Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter

I discovered this almond butter last year and it is AMAZING.  My favorite way to eat it is on these English muffins, but it is also great on celery, apples, or on a spoon!   I like plain almond butter, but this almond butter takes it to a new level.  The maple syrup makes it slightly sweet and the cinnamon enhances the flavor a lot.  

A food processor is absolutely essential if you want to make this.  If you don't have one, you could buy almond butter from the store and try mixing in some maple syrup and cinnamon, but it won't be exactly the same because the maple syrup won't be cooked in with the nuts.  The biggest trick with making any nut butter is that you have to be patient.  At first it won't seem like the nuts could ever turn into butter, but if you keep waiting (and scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally) it will eventually happen.  With my food processor it takes a minimum of 15 minutes before it's ready.  As you make the almond butter you will first notice that it turns into almond meal/flour.  After a while it will start to look like a dough ball.  After this stage, it will start to become more liquidity and then it will be ready!  This is what it should look like when you take it out of the food processor:

Almonds are lower in calories and fat than many nuts, and the fat that they do have is good fat.  They are a good source of protein, calcium, vitamin E, and magnesium.  They have also been shown to help lower cholesterol.  I love that I can feel good about having this almond butter!

Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter

Yield:  about 1.5 cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups whole raw almonds
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat the oven to 325°F.  Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

2) In a medium bowl, combine the nuts and maple syrup.  Spread onto the prepared baking sheet.

3)  Roast the almonds in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes.  Check often to make sure they are not burning.  You want the maple syrup to be bubbling and the almonds to look slightly roasted.  

4)  Once you remove the almonds from the oven, immediately transfer them to the bowl of your food processor fitted with the normal blade.  Try to get as much of the maple syrup off of the baking mat as possible.

5)  Process the almonds until they turn into almond butter, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.  This could take up to 20 minutes.  Be patient!

6) Transfer to a container and store in the refrigerator.  Enjoy often! :)

(recipe slightly adapted from Edible Perspective)