Almond Butter

Weekend is coming and weekend means pancakes for breakfast. And this would be the end of the weekend story if I wasn't that picky. What to put on my pancakes? (my first world's problems...) Nutella? Too boring. Jam? Too sweet and artificial with all the 'let's pretend there were more fruits added than they really were'. Lemon curd? Cool... but for morning pancakes? Naaah... rather for afternoon cookies. Peanut butter! Nope... I had peanut butter cookies not that long ago. Honey? Fits rather for toasts and butter than pancakes. Time for something new. This time homemade Almond Butter won :)

 

 Almond Butter

500 g raw almonds

1 1/2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp olive oil

salt

Preheat oven to 200 C and spread almonds on a baking sheet so that you get a single layer of them. Roast almonds for 10 minutes and change their position occasionally with a spatula. Remove them from the oven and let them cool. 

Something to listen to while waiting for them:

Placebo- Kings of Medicine

When cooled transfer roasted almonds to your food processor, add honey, one tablespoon of olive oil and salt and blend until smooth. First almonds will become very crumbly, but with time you will be able to see that they blend into a smooth nutty butter. Add another tablespoon of olive oil, spice to taste (e.g. I prefer my almond butter a bit more salty) and blend a bit more. Transfer Almond Butter to jars and store at room temperature. Spread it on pancakes, use it for cookie dough, add it to ice cream, blend it with smoothies, eat it with with your fingers. There are countless possibilities :) 

Pecan Cookies

I didn't have much luck in the kitchen this time. The first time I've tried to make these cookies I burned nuts instead of roasting them (not good). The second time I've tried to make these cookies I've mistaken salt with sugar and I'm telling you... 20 cookies don't need 100 g of salt (really not good). The third trial was successful though. And these Pecan Cookies are definitely worth trying. The recipe is simple and they're delicious as long as you follow the recipe :)

Pecan Cookies

1 cup pecans

100 g unsalted butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Roast pecan nuts in the oven to 180 C for 7 minutes (and that's absolutely enough... I've checked it for you). 
Beat butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract together until well mixed, add flour and beat it for 1-2 more minutes. When nuts are roasted and cooled blend them into tiny pieces (you can also finely chop them). Throw chopped roasted pecans to the dough and knead it fast. Form little dough balls and press them on baking paper to form cookies, cookies, cookies! Sprinkle tiny little bit of confectioners sugar on cookies and bake at 190 C until they become golden. 
Something to listen to while cookies are in the oven: 

One Republic- Counting Stars