So it is yet another very rainy, cold, windy and altogether depressing day here in Vancouver… yet again – but I refuse to complain about it because guess what?! After today’s downpour, we are supposed to be bombarded with absolutely gorgeous sunshine and warm temperatures all the way through the rest of the week and into the weekend! Hoorayyyy!!!
I could not be happier about the fact that it is supposed to be sunny and gorgeous this weekend, not only because I am like a flower and I pretty much need sun to survive, but also because this weekend it is especially important to me that it stay sunny and beautiful! Why, you ask? Well, because this weekend I am headed down to Birch Bay for with a few of my girlies for a much needed and long overdue girls weekend getaway! Yipee!!
Now, that is not to say that it won’t still be a totally awesome weekend if it does rain, but it really would be so much more amazing if it was sunny! Birch Bay is just beautiful and I would love nothing more than to get out and enjoy some nice looooong walks along the beautiful beaches!!! So as far as I am concerned, it can rain all it wants today, as long as it gets sunny for our girls weekend!
So needless to say, I am pretty excited about this mini getaway down south, and quite frankly I wouldn’t be my over-prepared self if I didn’t plan on bringing at least a couple of homemade yummies, (that are also somewhat healthy,) along for the trip for us gals to indulge in!
So let’s get right down to it shall we? Now if there is one thing in life that I am sure of, it is the fact that a good girls weekend would be a complete and total bust if it was devoid of a certain delicious treat. Can you guess where I am going with this??? I am of the opinion that it is absolutely necessary that any truly good girls weekend must include, in some form or another, the one and the only …. (drumroll please)… CHOCOLATE! Mhmmm – am I right or am I right??
I mean honestly, what kind of girls weekend would we be putting on if we didn’t have a little (or alot) of chocolate to keep us company? Personally I think it would be a very sad girls weekend if we were somehow left chocolateless, so in order to ensure that we are doing this thing up right… I will be contributing an amazing little homemade chocolate snack to help make our weekend just that much more delicious!
So here is a look at one of the delicious snacks I will be bringing along with us this weekend…. Homemade, Dark Chocolate Roasted Almond Butter…… yup! Honestly every time I whip up this positively addicting homemade spread, I have to seriously ask myself why I am still continuing to buy store bought nut butters, when I can make my own homemade versions that I can completely customize to suit all of my flavour preferences and cravings in literally minutes??? Seriously why do I continue to do this????
Clearly I must be crazy, because not only are homemade nut butters seriously delicious, but they are also much healthier than store bought brands! For the sake of comparison to this Chocolate Roasted Almond Butter, let’s use a popular store-bought brand like Nutella for example. Now don’t get me wrong – I am a far cry from a Nutella hater. In fact, I am pretty much addicted to Nutella, but let’s face it people…. Nutella is basically a Chocoaltey Hazelnut icing in a jar masquerading as a “nutritious snack”. Again, let me clarify – I think Nutella s delicious… but despite what it’s commercials would have you believe, it’s not exactly the “healthy” snack that it claims to be. Next time you sit down on the couch with your old pal Nutella and a spoon, just take a moment to have a look at the ingredients label… you might be surprised at what you find.
So when you compare the ingredients in my homemade Dark Chocolate Almond Butter to our store bought friend Nutella, you will clearly see that the healthier choice is the homemade version. This recipe requires only 5 ingredients, and not only are they all ingredients that you can actually pronounce, but they are also most likely ingredients that you will already have stocked and on hand in your pantry- say what!?!!? Oh and did I mention that there is no added oil in my recipe? I know a lot of people like to add coconut oil to their homemade nut butters, but honestly I have found that this additional oil is simply not necessary. There is plenty of natural oil from the Almonds alone, so I personally prefer to keep it as natural as possible and not add any additional oil. Just keepin’ it sweet and simple people ;D
Now for those of you who are healthy beings, and choose to buy the all-natural / organic store bought nut butters, I must first commend you for this because they really are so much better for you (and I personally think much tastier.) However, as most of you probably know, choosing to buy all-natural / organic tends to get a little…. well let’s be real here, it tends to get very expensive. So if you are like me – a girl on a budget, who doesn’t want to sacrifice eating well – then I would definitely encourage you to give making homemade nut butters a try! You can seriously save by making your own homemade, all-natural but butters, and I promise you that they will taste just as good, if not way better than store bought!
There is honestly nothing to making a good homemade nut butter and once you try it once, you will realize that the possibilities are endless! Guaranteed you will be whipping up your own homemade peanut, cashew, almond and hazelnut butters like no other! Honestly all you need is a little food processor or a good blender, some nuts and any other flavorings you want to add such as chocolate, sea salt, cinnamon or vanilla, and you are good to go! I’m not kidding – it really is that simple and if you don’t believe me… just give this recipe a try! I promise you won’t regret it!
This Dark Chocolate Roasted Almond Butter is SERIOUSLY addicting, so as much I want to make it everyday of the week, I try not to make it too often, because I can pretty much consume the whole jar in one sitting if I don’t have somebody to restrain me and my spoon. So consider yourself warned….
Dark Chocolate Roasted Almond Butter
Things you need…
7 oz roasted almonds **(See tip)
2.5 oz dark chocolate
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla
How to make…
Melt the dark chocolate and set aside to cool slightly.
Place the roasted almonds into a food processor and process until smooth & creamy – this should take about 5-8 minutes depending on your processor. Be sure to scrape down the sides of your processor occasionally to ensure evenly blended. Add the melted chocolate, cocoa powder, cinnamon and vanilla; Pulse until completely combined, scraping down the sides of the processor bowl a couple of times.
Storage…
Place the chocolate almond butter into an airtight jar – (I just use little jars from Ikea) – and store in your pantry or in your refrigerator.
**Tip: – If you don’t have roasted almonds on hand, but you do just have raw almonds, you can either simply make the almond butter with the raw almonds, or you can toast them in your oven at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes or until fragrant before processing them.
Honestly, what did I tell you – was that the shortest recipe ever or what!!?? This is a seriously simple Almond Butter spread to make, and it is also seriously delicious and cost effective – oh and we can’t forget seriously way healthier than it’s store-bought counter parts!
I LOVE this Dark Chocolate Roasted Almond Butter. I prefer to use roasted almonds in this recipe because I find that the flavour from the roasted almonds when combined with the rich dark chocolate it just creates the most heavenly flavour pairing. And you can enjoy this amazing little homemade spread on basically everything and it will be delicous! Personally I love to eat it with mini homemade waffle bites that have been dusted with a bit of powdered sugar, as pictured above, but it is equally amazing when paired with toast, (or toast and peanut butter, NOM!), pancakes or crepes or banana bread… honestly enjoy it with whatever your heart desires! You won’t be disappointed 🙂
So here’s to creating homemade nut butters and looking forward to an amazing girls weekend!
Until next time, Happy Baking! <3
KP xoxo
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