Almonds are an expensive commodity. Their byproducts are even more pricey. Saving money is simple, though, with a Vitamix. And making almond meal and raw almond butter could not be easier
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Almond Meal:
2 cups raw, unblanched almonds
Put all the almonds in the machine. Start on variable speed 1 and increase to 10, take the tamper and move around all the nuts. Within a minute the whole nuts will become a powder- meal. Just turn the Vitamix off when the almond meal is to the consistency you desire.
(p.s. the only difference between almond meal and almond flour is that almond meal uses almonds that still have the skin on)
Almond Butter:
2 cups raw, unblanched almonds
Put all the almonds in the machine. Start on variable speed 1 and increase to 10, then to high. Push the nuts into the blades with the tamper. It will take about 5 minutes for the nuts to release their oils and create a creamy almond butter. The machine will start to get hot and steam will probably escape out of the container, but that is okay, this is normal and the Vitamix can handle it!
Someone asked me if they can make almond meal in a Vitamix. Thanks for the details. It appears there is no difference it and a food processor for this recipe.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, some companies that sell almond meal use almonds with the skin still on them, but others do not, such as Bob's Red Mill. I love it when they use blanched almonds. It has a sweeter, less bitter flavor.
Carla,
DeleteThank you for reading! You could probably use a regular food processor for grinding almonds into almond meal but I would feel safe in saying it would be difficult to turn raw almonds into almond butter unless you use a Vitamix. I made peanut butter in my mother's food processor and it was a real strain on the machine. Almonds are much more complex since it takes a lot of power to break down their oils and create that creamy texture.
Hi there, which blender jar did you use? Wet or dry blade? I tried the dry blade jar to make almond flour and it ended up a sticky mess of half almond butter and half almond meal. Not sure what I did wrong. Sarah
ReplyDeleteI used the wet blade, perhaps that makes a difference.
DeleteSarah, The difference between almond meal and almond butter is time. If you wanted almond meal, you processed it for too long. You want to stop at the point that it's still meal, before it starts to turn into butter.
DeleteThanks for the tutorial! It only took 10-20 seconds in the Vitamix for almond meal, any more and it started to turn to butter... Also, I used regular almonds, skin on, roasted, and it works just fine- we haven't noticed any bitterness in our baking so far :)
ReplyDeleteattempting to make almond meal, I used the wet blade, did 1 and 1/2 cups, and my almonds turned to half butter/half chunks in 30 seconds or less. perhaps my almonds needed to be more dry? I thought I did make almond meal a long time ago, in this vitamix. the wet blade did a lovely job making quinoa flour, however.
ReplyDeleteThat was quick for them to even partially turn into butter-consistency. I would suggest taking the speed down to maybe 5 and see how the almonds turn, then adjust the speed accordingly. Hope this helps!
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