Le Bon Petit Chou: Like magic...

A week ago, Mags and I started a conversation about nut butters. Having a fridge fully stocked of nut (and seed) butters of various sorts, I gave Mags a little butter-tasting. She seemed instantly hooked and was interested to hear that such things could easily be made at home. For some reason, almond butters in the grocery store are grossly expensive. Making almond butter at home is much more economical, and let's be honest, it's more fun, too, because you can mix and match various flavors and nuts. Venturing into the world of making nut butters for the first time can be daunting to do on your own, so I decided to invite Mags over for a little almond-buttering. I found a great recipe online for hazelnut almond butter, which was perfect because we currently have delicious hazelnuts from Turkey, given to us by mother's Turkish friend. What I love about the nut-butter-making-process is that it is just that: a process. In the first few minutes, you are wondering how the chunks/powder of nuts (sounding like sand hitting the walls of your processor) will ever come together into a butter...you start to worry that something has gone wrong! But it hasn't because a few minutes later, the noises coming from your food processor change (glug glug glug), and you notice that you have the beginnings of a paste. Like magic. You breathe a sigh of relief. Additionally, the smell coming from the food processor (especially if you've toasted your nuts beforehand) is to die for...or to slobber for. Yumm

Hazelnut Almond Butter (adapted from The Healthy Foodie)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups raw organic almonds
1/2 cup hazelnuts (mine had the skins removed, but I imagine either way is fine)
1/4 cup flaxmeal
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (you can also use 1 tsp pure vanilla extract instead)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees F.
Spread the almonds on a baking sheet, and bake at 170 degrees F for 40 minutes, stirring twice throughout the baking process.
Turn up the temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake the almonds for another 15 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
Allow the almonds to cool for at least 30 minutes.
Place the almonds, hazelnuts, flaxmeal, and vanilla bean paste in the bowl of your food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process for 10-15 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl every few minutes, until you have a lovely drippy almond butter.
Package in glass jars.

If you would like, you can add a little bit of salt to taste, but Mags and I decided it was perfect as it was: nutty and smooth followed by a kick from the hazelnuts.