This past Memorial Day, my dad and I set our alarms to ring before the crack of dawn, and we climbed into the car shortly after 6:30 am. As we eased down my grandparents’ driveway, a few tiny raindrops lightly landed on the windshield, and they continued to lazily splatter down from the dark gray sky as we left San Diego and sped up the freeway, slowing only once we reached Los Angeles.
By the time we drove over the Grapevine mountain pass and began cruising through central California, all of those monotonous flat yellow fields and cow pastures flying by outside our windows, we only spotted a couple of small, puffy white clouds in the bright baby blue sky. When we reached our house about 7 hours after we started the trip, the thermometer outside read 99°F—nearly 40°F above the San Diego weather that morning!
Since I felt fairly tired that afternoon (5 hours of sleep doesn’t work for me… I’m the type of person who needs at least 8 hours every night!) yet still had lots of work to do to prepare for my Healthier Chocolate Treats eCookbook release on June 1 (yes, it’s available for purchasing now here!), I wandered into the kitchen after unpacking my suitcase and measured out a few tablespoons of coffee grounds. Minutes later, the coffee maker chimed, and I poured myself a tall glass of iced coffee, stuck in a straw, and started sipping while I typed.
Because nearly 3 years had passed since I last enjoyed iced coffee, I had completely forgotten just how much I love it. That dark, rich taste (I always drink it black, just like my dad!), so cold and refreshing… I immediately became hooked all over again, and I’ve made it (although decaf instead—I’m super sensitive to caffeine! ?) almost every single day since then!
And now, I can’t stop thinking about coffee-flavored treats. I’ve been craving these cookies, this granola, and this cake like crazy! Especially that cake… It’s one of my all-time favorites!
So when I pulled out my blender to make another round of homemade nut butter last week, I immediately knew what fun flavor twist I wanted to put on it… Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter! I gave some to my dad after he finished work that day, and he loved that rich coffee flavor paired with the warm vanilla just as much as I did. Thank goodness it’s so easy to make—we’ll need to whip up another batch really soon!
If you follow me on Snapchat (I’m @AmyBakesHealthy!), you already know how much I enjoy my homemade nut butters. I mix up a batch of my easy blender cashew butter or easy blender peanut butter almost every week because I eat them so quickly… And this almond butter is just as simple!
To start, you’ll need a high-powered food processor or a blender with sharp blades and a strong motor. I absolutely love my Ninja! This is the one that I have, which comes with a food processor (and a smaller bowl, in case you only want to make a half batch!), a blender, and three single-serving smoothie mugs. I use it every single day—it’s been the best purchase and investment I’ve made!
Next, you’ll need roasted unsalted almonds. Very few stores sell roasted and unsalted; many carry either roasted and salted or unsalted and raw. I prefer buying the latter and roasting them myself because it takes very little time. Simply pop a tray of almonds into the oven at 350°F for 7-10 minutes—that’s it! Just remember to let the almonds cool completely before turning them into almond butter!
For the fun flavor, you’ll use espresso grounds and vanilla extract. I highly recommend espresso grounds, rather than regular coffee grounds! While they both come from the same beans, espresso is ground more finely, which means that your almond butter will be smoother. Regular coffee grounds can sometimes add a grainy texture to your nut butter. These are the espresso grounds that I used!
Now comes the easy part… Add the almonds to your blender or food processor, turn it on, and let it do all of the work! You may need to occasionally scrape down the sides, but that’s as involved as it gets. Once the almond butter looks fairly smooth, add the espresso, vanilla, and salt to taste, turn the machine back on, and let it continue whirring until everything is completely incorporated.
Then grab a spoon and dig in! And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees that I’ll see the notification from you! ?) I’d love to see your almond butter and feature it in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter | | Print |
- 2 cups (286g) roasted unsalted almonds*
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla extract
- 2 tsp espresso grounds
- ¼ tsp salt
- Add the almonds to a high-powered food processor or blender, and blend the almonds until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Add the vanilla, espresso, and salt. Blend until everything is fully incorporated and smooth. Transfer to a glass jar or airtight container, and refrigerate.
