This maple roasted vanilla almond cashew butter is so smooth and creamy it almost tastes like frosting.
Oh look, it’s Monday.
By today I was supposed to have 5 different meals cooked and ready for the week, have visited Homegoods, Salvation Army, Sam’s Club, the grocery store and cleaned my house.
Those were the “must dos”.
But somewhere around 2am Saturday morning I woke up with that nagging chalkiness in the back of your throat that you just know means you’re getting sick and then proceeded to spend the rest of the weekend on the couch finishing Divergent (awesome, awesome read by the way) and doing the bare minimum which somehow translated to baking these high protein cinnamon cake bars, a trip to Sam’s Club (only because our membership expires in a month and we’re not renewing it. I now have enough napkins to last until I’m 40 and 36,000 sheets of toilet paper) and 1 cleaned room in my house because I was getting out of breath from pushing the vacuum.
Does that happen to anyone else when you’re sick?
I was literally eating carrots yesterday and gasping for air as my mouth was shut trying to chew.
Weird.
Apparently, the bare minimum also meant making cashew butter.
Here’s my logic…
I have to have a nut butter besides peanut butter open at all times.
I just do.
In my mind peanut butter has very specific uses while all other nut butters are much more flexible (I’m aware of how loony this sounds, don’t worry).
We also happened to just finish off the last of the almond butter the other day.
Now, I totally have like 4 Trader Joe’s almond butters in my pantry but the effort of mixing the oil into the rest of the jar was just too overwhelming.
Especially, when chewing carrots makes you lose your breath.
I might’ve needed my inhaler for an event like nut butter mixing and that was upstairs. Stairs also equal an olympic feat for my lungs while sick.
Solution?
Stay on the same level in the house, roast cashews because I’ve been meaning to make cashew butter for awhile anyway and have a new nut butter ready to go with the simple press of “pulse” on the food processor.
Mouth happy, lungs happy and the damn black ants that invade my kitchen every year at this time happy to eat the crumbs off the floor.
Ever felt an ant being squished in a paper towel between your fingers? They kind of “pop”, it’s gross and satisfying (when you’ve been tormented by them for 5 days now) at the same time.
And since that’s not the most appetizing visual to end on, how about these roasted maple cashews instead?
If you can resist maple syrup roasted cashews straight out of the oven, I promise they make for one hell of a no-stir butter.
MORE HOMEMADE NUT BUTTER RECIPES TO TRY:
Creamy Vanilla Macadamia Nut Butter
Spicy Chocolate Walnut Butter
Roasted Almond Pecan Pumpkin Butter
Pumpkin Seed Butter
Java Almond Butter
Maple Roasted Vanilla Almond Cashew Butter
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain cashews
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toss cashews and maple syrup in a medium bowl to fully coat.
- Spread onto baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes, tossing once.
- Let cashews cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to food processor.
- Process for about 5-7 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed until completely smooth.
- Add salt, vanilla & almond extract and process again for another minute until smooth and creamy.
- Top with a sprinkle of salt.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
oh gosh this sounds amazing. I’ve never had cashew butter but love raw cashews. Right now I have homemade almond and sunflower seed butters on hand, I typically always have two kinds also. They can be used for such different things.
This looks so good – I love roasted nut butter. This looks like it was meant for a big bowl of oats. Or just a toasted English muffin (love those nooks for the PB).
I had big plans for it on top of a buckwheat protein bake this morning and then I realized I left the protein powder out and ended up topping it with a protein, yogurt, milk mixture to get that protein in instead of the cashew butter. So sad. :(
I can’t tell you how many times I decided not to open a new jar of nut butter because I didn’t feel like stirring the oil back in. I actually dump the whole container into a larger bowl and stir that way, so I don’t get oil all over the counter. Of course, it creates more dirty dishes. Which is why I often talk myself out of opening a new jar.
I’m in the throes of a mad love affair with cashews right now, so this nutter butter looks absolutely glorious!
So glad I’m not the only one! Someone told me on twitter this morning that storing the jar upside down helps with the separation. I’ve already flipped mine!
Get the earplugs ready because this looks amazingly good and well worth any hearing loss from all that blending :)
I hope you feel better Gina!! Being sick is the worst. I’m really excited about this recipe!! Especially if it almost tastes like icing!! I also can’t wait to try your protein coffee bread.
Sorry you don’t feel good, that stinks!
As for the butter? Now THAT looks like something that’s going to top my oatmeal SOON!
First off, no bueno that you’re sick :( I hope you feel better soon! I always feel like everything is that much harder to finish or deal with when I’m sick. My sister says I’m overly dramatic and exaggerate how I’m feeling, but I’m weak and think she’s just being a poo-head. lol. Aside from that, this sounds so good! I wasn’t a huge fan of almond butter, but I’ve wanted to try cashew butter. The sweetness you’ve incorporated into this seems like something I could definitely try and enjoy!
I am drooling.
ooo, roasted cashews into a butter..omg you are amazing. this looks and sounds SOOO good. I bet it’s got a super good nutty flavor too from the roasting. I can honestly just taste this already. I hope you’re feeling better! I wonder how sickness strikes..I mean, you always just wake up and your throat is all nasty..it’s like overnight it decides “hey, I’m going to infest you” or something. I never understood that, like why not during the day? haha
Buying cashews after work so I can make this.
Do it.