Last June, my blog buddy Ashley came for a visit! It was our first time meeting ‘in real life’. I was nervous and basically had hot flashes anticipating her arrival.
Luckily, we hit it off. :)
We bonded over foodie gifts..
Oatmeal.
[That would be my favourite VOO –> Cherry Chocolate Bomb Vegan Overnight Oats]
Photography…
And hiking!
Oh, and nut butter. It was on this visit that Ashley gave me some of her Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter and Salt-Kissed Cashew Butter. Before then, I was always a Homemade Raw Almond Butter kinda gal, but she inspired me to experiment with other homemade nut butter flavours!
I have since made 4 Ingredient Dark Chocolate Almond Butter…
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Pecan Butter
Clearly my nut butters are simply another vessel for chocolate. I blame PMS.
Yesterday, I made a spin-off of Ashley’s Vanilla Bean Maple Almond Butter. It was also inspired by Naturally Nutty’s Cinnamon Vanilla Almond Butter made with chia, flax, and hemp seed that I spotted on Kath Eats. I thought the idea of adding chia, flax, and hemp seed was a great way to sneak in more nutrients.
And I’m totally down for anything that gives me another reason to eat nut butter!
Maple-Cinnamon Superseed Almond Butter
Yield
1 1/4 cups (310 mL)
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This is easily the most delicious almond butter I've ever tasted! The secret to this incredible nut butter is to coat the almonds in maple syrup, hemp hearts, chia seeds, and flaxseeds, and then roast it all until fragrant and golden. After processing for about 5 to 10 minutes, it turns into the creamiest, "drippy" nut butter ever. I love adding a healthy portion of cinnamon, fine sea salt, and pure vanilla bean powder (or extract) to take it over the top. You'll be enjoying this spread straight out of the processor bowl—I can promise you that! I recommend using a heavy-duty food processor when making nut butters; the smaller machines just don't have the power to do the job and might burn out.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole raw almonds
- 2 tablespoons whole flaxseeds
- 2 tablespoons hemp hearts
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 3 tablespoons (45 mL) pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tablespoon (7 mL) coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) pure vanilla bean powder
Directions
- Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix together the almonds, flaxseeds, hemp hearts, chia seeds, and maple syrup until combined.
- Spread the almond mixture onto baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
- Remove from oven and allow the almond mixture to cool for 10 minutes before placing into a food processor.
- Add the almonds into the food processor along with the coconut oil. Process for about 5 to 10 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl every 60 seconds, or as needed. (Be sure to leave the processor chute uncovered so the steam from the almonds can escape.) The mixture will be very drippy and smooth when ready.
- Add in the cinnamon, salt, and vanilla and process until combined.
- Remove the almond butter and store in a glass jar or a container with an airtight lid. If the almond butter is still warm, allow it to come to room temperature before securing the lid.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Have you ever made homemade nut butter before?
It is really quite easy if you have a processor or blender that will do the work. This recipe requires more time than any nut butter recipe I have made before (due to the almond roasting), but it was so worth it in the end!
Mix together the almonds, chia, flax, hemp, and maple syrup. Spread out onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring once half way through, at 300F.
After 30 minutes of roasting:
Eric came into the kitchen when I was making this yesterday morning and he said, ’Mmm it smells amazing in here! WOW!
When I told him that I was making nut butter, he was crushed (he hates nut butter).
He thought I was making waffles!
I pity the fool.
For the first 5 minutes of processing, stop and scrape down the bowl every 30-60 seconds as needed. In the initial stages, I stop every 30 seconds or so.
After 5 minutes (half-way point):
After 5 more minutes of processing, my nut butter was ready! I added in the cinnamon, salt, and vanilla around minute 9.
I won’t tell you how much fun licking the bowl is. That would just be mean.
It makes about 1 and 1/4 cup.
The result is an almond butter with a deep roasted flavour and layers of nuttiness with just a hint of sweetness. I didn’t detect the chia, hemp, or flax flavours specifically, but I was happy knowing they were in there!
I enjoyed some apple slices spread with nut butter and strawberry jam.
I
Unreal!
The clean up for this photoshoot was also a good time. ;)
If you’d like to make chunky almond butter, you can process or chop some almonds and then stir it back into the almond butter. I think I will try that next time!