For the best results, use true espresso grounds. Espresso is ground more finely than regular coffee, so the almond butter will have a smoother texture. Regular coffee grounds may be substituted in a pinch, but you’ll want to add them once the almonds are fully broken up and resemble chunky almond meal, rather than once the almond butter is fully creamy. This will help achieve the smoothest texture possible.
Feel free to adjust the amount of vanilla, espresso, and salt to suit your tastes!
This is the blender and food processor system that I own. I use it every single day, and it has been the best kitchen investment I've made!
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low carb, sugar-free}
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You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Almond Joy Almond Butter
♥ Cinnamon Roll Almond Butter
♥ Easy Blender Almond Butter
♥ Easy Blender Peanut Butter
♥ Easy Blender Cashew Butter
Oooo I’m all about the vanilla/espresso combo! This looks so delicious Amy! 🙂 I have to sleep for at least 8 hours too otherwise I’m basically a walking zombie hahaha
“Walking zombie” is the perfect description for me too Marina! 😉 I’d gladly share a spoonful of this with you!
Wish I had some of this right now!! 4th of July festivities + an 8 am start today = a sleep deprived Andrea!!
I wish I could give you some Andrea!! I thought you were up early this morning, judging by the timestamp of your comment on the IG photo of my mom and me… 😉 Hope you’re getting through it all! And thank you SO much for making time for the baseball game and seeing me on Saturday! ♥
i’m so guilty of always buying my nut butters – totally need to start making them myself! thanks for the delicious recipe – and i LOVE the addition of espresso! X
Thanks Thalia! I do the same thing too sometimes — store-bought it just so convenient. 😉 I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to make this at home sometime!
Hi James! I am sorry to hear that! My only thought is that you used dry roasted almonds. This has happened to me and it s such a bummer! You have to use roasted almonds that have been roasted, rather than dry roasted. The roasted almonds release oils where dry roasted do not.
Thanks for sharing your tip Gail! 🙂
This turned out terrible. Twice. I hate wasting food!
That sounds disappointing Kaye. What do you mean by “terrible?” Was it the taste, texture, or something else? I’d love to work together to figure out what happened!
When you say grounds do you mean ones that you have already brewed? Or fresh grounds??? I don’t want to sound slow but……..
Fresh grounds! If you click on the pink text in my recipes, like “espresso grounds,” it’ll show you the exact products that I use. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this almond butter Robyn!
Hi!! I made this twice (in the same night). The first batch turned out perfectly! So so good. The second one I made I added more espresso and the almonds kind of seized up. It didn’t turn out as silky smooth. Would you happen to have any ideas why? At any rate I will definitely be making it again. I made chocolate pecan butter and let me tell you. That was AWESOME!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Robyn! 🙂 Did you use different almonds for the second batch? What blender/food processor did you use? How long did you wait after batch #1 before making batch #2? I think we can get this sorted out! 🙂
Hi Amy (again-sorry!)
I used same almonds. I have a cuisinart food processor. It does a great job. But I didn’t wait between batches. Maybe it was tired and needed a rest? (It still tastes GREAT!) big sign. I just like when it’s creamy.
You never have to apologize for leaving me a comment Robyn! 🙂 That’s exactly what I was thinking — your machine was probably overworked and may have overheated. If you carefully touch the blade after making nut butter, you’ll probably notice that it feels really warm. It’s good to wait in between batches to let your machine’s motor/belt/inner gears/etc cool down. The amount of time varies with the brand and machine, but 15-20 minutes is usually a very safe bet! 😉 Also, if you still have your chunkier almond butter, it may be possible to add it back to the food processor and turn it silky smooth now. If you try that, it may also help determine whether the issue was your machine being overworked!