Do you have a favorite childhood food?? One that when you eat it reminds you of your childhood and all those memories come flooding back?!📷
Growing up, when I was a kid, I had peanut butter and apples literally every. single. day. for an afterschool snack. My grandmother would cut an apple into the most perfect wedges and then ever so carefully smear each surface with chunky peanut butter. Each wedge was then precisely placed on a paper napkin, ready for me to eat. It became a part of my day and I couldn't start my homework until I had my daily fix. There was something about biting into those crunchy, juicy apple slices combined with the salty, chunky peanut butter that allowed me to decompress after a long school day.
Until today, every time I eat apples and almond butter I get transported right back to my 11-year-old self and I can see myself sitting at my childhood kitchen table, with the radio on in the background, eating my favorite snack. Fast forward a few years to when my kids started coming home from school starving and I mean staaaarving, as if they hadn't eaten in 3 days. So, of course, the most natural after school snack that I could think of, that was filling and nutritious was peanut butter and apples! The only problem is that once I started to pay attention to the ingredient and nutrition label I saw that it was loaded with sugars, oils, and fats that were totally unnecessary and pretty unhealthy as well. :/ My favorite childhood snack wasn't so healthy after all.
But, I couldn't give up on my favorite snack - so I decided to try and make my own. I was surprised to see how easy it was to make. I mean it doesn't get any simpler than this. It is one of those things that you don't think of making on your own, but once you see how easy it is, you wonder why you haven't been doing it this way all along. One of the biggest benefits of making your own almond butter is knowing and controlling what ingredients are used. You can also add fun flavors like chocolate, coffee or vanilla to change things up a bit.
📷This is the perfect thing to make for Passover. It's easy to make, uses minimal kosher for Passover ingredients, is super versatile and gives some variation (and some vegan protein) to the constant matzah and chicken dinners. I love making coffee-flavored almond butter for Passover. I like mine a bit chunkier, so I blend it for less time. The longer you blend it, the smoother it gets.
For lots more Passover recipes, tips, menu plans and checklists download the complete Stress-free Passover Guide now!
xxx
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Homemade Almond Butter
Ingredients 25-ounce bag of raw almonds
1 tspn salt
1 tspn prepared coffee optional
2 tspn vanilla optional
1/8 cup oil optional, as needed
Instructions 1. Place almonds in a heavy-duty blender. 2. Blend for about 5 minutes until nuts start to become a bit chunky. 3. Add in salt, coffee, and vanilla. 4. Blend an additional 10-15 minutes. 5. Slowly drizzle in oil as needed to smooth it out. It is not necessary to use the oil since almond has their own natural oil. 6. Blend up to an additional 15 minutes until it reaches your preferred consistency. 7. Store in an airtight container. It will last a couple of weeks.