In order to miss rush hour traffic last week, I arrived at the airport with plenty of time before my evening flight. Once I walked through security, I found an empty space at a standing desk right next to my gate, and I pulled out my laptop to work.
After editing the photos for this recipe, I glanced at the clock… And still had 45 minutes left before my flight boarded. The Southwest plane hadn’t even reached the gate yet to let the previous passengers off and let us board!
To stretch my legs a bit before sitting on the aircraft, I gathered my bags and walked around the terminal. With its fairly small size, that didn’t take long at all… And I ended up in a little shop to buy a bottle of water a few minutes later.
As I waited in line, I glanced around at the various snacks on display. Lots of sugary candy bars and packages of cookies… Along with a few healthier trail mix options, like traditional GORP (Good Ol’ Raisins + Peanuts!), mixed nuts with pretzels and chocolate chips, and another bag with dried fruit and dark chocolate covered almonds.
Although highly tempted, seeing as I’m a huge chocoholic (I did write this cookbook after all!), I managed to leave the shop with just the water… But since I couldn’t get those dark chocolate covered almonds out of my head, I made the next best thing when I returned home from my trip: this Easy Blender Healthy Dark Chocolate Almond Butter!
It’s seriously the simplest recipe ever… Just 3 ingredients (or 4, if you want to add a little sweetener!) and only takes about 10 minutes to make. That’s definitely music to my ears when I’m in the middle of a gigantic chocolate craving! ??
Because this recipe is so easy, I just have a few quick things to mention! The ingredients you need are roasted unsalted almonds, cocoa powder (the regular kind, like this!), and salt. I loved the flavor of the almond butter just like that, but you could definitely add a little sweetener (like my favorite vanilla stevia or a hint of pure maple syrup!) if you aren’t a fan of really dark chocolaty flavor.
It isn’t always easy to find roasted unsalted almonds, but making your own at home is super simple! Just add raw almonds (sometimes called “natural”) to a baking sheet, and pop that in the oven for a few minutes. Let them cool to room temperature before adding them to your blender!
For the best smooth and creamy almond butter, I highly recommend my Ninja blender! It’s really affordable and durable. I use it every day! Other high-powered models like Vitamix and Blendtec also work.
You need a blender with a strong motor and sharp blades to turn the almonds into creamy nut butter, especially since you’re adding an extra dry ingredient in the form of cocoa powder. With other blender brands, I’ve found the almond butter stays on the chunky side and never turns completely smooth, with the texture of thick honey, like it’s supposed to.
Tip: A food processor with sharp blades and a strong motor also works!
You better believe I eat this straight from the jar with a spoon! ? 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 I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your almond butter!
| Easy Blender Healthy Dark Chocolate Almond Butter | | Print |
- 2 cups (285g) roasted unsalted almonds
- ¼ cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- optional: sweetener, to taste (see Notes!)
- Add the almonds to a high-powered blender, and blend the almonds until smooth and creamy, with a texture similar to thick honey, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Add the cocoa powder and salt (and sweetener, if using!). Blend until everything is fully incorporated and smooth. Transfer to a glass jar or airtight container, and refrigerate.
Lightly salted almonds may be substituted, and reduce the amount of salt called for in the recipe to compensate.
I prefer my dark chocolate almond butter without any sweeteners, but you’re welcome to add some if you prefer! My favorite is ¼ to ½ teaspoon of vanilla stevia (I buy it online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found!). Pure maple syrup, honey, and agave also work. I typically avoid granular sweeteners because they don’t always evenly distribute throughout the almond butter.
You’ll want to use a blender (or food processor!) with very sharp blades and a strong motor. This ensures that the almond butter turns out smooth and creamy without overworking your machine. This is the blender that I own, and I absolutely love it! It’s worth every single penny, and I use it every day. (And if you check out this blog post of mine, you’ll see lots more recipes of mine you can make with it!) See the text of this blog post above for more information about the best blenders!
For the thickest texture, wait at least 12 hours after refrigerating before dipping in your spoon!
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low carb, sugar-free}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Easy Blender Healthy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
♡ Easy Blender Healthy Almond Butter
♡ Easy Blender Healthy Cashew Butter
♡ Easy Blender Healthy Almond Joy Almond Butter
♡ Easy Blender Healthy Pumpkin Spice Almond Butter
♡ Easy Blender Healthy Cinnamon Roll Almond Butter
Super excited about this recipe but almonds give me headaches!! ?Is there another nut you would suggest?
Thanks!
If you can eat peanuts or cashews, either one would be a great substitute! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try this Brandi!
AMY! AHHH! This looks SO yummy! I know I would love that SUPER dark chocolate taste, too! I am actually challenging myself to go without my normal square (or 2… or 3) of ChocZero (amazing monkfruit-sweetened chocolate) AND all diet sodas for 30 days! This is day 5! Eek! Trying to reset my palate to not crave sweets ALLL the time. Haha. But this nut butter would be perfect.
I’ve never tried using my Ninja for nut butter yet- but maybe I should! My food processor is old and doesn’t always create the smoothest butter.
Oh my GOSH girl, I could never ever go without both one of those for 30 days… You’re superwoman for making it to Day 5!! 🙂 But I totally hear ya on resetting to not crave sweets all the time… I always seem to go overboard during the holidays! 😉 Ninjas are AMAZING for nut butters!! I hope you’re able to try it sometime, sweet pea!
other than eating it directly, what have you used this in pls?
Nothing yet… Because I go through it much too quickly! 😉 But it’d probably be great if you turned it into cookies! Maybe these oatmeal ones or substituted for peanut butter in these or these! I’d love to hear what you think if you try any of those Dolly!
This is looking very colorful and yummy. I would like to make this very soon. Thanks for sharing this idea.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of this almond butter, Ruth! 🙂
Delicious! I slathered some of this on a tortilla, then wrapped a banana in it. ? I loved it! Thanks
I’m so glad you enjoyed this almond butter Cacey! It truly means the world to me that you’ve been trying so many of my recipes — I’m so incredibly honored!! ♡
Yum! I had to add a couple packets of stevia but really simple to make and so much cheaper and healthier than buying the jars at the store!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this almond butter Whitney! Thanks for taking the time to let me know! 🙂