Does anyone know if I can make nut butter in my Vitamix without a DRY container? I’m scared to ruin it!
Have a great Monday!
Dont you love when you meet new peeps and hit it off!!?? Love the pics of you two taking pics.
That first shot– geez Louise!!!! This nut butter looks downright luscious!
Funny, I made nut butter this weekend and was wondering if adding chia seeds would work. Now I know for next time!
maple! cinnamon! almonds! flax! hemp! chia!
sorry. I’m a bit excited — these are a few of my favorite things, combined into one lovely spread. I would love some, right now, just a whole jar to myself to graze on all day.
Thanks for this lovely recipe!
That looks and sounds amazing!!! Wish i had a stronger food processor…
I can’t believe Eric doesn’t like nut butter!
I know, eh? He says it’s a texture issue! haha
Craziness! At least he likes chocolate right?
Aaah Angela this sounds SO good! It’s so easy to make your own “nutzo” peanut butter/almond butter without paying $15 or whatever it is. Plus, it’s more fun because you control how much of each ingredient you want to put in. The only thing that sucks is clean up. There is nothing enjoyable about cleaning a sticky, gooey food processor! :P
YUM! This looks so delicious I could probably eat it all on its own! I’ve been meaning to try making my own nut butter in my food processor – I don’t have a Vitamix though so I can’t really advise there. Great photos as usual! :)
Isn’t it nice to just hit it off with someone right away? That is so great!
The nut butter looks amazing — I’ve never tried Naturally Nutty but they have the most interesting flavors!
No clue about your VitaMix question…
Gorgeous nut butter photo. Wow!
I love your nut butter recipes!
I have never made my own nut butter. I have a reason to now! That looks delicious! :-)
This nut butter sounds absolutely divine! And I love how it’s got so much good stuff packed in there! Fabulous!!
Ooo, great photos! The nut butter looks amazing, but I don’t think my little food processor is powerful enough for that…I’m just waiting for a Vitamix. ;-)
I made almond butter last night in a DRY container in the Vitamix. Usually I just use my wet one, because I think it’s more powerful anyway. The DRY container didn’t do as good as a job as my wet container, so I definitely think you could make nut butter in your wet container. Cleanup is a disaster, though. :)
Hey, I was going shopping for the week yesterday and was always thinking I am missing shopping… I was wondering when you make all this delcious things I was wondering what does your usual shopping list entail…? Cause I would like to go to the store perpared next time he he
Oh yum. I think adding flax into nut butter makes it a million times better. And I love the maple addition. That little bit of sweet tastes great, I bet.
I made cashew butter in my standard Vita-Mix container, and it worked really well! I blended JUST cashews– no additional oil or anything– on LOW, and used the tamper to push down the cashews until it was butter-like. I tried the same thing with almonds… and had little success. I didn’t burn-out my blender, but additional oil would have been a good idea!
I think almonds are a harder nut than cashews, so I think any “soft” nut would work well in the Vita-Mix (i.e. cashews, pecans, walnuts). My sister-in-law actually just burned-out her Vita-Mix making coconut butter, so you never know what might do it! Eek! I think I’ll stick to the food processor for my almond butter for now…
ahhh yea that is what scares me!
I had a lot of trouble trying to make coconut butter in my vitamix. In the end, I had to add some coconut oil, and even then, it’s not creamy. I was kind of disappointed :(
But almond butter works just fine in my vitamix!
I make all my nut butters in the vita dry container- no oil or anything.
the trick is to start out at a low speed and use the tamper, and gradually go higher in speed to get is more smooth :)
Looks incredible! Interesting that you baked the nuts and seeds before adding them to the food processor. I probably would have just thrown them in raw. Any difference?
baking them gives the nut butter a really nice roasted flavour, although Im sure you could make it raw if you prefer!
This nut butter sounds so good! I love anything with maple syrup & anything with cinnamon… and now they are both in a nut butter! Have to try!
I’ve never tried making my own nut butter, but it’s definitely on the to-do list since I have a high-quality kitchenaid food processor. This recipe sounds fantastic Angela – I love all the seeds! Wonderful photography as well!
xxoo
Heather