Vegan butter is high in demand due to its nutritious value and its contribution towards saving the environment. One such nutty, creamy and tasty vegan butter is almond butter. Not only is it a healthy alternative to traditional butter in many applications, but it also makes a great snack and food ingredient.
History of Almond Butter
Almond butter is of a more recent invention, but almonds have existed as a food item for thousands of years. Almonds are mentioned in the Bible which dates back to 1400 B.C. For a very long time, almonds have been enjoyed as a delicacy.
Appearance Of Almond Butter
Almond butter looks like most nut butters. It has a light brownish color, which can change depending on whether the almonds are roasted or raw. Some almond butters are grainy while others are ground into a silky smooth paste.
Flavor Of Almond Butter
Almond butter tastes a lot like peanut butter the only difference being that it is nuttier and richer in taste. It also has a sweet and salty flavor to it. Some almond butters can be saltier than others as you can buy both salted and unsalted varieties.
Culinary Benefits
The most common and easy thing that you can prepare with a jar of almond butter is some almond butter cookies. You won’t need a lot of ingredients for preparing these cookies. All you’ll need is some eggs, almond butter, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. You can prepare these delicious cookies as per your liking. Add either chocolate chips or almond chunks, or oats to your cookies.
And if you are not a fan of traditional cookies, then experiment with this cherry cobbler recipe and add some almond butter to it!
Pondering breakfast ideas? Just use some almond butter with the Mocha Almond Oatmeal recipe and your breakfast will be all sorted.
If you are looking for another healthy breakfast offering, you can make almond butter oat bars. Check out this tempting Nutty Oat Bar recipe. It is a perfect on-the-go snack with ingredient that will keep you full.
You can also bake an almond butter honey cake. Imagine a tasty almond butter sandwich with whole-grain bread and honey. This is exactly how this cake tastes! It is a great tea-time snack for you to enjoy!
Talking about classic sandwiches, you could just slather some almond butter on your bread and enjoy it simply, but to make it even tastier, add dark chocolate and pomegranate seeds to the sandwich to elevate the flavor! You could also use almond butter to your grilled cheese sandwich!
To enhance the flavor of your donuts, you can glaze them with some warm almond butter and sprinkle some nuts on top. This will give your donuts a great creamy and nutty flavor.
If you are looking for something with a more savory flavor to it, you should try seasoning some cauliflowers with almond butter and tandoori seasoning. This gives the dish a nice sweet and spicy flavor along with the crunch of the cooked cauliflowers.
Storage
Almond butter can be stored at room temperature, however it stays fresh in the fridge for more than a month and prevents it from going rancid.
Feature Image: Flickr user wuestenigel ( CC BY 2.0 )
