Of all the nut butters that I have made thus far, this one HAS to be my ultimate favorite.
Funny thing is, though, when I first tasted it, I thought it was a total failure. I didn’t care for it at all. I came THAT CLOSE to chucking it.
BUT, I decided to let it sit for a couple of days and then give it another go. Just because. You know how I hate wasting food!
Let me tell you that this habit has served me very, very well this time.
WOW. I have no idea what happened during those few days, but when I took this out of the cupboard to taste it again, it was like some sort of magic had taken place.
What had originally tasted horribly bitter, almost like burnt wood or something, had developped into this beautiful, suave, intense dark chocolate with a rich toasted almond and coconut flavor.
It’s still a tad on the bitter side but it’s also got a pleasant hint of sweetness to it. It’s very chocolaty, and sort of reminds me of what dark roasted coffee beans taste like. Plus, it has that great texture that makes you just want to go back for more. It’s super dense and extra firm, yet it has all that chewiness from the coconut… it almost feels like you’re eating chocolate bar filling by the spoonful.
Now seriously, I made this only last week and I am already down one and a half jar! And, since I’ve been such a super nice girl and gave one of my precious jars to a very good friend of mine, I am now left with only half a jar, and already, I am starting to exhibit severe symptoms of “upcoming withdrawal”. I sort of begin to shake uncontrollably whenever I approach the cupboard that I have it stored in. 
Alright, maybe not that bad, but you can be sure that my finger gets a dippin’ every single time. So I need to stear clear!
I’m already thinking I have to make another batch, but this time, I’ll make it even MORE decadent.
Oh yeah… I can already taste that new and improved version. Can anyone say toasted coconut and hazelnuts?
I think I’ll have to make actual chocolates out of this, or even truffles, why not?
I am so totally infatuated.
Maybe even a little lovesick?
ALMOND JOY CHOCOLATE SPREAD
INGREDIENTS
(Yeld 3 half pint jars)
- 4 cups raw almonds
- 200g unsweetened shredded coconut
- ¼ cup unpasteurized honey
- ½ cup extra dark cocoa powder
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
INSTRUCTIONS
- Lay the almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast them in a 275F oven for about an hour, then raise the temperature to 350F and give them an extra 8-10 minutes or so, until the almonds get really fragrant and take a nice golden brown color.
- Take the almonds out of the oven and allow them to cool for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the coconut to your food processor and process until it turns into a crumbly, thick paste, about 8-10 minutes (you will have to scrape the sides quite frequently). Add the honey and process until well combined. Transfer to a bowl and reserve.
- Add the almonds to your food processor (no need to clean it, really) and process until smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes.
- Add the cocoa powder, vanilla, salt and cinnamon and process until well incorporated.
- Add reserved coconut paste and process again just to combine, no more.
- Transfer to glass jars and allow to rest for a few days before you dig in.
- You could keep this in the refrigerator if you wanted to, however, I dont’t believe that it’s really necessary, unless you intend on keeping it for an extended period of time (which I dare you to do!)
I looooooove almond joys
It’s like you made this especially for me. I think I’m going to get into the kitchen tomorrow to try this out. Sounds delicious!
Can’t wait to get your feedback, Heidi. My half jar is now practically empty, I might have to get busy and make another batch too this weekend. Beware, I am telling you, it’s highly addictive!
If I replaced the honey with Stevia I could totally eat this since the fiber cancels out the carbs! yay! I am totally putting my vitamix to work making this tomorrow! That way it can age for a few days like yours before I eat it. Can’t wait….I’ll be dreaming about coconutty chocolateyness tonight for sure! Yummy!
For real? Fibers cancel carbs? Oh my! I still have so much to learn when it comes to nutrition. I can’t wait for you to try it and let me know how you liked it!
Oh my, this looks amazing! Thanks for the recipe – and your photos are gorgeous (as usual!)
Thank you so much Michelle, I truly appreciate!
Looks so tasty!!!! Beautiful photos too!
Gorgeous clicks Sonia! I love the idea of this and how interesting that the flavor changed after a few days. Imagine what you would have missed if you had tossed it out!!
Oh wow. Coming from you Simone, that is ONE HECK of a compliment! Thank you so much! And I don’t even want to think about what I would’ve missed… and not only that, but also all the creative ideas that come to mind every time I have a spoonful of that butter. I think that delicious things utilizing that particular butter will get created within the next few months!
You and I must have totally different taste in nut butters because I just made this… and it’s already amazing!
I made coconut butter! Aaah! It got so gooey and neat and oh boy this recipe was fun. I was worried it wouldn’t work because I don’t have the same type of coconut you have. I only have dry flakes. But it did! Maybe mine already tastes good because I didn’t use extra dark cocoa powder. I only have the option of “cocoa powder” or “cocoa powder.” I’ll put it away now and let it get even better.
I don’t actually like almonds or coconut but I like this. A lot.
