Are you looking for a peanut butter substitute, a smoother and better tasting almond butter, or a nutritious topping? This is the recipe to try! Blanched almond butter is more gut friendly. Additionally, it has a smoother texture and a delicious-yet-mild taste! It is perfect for the traditional nut butter uses or even as the base of a dessert.
Jump to:
- What Is Blanched Almond Butter?
- Why Do I Want Blanched Almond Butter Vs. Regular?
- An Easy Way to Avoid Lectins
- Differences In Blanched Almond Butter
- Blanched Almond Butter Is Cost Efficient
- Making The Recipe
- Equipment Needed
- Ingredients
- Instructions
- Using The Almond Butter
- Use This Recipe in Healthy Southern Gal Recipes
- Nutrition & Health in Blanched Almond Flour
- Blood Sugar Balance
- Vitamin E
- Antioxidants: For More Than The Cold
- Manganese, Magnesium, and Fiber
- Blanched Almond Flour Variations To Try
- Final Thoughts
- Storage
- Top tip
- FAQ
- Related
- Blanched Almond Butter
I stumbled upon this recipe when I was trying to remove more lectins from my diet. Furthermore, I wanted to begin eating blanched almond butter but discovered how expensive it was! Then I realized I keep blanched almond flour on hand and I got creative!
What Is Blanched Almond Butter?
Let’s start with, “what is blanching?”. To be short, sweet, and to the point, blanching is a process that will remove skin. In our case, the skin of almonds. Therefore, revealing the cream colored nut behind the skin. This is not the only purpose of blanching, but it is all we need to know for our goal.
In this recipe I am not discussing the blanching of almonds much further because we are going to use almond flour to make blanched almond butter. But it is worth learning more about the process if you are pursuing more skill in the kitchen. Forks Over Knives has a great article on the process.
Blanched almond butter is simply almond butter made from blanched almonds.
Why Do I Want Blanched Almond Butter Vs. Regular?
“Regular” Almond Butter (most almond butter found in the store)
“Regular almond butter” in this context is the almond butter we usually find in the store. Most store bought almond butter is brown because the almonds are not blanched. The skin is ground with the almonds into nut butter.
Lectins In “Regular” Almond Butter
Why can the skin on almonds be a problem? If not soaked, the skin on almonds contains lectins which are anti-nutrients. Lectins are found on the outside of many plants in order to deter predators. However, they are not meant for human consumption. When they are consumed by humans they can get into the gut lining and prevent absorption of nutrients. (Harvard, Lectins, 2022).
An Easy Way to Avoid Lectins
Although almonds rank lower on the lectin list, lectins are still present. We can get around the lectins by blanching the almonds. Or we can skip a step and purchase blanched almond flour and process it into almond butter. The almonds are blanched and ground into flour. This saves the life of the food processor when making homemade almond butter.
The skins of the almonds are removed in blanched almond flour. Furthermore, the flour is removed from lectins- or has a very small amount. This will encourage the absorption of nutrients. The removal of lectins is why this recipe might be a better choice than store bough almond butter.
“Regular” almond butter. Typical store bought product.
Differences In Blanched Almond Butter
Blanched almond butter has some key differences. Three big differences are the texture, color, and consistency. Most of these differences are a result of the blanching process of the almonds.
Color: It is beige or cream color. The almond butter typically in the store is brown because the skin is ground with the almond into almond butter.
Texture: It is creamier. The texture of almond butter typically found in the store is more gritty.
Consistency: It is thicker, but can become thinner with longer processing time. The longer it is processed the thinner it becomes.
Taste: It tastes like cake batter without sugar. That’s simply my subjective way of describing the taste.
Blanched Almond Butter Is Cost Efficient
This form of almond butter is not an economical item to come across in the store. Finding it is not a quick process and when you find it, it will easily be $2.20 an ounce. Whereas, “regular” almond butter is $.50 an ounce.
Making your own blanched almond butter from almond flour is a totally different story. I purchased a 3 pound bag of blanched almond flour from Costco for $12.99 . From three pounds of flour I can get 2-3 jars of almond butter- saving a half to two-thirds of the cost of buying it at a store.
Making The Recipe
As discussed, we will start making blanched almond butter with blanched almond flour instead of using almonds and blanching them. You can use blanched almonds instead of blanched almonds flour. However, using flour will save time and the life of the food processor. Using almond flour cuts the work on the food processor in half since it is not doing the work of grinding whole nuts into flour and then into nut butter.
Equipment Needed
A food processor is necessary for making this recipe. A blender may or may not do the job. Use a blender that is dual marketed as a food processor.
Ingredients
The ingredients are really simple: blanched almond flour & salt. Although, I do offer a variation below that you might like to try.
- Almond Flour
- Salt
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Use this section for process shots, alternating between the step and image showing the step. Users don’t like seeing process shots cluttering up the recipe card, so include your process shots here.
Add blanched almond flour to food processor.
Turn the food processor on and begin to process.
Watch for the flour to turn into pea sized knots.
Bigger clumps will form, that will continue to multiply.
The clump will eventually gather into one large ball.
Shortly after, the large ball will begin to spread out and cream. Continue to cream until the consistency is to your liking.
4 cups of blanched almond flour makes 1.5 cups of blanched almond butter.
Advice: Make sure to care for your food processor. Most processors will begin to overheat. Every few minutes, or according to your judgment, give your processor a break to cool down.
