One of my many favorite healthy indulgences is almond butter. But as a health coach, I know that it’s ideal to soak/sprout your almonds before eating them to enhance digestion & absorption; to activate the live enzymes; to alkalize the nut and remove some of the enzyme inhibitors and anti-nutrients.
In the store I can usually find raw almond butter, but raw, sprouted almond butter is a little harder to come by … and usually pretty pricey. The other day, I finally decided to make my own. It’s ridiculously simple (with the right tools), much less expensive than buying even regular raw almond butter, and TOTALLY delicious! Here’s how to whip up your own batch …
You’ll need a food processor and a dehydrator. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can buy raw sprouted, dehydrated almonds at most Whole Foods now, but that definitely brings the cost up.
You can also try drying your almonds in the oven on the lowest temperature possible. Ideally at 110 degrees or below.
- Get your hands on at least 2 cups raw organic almonds
- Put your almonds in a bowl and cover with filtered water with a pinch of salt
- Let them soak overnight or at least 8 hours
- Drain and rinse (discard the water or feed it to your plants)
- Dehydrate the almonds for about 8-12 hours (until fully dry)
- Put the dried almonds into the food processor with the “S” blade attachment. You can add a pinch of salt or 2 for flavor.
- Process for about 10 minutes until smooth and desired texture is reached. The almonds need some time to release the natural oils. You may need to scrape down the sides of the work bowl a few times during this time.
- Viola! Raw, sprouted, delicious almond butter!