When I woke up and saw this in Google Reader (I always look at the title and picture first), my immediate thought was, “Who made this?! Sonia? Oh my gosh YES! Scroll down to the ingredients list to see if this contains avocados or something… NO! Woohoo!” Not that I have anything against avocados or creative ingredients.
I feel ridiculously chipper and giddy now.
Did yours get more or less fluid with time? Just wondering. Thanks for the recipe!
You have already made this??? Are you insane??? Did you make it during the night or something? I mean, I barely even had time to post the recipe that already, you had made it. Wow! I’m impressed… and flattered!
LOL, I guess “cocoa powder” will have to do. So did yours get really really dark like mine did? And is it as thick? You seem to say that it’s gooey… I didn’t let the coconut go all the way to the butter stage. I stopped it when it had turned to a tick paste consistency. And my butter hasn’t moved at all in consistency since I made it. It’s really thick and chewy and yummy and oh so addictive I better stop talking about it, else I’ll just run upstairs and have yet another spoonful. I’ve had enough for today…
Real glad you like, Erin, and thank you so much for your fun and positive feedback. As always, I truly appreciate. You just made my day!
Haha. I live six hours ahead of you so when I woke up, the recipe was already there waiting for me.
Mine is as dark as yours and I just read up on the cocoa powder. It seems as if all cocoa powder in Europe is “dark cocoa powder” and we can’t even get the normal cocoa powder. The color of the stuff I have is almost black.
I let it get gooey because I was having too much fun and I knew it wouldn’t ruin the recipe. And I thought that if I was running the processor for 8 minutes, I could let it run for 10 minutes and see what happens. I was curious!
Mine seems to be thicker than yours. That’s okay, though.
Thicker? OMG! You must need to cut it with a knife, then! Mine is already fairly thick. I wonder why that is? Bah, the important thing is that it turned out good and that you like it!
Here, we have this super light cocoa powder, it almost looks like “milk chocolate” in the powder form. Seriously, I don’t even know how they get it to be so light. I hate the stuff and go through great lengths to get my hands on the extra dark or dutch processed stuff. Now THAT tastes like real chocolate. I guess Europeans know what chocolate is all about!
I could TOTALLY eat a jar and a half of this nut butter! Coconut + almond + chocolate is fantastic and for me, so comforting! I always love your butters you come up with – SO fun and SO scrumptious! I bet raw cacao powder would make it a little less bitter from the start, or even raw carob powder for a different taste
I’ve been loving on raw carob these days, of course in addition to cocoa and chocolate!
Hmmmm… raw carob? That could be interesting… I haven’t had carob in a while. Now you just got me craving it. I like the bitterness of this butter, though. So I might have to use carob for yet another creation, something completely different. Let’s see… what haven’t I used yet? Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pistachio… oooh, Brazil nuts! Hmmm, I’ll get the wheels in motion.
Glad you like my nut butter creations, Nora. You so are my partner in nut butter addiction!
Looks good! Slurp!
Wow the way this spread sounds its no wonder you are lovesick!
what a great present idea! a bit like nutella!
Well, Jess, while it would certainly make a great present, it’s not even remotely close to what Nutella is… it’s just as decadent, but in a very different way!
Yum. This looks so good!
I only have a Mini Prep processor, but really want to try making nut butters. Do you think that it would do the trick (in small quantities of course)?
Hmmm… really not sure, Samantha. Making nut butter is heavy duty stuff. I wouldn’t recommend it, even in small quantities. I think that the nuts need to “turn” for way too long and a mini processor’s motor would probably overheat… unfortunately.
What kind of food processor do you use? I have tried to makes nut butters in mine to no avail… It just doesn’t grind them fine enough!
You do need to use a rather powerful food processor for that, indeed. Mine is a Kitchenaid. Bit pricey, but totally worth the investment. I’ve had it for years and it still works like new!
And it creates the most delicious nut butters! I couldn’t be without it.
I have just started reading your blog and I have to say I’m in love! there are so many recipes that I want to try… this being one of them.
I was wondering if the coconut has a really strong flavor in the end product, I don’t love the taste of coconut but a healthy chocolate almond spread is hard to pass up…
Thanks a bunch Stephanie, real glad to hear you like my blog and that a lot of recipes tickle your fancy enough for you to consider giving them a try! I am flattered!
As for this spread, yes, the coconut flavor would be really predominant, I wanted it to be some sort of an ode to “almond joy” chocolate bars, so it really is LOADED with coconut. If you want an healthy chocolate spread that doesn’t have coconut in it, you might want to try my “home made Nutella” instead. And if you don’t care for hazelnuts, feel free to sub almonds, it would work just as well!
I hadn’t found the home made Nutella Recipe thanks for passing it along, I tried it out last weekend with the Almonds and it was great! I actually have a jar all packaged up ready to give to my mom for mothers day!
Lucky mom!
Glad you liked, Stephanie! Thanks for letting me know about it!