Ginger Bread Almond Butter

I am so FREAKING excited that the holiday season is upon us! The Christmas lights in the streets, window displays, the brisk winter air, it all just makes me so happy! You know those people who start listening to Christmas music at the start of November? Guilty. The Starbucks red coffee cups make me happy and I don’t even go there! So all of this holiday spirit in the air has gotten my mind reeling about festive recipes… this one is the first of many to come.

I love to make homemade nutbutter, and I’ve gotten more creative with my flavors over the past few months. Almond joy butter, baclava butter, honey roasted sunflower seed buter, the list goes on. My most recent creation, Gingerbread Almond Butter, is perfect for slathering on some pancakes or one of my 3 minute english muffins. Or eating a spoonful (or three) straight out of the jar

I know molasses isn’t technically Paleo, but it’s what gives the most authentic gingerbread flavor. AND it has a lot of vitamins and minerals, so a tablespoon here and there during the holidays won’t do any damage. Did you know a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses has 20% of your recommended calcium intake, 22.5% of your recommended magnesium intake and almost 40% of your recommended iron intake! If that’s not enough justification I don’t know what is.

Gingerbread Almond Butter

1 1/2 cups almonds (you can sub some of them for walnuts or pecans)
1 1/2 Tbsp molasses, treacle, honey or maple syrup
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
up to 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil

1. Roast the almonds on a baking tin at 400 F for 10 minutes
2. Let the almonds cool, then place into your food processor with the molasses, spices and vanilla.
3. Process until creamy, scraping the sides down as needed. This may take 5-10 minutes depending on the strength of your food processor. Add melted coconut oil as needed to thin it out and speed up the process.
4. Voila! Store in a jar in the fridge for up to a month.

Filed under: Recipes, Sweet Bites Tagged: almond, nut butter