should try my hand at making my own.
It’s so easy! You can DO it!
Have a great weekend… looks like I might be making some almond flax butter this weekend — looks fabulous!!
How convenient that I happen to have all the ingredients in my possession at this very moment. Can I have a half day from work so I can lick this off my own spoon asap??
Heck ya! I say that’s perfectly okay.
Love this!!!
Yummy! I gotta say I love your method for roasting nuts, I’m going to do that next time for sure. And this almond butter sounds amazing. I thought I liked nut butters as a kid. But I actually only liked that nasty stuff with hydrogenated oil and sugar and I’m not sure if that even counts. I can’t stand that stuff now but I love any natural nut butter like this. Just give me a spoon
This looks incredible! And I finally bought a food processor so I can make my own nut butter now — the magic bullet just would not work hard enough!
Today: work, then hopefully dinner + movie with Jason! Oh and a tempo run sometime this afternoon.
Oh fun! What movie are you guys going to see? Kevin and I are going to planet of the apes tomorrow afternoon!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for the tip on the low temp roasting!!!! and the fats! I was thinking of making nut butters after the move and this tip is priceless! thanks love!
This looks delicious! Do you think this recipe could work using walnuts instead of almonds? Or pecans?
I haven’t tried, but I’m sure it would work with other nuts.
I think I’m in love. Oddly, I didn’t like nut butters growing up either! Sometime peanut butter, but certainly not almond/cashew/any other nut butter. In fact, I just realized those other kinds existed a few years ago!
GASP! I would grab that spoon and lick it, too, if there wasn’t this computer screen in my way!
I have to string a couple o my tennis racquets and get some wok done….have a great day, Leanne!
I haven’t made homemade nut butter in a few months, I think it is time I started again and with this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Heaven!!!
If I only had a stronger blender/food processor…
I honestly never gave PB a second thought when I was a teenager. Then I turned 20 and all of a sudden I needed it in my life.
ooooh, does this look good or what :]
when i was younger i never really thought much about peanut butter. i mean, i’d have the occasional pb&j, crackers with pb, that sorta thing…but i don’t think i ever viewed it as a food to fall in love with like i do now, haha.
Uh-Oh… I didn’t know you could harm the fats in nuts. I’ll have to read on to make sure I’m not doing that. Thanks for the recipe… looks divine!
I tried making this nut butter today and it didn’t get drippy even after I added a couple tablespoons of oil. It’s really grainy still, sticks together in a ball. I can’t figure out if I did something wrong…should a regular food processor work for this?
Hi Shanna – because there’s flax in the recipe, it wont be super drippy, but should have some give to it. Have you ever tried to make nut butter with your food processor? If not, it may be that the blade isn’t sharp enough or, the processor isn’t strong enough to process the nuts. I find that heating the nuts up slightly helps to release the oils and makes it easier to process. If you’re left with a ball (which I generally was with my old processor) add another couple tbsp of oil or, just place it in jars as is. It’ll still taste really great! Hope it works for you!
This is how I usually make my almond butter!
However, I recently started adding chia and hemp seeds as well for some added nutrients! It’s also delicious if you roast the almonds in a few tablespoons of pure maple syrup…heaven!
I’ve tried adding chia but I think I added way too much. The mixture ended up breaking the motor of my food processor
Will have to try less next time!
What is your take on pre-soaking the almonds? Will that help with nutrients or processing?
Love soaking for dips and spreads but don’t like the watery-ness (haha i know, it’s not a word) that it brings to nut butters. If you wanted to boost the nutrition of nut butter, you could soak, sprout, dry and then make the butter. Good luck
I will try your method first. And maybe the sprouting next. Thanks so much. I hope you don’t mind I will share this on my soon (barely read blog). People must know about this. I will give your site the credit it deserves.
Thanks, Elena! Enjoy
I was wondering how long the prepared almond butter lasts and if it needs to be refrigerated afterward.
I keep mine in the fridge and find that it’s fine if consumed within 14 days or so.
I’m really looking for a replacement for peanut butter and this looks just perfect! I was just wondering what the calorie count would be per tablespoon. Or how could i find out??
Hi Jasmine, there are many calorie counting websites out there where you can put in the ingredients and it will tell you how many calories are in a tablespoon. About.com has a great one!
Thanks, the one on about.com works well. (=
This looks fabulous…..would it work to put in blender? Thanks for this simple, great recipe. I’ve been a big fan of almond butter lately.
I think it would depend on your blender, Ariela. If you have a powerful one, I’m sure it would work!
Oooooo….lovin’ this recipe! Where do you get your cool jars? Do you just recycle a store bought glass jar? How long will the butter keep in the fridge? Thanks Leanne!
I love the idea of making my own almond butter, since this is my go-to spread (addition of vanilla is genius!). After all, I have six almond trees on my property. You can’t imagine how tough it is to get those little buggers off the tree without a proper mechanical shaker however. Maybe I can find someone who trade labor for a share of the nuts………………
Would it work to put flax oil instead of seeds??
It would make the butter really oily, but I don’t see why not. Just try not to process until it gets hot as it will ruin the fats, also best to keep the butter in a dark container once it’s done. If you give it a try with the oil, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Awesome, thanks, Leanne! I’m considering a 50/50 flax mix of ground seeds and the oil, just because I like my butters kinda oily. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for your quick response! Have a good weekend.
Hi Leanne,
I made the almond butter according to your recipe, and then added a little flax oil so it would be more spreadable. The flax oil definitely altered the taste. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but I liked it better without it. Next time I’ll just use the ground flax seeds per your recipe.
Also made your Chewy Chocolate Coconut cookies and took them to a party. They were a huge hit with everyone! Even the guy that grabbed one and took a bite thinking it was a hamburger patty!!
-Molly
Hamburger patty, haha! Too funny. That would be a strange surprise. Thanks for letting me know about the almond butter. Too bad the flax oil altered the taste a bit too much. Now we know!