In today’s post, let’s chat about making almond paste.
We eat lots of oat groats in this house, which is really just an awful name for whole oats; similar to steel-cut, only they haven’t been cut. They taste much better than they sound if prepared properly.
Topped with fruit and just a drizzle of maple syrup, it’s a breakfast that’s healthy and frugal, too.
When we discovered almond paste stirred into our hot morning oats, though, a whole new world was opened to us. Oh. My. Word. The almond paste added a creaminess that could not compare to anything else we used prior!
Making Almond Paste
First, soak 3/4 cup of almonds (without skins, if you can find them) in a small bowl of water overnight.
In the morning, drain the almonds. If you couldn’t find skinless almonds, then now is the time to pinch the brown skin off each almond; it only takes a few minutes (enlist one of your kids to help!) and tastes so much better.
Next, put the almonds in a blender or food processor. Add a drizzle of honey and three or four tablespoons of water, then puree, scraping down the sides as necessary.
Spoon the mixture into a jelly jar or small airtight container. Keep refrigerated. When you’re ready to use the almond paste, add a heaping tablespoon to your oats and stir. That’s it :o) So easy!
We think almonds and cherries go well together, so here is a bowl of our cherry-almond oats…sheer yumminess…
looks divine! thanks for sharing. stopping by from pennywise.
What a great idea! Seriously, I'll have to try this for hot cereal here. Creaminess and nutrition … yum.
Thanks!
Shirley
What a neat idea!
Silly question here…what if I can't find almonds with the skins off? Is it worth trying to make the paste with the skins on?
KB
KB,
Not a problem! I did it with skins before; after soaking, pinch each of the skins off before putting in the blender. A little more work, but it can still be done! Just be sure to use fresh almonds, not the kind you buy in a can, or the skins will be very hard to get off. Fresh ones soak better, anyway :o)
~Jaime
What a clever idea!!! Thank you so much!!!
I came over from The Nourishing Gourmet and I can't wait to make this for our morning oats. And we adore cherries here so what a great combo and a super way to get nuts into my little ones' diet. They are not big fans of whole nuts yet.
This looks wonderful. Can not wait to try it.
April
Oh, neat! I can sneak nuts in. My kids don't care for nuts, but it would be great to get them to still be able to eat them.
How long would almond nut butter last in the fridge if you make a large batch so you could use it every day as it is ready made?
@Anonymous ~ Personally, I'm not comfortable leaving the almond paste in the fridge for more than a week or two. Perhaps it would last longer than that, I'm not sure. If you would really like to do a large batch, I wonder if it would freeze well? Might be worth trying :o)
This looks incredible – we eat a lot of oatmeal too! So I can’t wait to give this a try! Thanks so much! Such wonderful recipes and ideas! Just love your blog! 🙂
Are you using raw nuts? 🙂
Yes!
That’s a very simple recipe and I like that it’s raw and without processed sugar or artificial colors.