Using The Almond Butter
Be Creative
Blanched almond butter has a doughy consistency. Because of this reason, it might be helpful in coming up with new and exciting recipes. For example, after tasting my almond butter chocolate bar recipe, I knew the base of it was perfect to use for cookie dough bites. The consistency seemed so much like cookie dough.
I’m sure you will have many uses for it too! Reach out to me or comment here. I am happy to answer questions and help you explore exciting uses for the recipe.
Traditional Nut Butter Uses
The almond butter can be used in any way that you use other spreads. Put it on a banana, peanut butter & jelly sandwich, almond butter and honey sandwich, celery (I’m not a celery fan but my husband is), or any other way that you traditionally use nut butter.
Use This Recipe in Healthy Southern Gal Recipes
Chocolate Almond Butter Bars
Gluten Free Cookie Dough Bites.
Pumpkin Spice Almond Butter
Snickerdoodle Almond Butter
Nutrition & Health in Blanched Almond Flour
I am a big time nutrient girl! I love to explore the creation of nutrients and praise the creator for those nutrients. Let’s talk about the nutrients in blanched almond flour and the benefit those nutrients have for our bodies
Nutrition Facts
Here is a look at the nutrition facts in 2 Tablespoons of blanched almond butter:
- Calories: 79.9
- Protein: 3 g
- Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 3 g
- Dietary fiber: 2 g
- Magnesium: 10% of the recommended daily intake (RDA)
- Vitamin E: 25% RDA
- Saturated fatty acids: 3% RDA
Our body does many jobs by having the proper amount and balance of our macro and micro nutrients. Almond butter can help with this balance as it supplies good protein, fats, carbs, and fiber.
Blood Sugar Balance
My husband is a type 1 diabetic. He often runs to nuts and nut butters for snacks. They help him keep his blood sugar balanced because of the fat, fiber, and protein. These macronutrients can aid in slowing the digestion of sugar in the body leading to a less steep incline in blood sugar.
Vitamin E
The amount of Vitamin E in almond butter is impressive – a whopping 25% of the recommended daily value! Vitamin E has many powerful effects on the body. First, it has antioxidants that attack free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules in the body that cause oxidative stress, leading to many health complications (Medical News Today, 2023).
Antioxidants: For More Than The Cold
When I was a little girl, my parents told me that I needed antioxidants to keep from getting sick. I took that to mean my berries will stave away my cold. But “sick” means so much more! Sick describes diseases, cancers, and yes- the common cold too. Antioxidants do amazing things for our bodies and by eating Vitamin E containing food- like almonds, we provide our bodies with powerful fighting tools!
Manganese, Magnesium, and Fiber
Blanched almond flour supplies 8% of the fiber needed by a female each day. Fiber is essential for digestion, hormone regulation, and more. It’s exciting to think we can get some those benefits through a couple of cookie dough bites using blanched almond butter.
Magnesium and manganese are also both essential for the function of the body and almond butter supplies a good amount needed per day. Food is truly medicine! We GET to eat it!
I’m not going deeper into nutrition. However, there are many more nutrients in almonds.
Blanched Almond Flour Variations To Try
To spice the blanched almond butter up a bit try the following variations:
Snickerdoodle: Maple syrup + Cinnamon + Vanilla (I got the snicker doodle name inspiration from Iowa Girl Eats)
Pumpkin Spice Almond Butter: I found inspiration for this variation from Kara Lydon Dietician.
Final Thoughts
In a society where we can get most things as quickly as we want them, there are many forgotten processes. I am regarding the soaking and cooking of nuts and beans. Because of the lost practice of processing nuts as a home art, we are not reaping the entirety of the benefits that nuts and beans have to offer. I have come to contemplate the things that come to me at a rapid or easy pace. Will you slow down with me, take a deep breath, and take delight in the process? It is for our health, joy, and benefit to breathe deep and take the time to do things as intended. Find healing in the process.
Storage
Store in the refrigerator for 1 week. Store in the freezer for 1 month.
Top tip
The key to making blanched almond butter is patience!
FAQ
Blanched almond butter tastes like cake batter without sugar. That’s simply my subjective way of describing the taste of blanched almond butter made with blanched almond flour.
Blanched almond butter is creamier than the texture of almond butter typically found in the store.
Store the blanched almond butter in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Store blanched almond butter in the freezer for 1 month.
Blanched almond butter no longer has the skin of almonds. Blanching removes lectins. This will encourage the absorption of nutrients. The removal of lectins is why blanched almond butter might be a better choice than almond butter that is not blanched.
A food processor is necessary for making blanched almond butter from blanched almond flour. A blender may or may not do the job. Make sure your blender is marketed as a dual food processor.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Blanched Almond Butter
Equipment
- 1 food processor
Ingredients
- 4 cups blanched almond flour
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Add blanched almond flour to the food processor.
- Make sure that food processor lid is secure. Turn the food processor on and begin to mix.
- Watch for the flour to turn into pea sized knots.
- Bigger clumps will form. They clumps will continue to multiply.
- The clumps will eventually gather into one large ball.
- The ball will break apart and shortly start to cream.
- Continue to cream until the consistency is to your liking.
- Make sure to care for your food processor. Most processors will begin to overheat. Every few minutes, or according to your judgment, give your processor a break.
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