Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Homemade Nut Butter

Hey Guys,

Did you all have a lovely weekend? 
Remember in my last post how I tried Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter for the first time and nearly died it was so good?


Well, as soon I had my first bite, I thought: I need this.

Unfortunately, I try to be frugal and hate wasting money. There was no way I was going to spend nigh-ten dollars on a small pot of Justin's nut butter when I could buy a huge 32 oz. tub of Crunchy 365 for $3.99.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. And I needed that dark chocolate nut butter. Forget the fact that I just bought Dark Chocolate Dreams a few days ago (on sale, mind you!). I needed it. So the next day, I was swirling around the kitchen once again, selecting ingredients, when suddenly...

... A second unfortunately stood between me and Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. No Hazelnuts. It was a disaster. What was I to do? Go out and buy a rather uncommon nut? (Trust me, since then I've gone to three stores and checked their nut sections. No luck.) Run over to my bemused neighbors and fall to my knees, begging and pleading for... hazelnuts? Please? Please?

Er, no.

So I settled for walnuts.



Chocolate Banana Walnut Butter
  
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup raw walnuts
  • 1/4 cup (or less) mix of sweetened and unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 banana
Could that possibly be it? Uh, well, yes actually, it's super simple and easy to make!

(Note: I made only half the recipe at first, but it didn't yield much, so I made another batch. Don't worry if the amounts in the pictures are smaller than the recommended amounts.)

Instructions:


1. Gather your ingredients


2. Measure out 1 cup of walnuts and blend in a food processor until you reach a rather moist, thick texture...



... then blend some more

I know it takes a while, patience is a virtue!

 3. Add in cocoa powder and continue to blend.


4. Taste.
Oh my - so bitter!
6. The butter should be pretty thick and bitter now. If you like the flavor - great! You can jump to step 8. If not, add a chopped, ripe banana to the mix, and blend.

Bannnnnnnanananana.
Am I the only one to see something rather.. phallic in this picture?

 Slice up the nanner and dump it in the blender.
 
Beautiful
7. Blend, blend, blend, until you reach a nice, smooth consistency.


8. Store the butter in a container and keep it in the fridge.


Enjoy as you would any nut butter! But seriously guys, this stuff is amazing. It tastes just like dark chocolate, but creamy and blended... Expensive dark chocolate frosting... Mmm.

Even my dad, who cringed, wary of the latest 'healthy food' I was trying to force on him, was shocked at how good it was.

I had it with my Greek Yogurt and jam the other night. Oh my God. So, so good. It literally melted in my mouth it was so creamy. The banana makes all the difference. Healthy and drop dead delicious. What more can you ask for in life?
Do you like flavored nut butters (i.e. chocolate, maple...)?
Yes! Chocolate nut butter is to die for, in my opinion (in case you hadn't noticed!)


Favorite nut butter?
Peanut Butter, all the way. 365 has my heart for a reason ;)

2 comments:

  1. What an awesome creation! Your nut butter looks delish :)

    ReplyDelete