spread it on honey

Last year during Lent our good friends Hannah and Matthew introduced me to a great little Lenten indulgence: Almond Butter.  It's really thick and has a great flavor.  Last Lent I think I ate it every morning spread on whole wheat toast with a schmear of unfiltered honey.  It was a wonderful breakfast.  

You can purchase it freshly ground at Whole Foods.  But oh baby it's pricey!  Don't even get me started about how much it costs in the jars.  This Lent, with my unemployed person's budget, I figured it was high time to learn how to make the stuff myself.  

Today I made a quick stop into Costco, I purchased a Costco cash card for my monthly gas budget, so now I have no excuse to spend more money at another station! While I was there I picked up a container of dry roasted almonds.  Tonight when I got home from church, I set out to create my very own almond butter.  

I started with the almonds processed in my food processor.  But, since these almonds are pretty dry they weren't coming together, and it was a bit too savory for my liking.  So, I added honey.  But the thing is, our honey is crystallized (still totally safe, just not fresh) so it didn't do much for the consistency.  So I added a bit of oil to make things spreadable.  

Woah.  Bring on breakfast!!!  (Actually I plan to share this with my dear friend Liz first thing tomorrow morning...  Liz is one lucky gal.)

Here's my recipe:

2 Cups almonds  (I used dry roasted, but you can use whatever you like, I suggest adding some salt if you plan to use unsalted almonds.)

1/2 Cup honey

1-2 T oil (for consistency)

Blend together in food processor until it reaches a spreadable consistency.  Spread and enjoy!

PS- that's not my picture... but it looks a whole lot like it, I promise.