Almond Butter

My recipe: a delight of almond butter

Cashew, nut and almond butter … these terms have become increasingly common and, thankfully, increasingly used as an alternative to the usual fatty substances such as butter and margarine.

The term butter comes from the Greek butyron or bûs ‘cow’ and tyron ‘cheese’, which later became beurre in ancient French.

The word butter, is therefore used improperly, probably chosen to enhance its high fat content. But beware, not all fats are the same. The fats contained in milk butter are saturated fats, while monounsaturated fats prevail in almond butter. Here is the content in 100 g:

Composition for 100 g	Almond butter	Milk butter
Lipids	55,5	81
Saturated fats	4,15	51,36
Monounsaturated fats	32,44	21
Polyunsaturated fats	13,61	3,04
Cholesterol	0	250 mg
Fibers	10,3	0
Proteins	20,96	0,8
Trans fat –	0	6

What stands out is the noticeable difference in the quality of fat, the fiber content and the percentage of protein.

Saturated fats are related to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer. They are found mainly in animal fats and are the major source of lipids in the typical Western diet. ^1.2

A careful look at the composition of what we put on the table, would allow to limit the medical treatment with statins or even better, the interventions for unraveling arteries filled with atherosclerosis that are blurred in ischemia.

But here is a way to produce their own almond butter, which allows us to make a good dose of good fats, proteins and fibers for our precious second brain, the intestine.

Randomized controlled trials show that the daily consumption of about 30 g of almonds plays a protective role for cardiovascular risk. ³

I am a big supporter of dried fruit snacks – just as I write I have my little container nearby. They allow to be sated for long time, bring many things useful for our body (magnesium, calcium, selenium, copper) and are so good! The only side effect … one leads to another, so leave home with your ‘dose’ and eat it as needed but in a limited way.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups of organic almonds – about 400 g – I choose almonds with their peel

3 c. d. c. of oil – neutral flavor like avocado or sunflower – if you decide not to grill them

INDICATIONS

• Turn on the oven at 150 ° C
• In a baking tray, spread carefully the almonds, trying not to overlap them.
• cook for about 12 minutes
• Let the almonds cool for about half an hour (attention, danger: at this moment the house will be invaded by an inviting aroma of grilled almonds, you will hear a crunch coming from the plate due to the peel that separates from the fruit: avoid finishing them all before prepare the butter! AH Ah Ah!)
• Once cooled, pour them into your powerful food processor (I use the Thermomix, could be Kitchenaid, Cookeo, Vitamix)
• Every 15 seconds, push down the batter from the walls downwards;
• Repeat several times
• After about 1 minute and a half you should find this soft cream, flowing and without lumps;
• Transfer to an airtight glass container and store it for weeks in the fridge (because I like it at room temperature, keep it in the pantry, for now, it never went wrong).

• If you prefer not to grill almonds, the procedure is the same but you have to add oil. Compared to other nuts, almonds are less oily. The heat of the oven allows to release the natural oils and does not require any addition.

Bibliography

1. Diet and risk of coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes

Prof JI Mann, Lancet

pubblished march 05, 2014 doi.org

1. Effects on Coronary Heart Disease of Increasing Polyunsaturated Fat in Place of Saturated Fat: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Dariush Mozaffarian, Renata Micha,,Sarah Wallac

Published: March 23, 2010 doi.org

1. Effects of almond consumption on the reduction of Ldl-cholesterol: a discussion of potential mechanisms and future research directions

Claire E Berryman Amy Griel Preston Wahida Karmally Richard J Deckelbaum Penny M Kris-Etherton

Nutrition Reviews, Volume 69, Issue 4, 1 April 2011, Pages 171–185, doi.org

        Published:01 April 2011