Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter

This maple cinnamon almond butter is so easy to make, you’ll never want to buy store bought again!

It’s Wednesday!

You know that means you get to see all my meals in their delicious glory, but this week is a bonus because there’s an awesome recipe involved too for homemade almond butter with notes of cinnamon and maple syrup, something I’ve pretty much wanted to try out for years and finally just got around to.

Let it be known that I shall never buy a store bought version again.

But first, the food.

Hi, I’m a food blogger and I had oatmeal for breakfast. Stereotype much?

I’m not explaining it, it’s just oats and toppings.

Moving on…

Lunch:

Slightly burnt grilled cheese, except not cheese at all.

Instead, 1 hard boiled egg, edamame dip, a pickle and smoked paprika.

Odd and delicious. A Honeycrisp apple was eaten on the side.

Dinner:

Every WIAW post I seriously cringe when it comes to posting the dinner picture.

They’re all tinted a horrible yellow no matter what settings I shoot in and no post editing can even fix it.

Regardless, dinner was really good.

One of those simple meals that turns out surprisingly well.

Broiled salmon with a mustard, thyme glaze and a spiced up collard greens/rice mixture similar to this collard green side dish recipe.

I spent $16 on what you see here x2 (just over a pound of salmon) and I kind of cringed at the store when I realized how much he cut but then thought how much a piece of salmon for 1 person would be in a restaurant and I quickly got over it and realized it was quite a deal for wild Alaskan King.

Go big or go home.

And lastly, dessert. Which I have no shame admitting was a spoonful (or two) of this maple cinnamon almond butter.

It’s THAT good.

Trader Joe’s almond butter and I had a thing.

I think it’s the best one out there and I can go through a jar in about a week by myself.

Trader Joe’s is about 40 minutes away though so I was bound to run out one time or another.

A few weeks ago, it happened.

I freaked and bought Barney Butter as a replacement from my local grocery store. NOT THE SAME!

I know some people rave about Barney Butter, but I’m not a fan to put it nicely.

I choked down the last of Barney yesterday morning in my oatmeal and decided it was finally time to give homemade almond butter butter a shot.

Guys, this stuff is life changing.

No more guessing which brands are drippy, which aren’t, paying upwards of $10 a jar for any sort of “flavoring” and most importantly, no more having to stir the oil back into the nut butter when you open it.

If that last one isn’t reason enough to make your own, I obviously can’t convince you because I loathe that task with a capital L and would pay someone to do it for me.

Making your own nut butter is a bit of a nerve wracking experience.

Just when you think nothing is going to happen after watching it process for 10 minutes or so, it all of a sudden starts to turn into creamy goodness and you breath a sigh of relief.

Unless you’re making macadamia nut butter because that one comes together in just 3 minutes. It’s a great recipe if you’re short on time and makes the most lusciously creamy nut butter!

Of course I couldn’t just make any regular almond butter.

Why settle for regular when you have options? Sweet options!

Maple syrup, cinnamon and vanilla to be exact.

It’s the simplest of flavorings but I’ve started adding it to all my homemade nut and seed butters. I especially love it in pumpkin seed butter.

You can leave it out if you think you want to use your homemade almond butter for a savory recipe like almond butter fall pasta but if it’s for breakfast or dessert options only, I definitely recommend adding the maple syrup and cinnamon!

I’m sorry Trader Joe’s, we had a good run but it’s time for me to move on.

It’s not you, it’s me.