We all know that it’s always better to make your own food, rather than getting a quick bite for fast food. But how about creating your own vegan products?
Within this series I’m talking about some vegan products that I’m going to make myself. After that I’ll be looking at some categories and see if it actually makes sense to make it your own.
The categories will be:
- Cost
- Time
- Taste
This article was built on the idea of making my own tofu. There are so much more things to learn how to make! But I’ve also learned that they aren’t always that great.
And at the end you’ll even get a free recipe for you to make it! That is if you don’t change your mind and decide to run into the groceries store.
This article we’ll be making Almond Butter!
Homemade Almond Butter
It’s actually quite easy to make your own almond butter, but is it worth it? Here you’ll find the recipe, but make sure you scroll down to see my opinion!
- Prep Time 15 Minutes
- Cook Time 20 Minutes
- Total Time 35 Minutes
Ingredients
- 2 Cups / 500 gr of Almonds
- Food Processor
Instructions
- Spread your almonds onto a baking sheet and put in the oven on 180°C/350°F for about 15 minutes.
- Take them out when they are a bit golden brown. Don't let them burn!
- Put them in the food processor.
- Blend for about 20 Minutes.
- Put in a jar and keep in your fridge for about 1 Month
Notes
It looks very simple and in a way it is. There are just a couple of stages that you need go through when you are processing your almonds. Don’t give up and go through each and every one of them!
First stage: you’ll be getting an almond flour, keep on processing!
Second stage: the flour gets a bit stickier, make sure you push all the flour down from the walls of the processor.
Third stage: It will form a ball of sticky almond flour. Don’t give up now, you’re nearly there!
Fourth stage: The sticky flour ball will release its oils and form a butter!
And that’s all it takes to make your own Almond Butter!
In between stage three and four you can add sugar if you’d like a sweet bread spread, or salt if you’d like to have it a bit saltier.
Most food processors are equipped to withstand something. You’ll be blending 20 minutes straight though. So it might be good to stop for a minute or 2 in between stages, just to let it cool down.
Is It Worth It?
Now that you’ve read the recipe, you might think: easy peasy lemon squeezy! And yes, it really is this easy.
But let’s look at some other categories too before we make our conclusion!
Cost
I didn’t do a complete market research, so these prices are only based on the prices in Portugal. However, they might be different in different countries and might not represent the cost at your place.
Just make sure you also do your research. You get one little jar out of 2 cups or 500 grams of almonds.
So, I’ve gone into the supermarkets and I first checked out the cheapest almonds available. I didn’t really mind about organic as I was aware that almonds on its own are quite expensive.
So, the cheapest I found were €2.40 for a bag of 250 grams, or 1 cup. For two bags it costed me €4.80.
When I looked online at Portuguese health stores to see the price of almond butter, I saw really different prices.
The cheapest being €5 and the most expensive one begin €15.
I do have to mention that the 5 euros one was on sale, so it’s not the best representation.
So, price-wise it’s quite the same. If you don’t mind that your almonds aren’t organic, then you might save a little bit of money on it. But not that much to be honest.
So, is it worth it regarding price? Maybe.
Time
Well, I think I’ve mentioned it already, it’s not that time consuming.
You put it all in the food processor and you blend it for 20 minutes and that’s it!
So, I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily taking a lot of time. Especially because you don’t have to stir or anything. You just have to be in the same room probably but that’s about it. You can read a magazine while your processor is doing its thing.
So, is it worth time-wise? Yes! Especially if you are like me living 1 hour away from the closest health shop.
Taste
Regarding taste I don’t have a lot to compare. I always felt that almond butter is really expensive in my area and never bought it myself. I tasted it once a long time ago and I wasn’t so fond of it.
Now I had a similar experience where I thought it was a bit weird as you get a bittersweet and salty taste. Which is just not something that my taste buds are used to.
But I do have to say that I did like it in the end when I got used to it.
I also like to mention that regarding texture it is a bit different. I always feel that these nut butters have a lot of fat on them. And this one didn’t have that at all.
Remember as well that there is nothing else in here, no oils, no conservatories, so it’s more natural than even your organic nut butter.
So taste-wise? Yes it is worth it.
Stonewall Kitchen Creamy Almond Butter, 10 oz (283.5 g) - $15.95
from: Yummy Bazaar
Conclusion
So, that are two yes’ and a maybe. So it might actually be worth it!
I also have to mention that it is really worth it for me as it’s not so convenient for me to find almond butter in the supermarket around here. There is a health store one hour away from me, but the almond butter there is about 10 euros a jar.
Is this also you? Then you might want to create your own almond butter!
If not, it might be good to just go and buy it. Prices aren’t that different and processing of the almonds are mostly the same with every type of company. The only difference is that they might use some products to preserve the butter.
So, what do you think? Are you going to make your own almond butter? Let me know in the comment section down below!
Thanks for the Almonds butter recipe! I want to admit that this is worth a price to learn. It’s a piece of information everyone is supposed to pay for. I quite agree with you that most of us would prefer to make our own food ourselves at home, but there could be many circumstances that warrant us going to fast food to get some food items. I don’t think I know where to find almonds in my location, but I will try doing my research first. Thanks again!
Joyce
Thank you Joyce, I’m glad you liked it! I didn’t really mention it, but you can actually also make it from a wide arrangement of nuts. If almonds are hard to find at your place, try with cashews, walnut, … the process is the exact same! Just make sure that you use unsalted nuts.