4-Ingredient Maple Almond Butter

Not a lot of things anger me. Sure, I have the odd bad day, and often sink into a bottomless pit of grumpiness, but very rarely does something fill me with supreme and actual rage. I generally try to keep a calm and cool persona, comparable to that of The Dude. (Those who know me are probably rolling their eyes, because I’m probably not at all like The Dude. But in my head I am.)

So here’s a little story that got my motor running, so much so that I felt I needed to rant about it in a post. This story has nothing to do with yummy maple almond butter, so if you’re just looking for this wonderful recipe, scroll on down. But if you’re in the mood to hear a good rant, carry on.

Wow, I’m really hyping up this story when really it’s not even that big of a deal. But some things can just rub you the wrong way.

Let me start by saying that I wasn’t actually present at the time this took place – so I didn’t actually witness it – but I did get some pretty detailed text messages from Matt right after it happened.

It was a rainy Monday morning, the first day I was back at work after the holidays, and since Matt had the day off he took Parker on a nice long hike on one of our local trails/off-leash dog parks. It’s a trail we frequent often, and usually there are lots of friendly dogs and people there to meet.

Parker’s only about 8 months old, he’s part terrier (aka a bolter) and we’ve only had him for about 4 weeks, so naturally we keep him on the leash. We will until he’s well-trained. We got him one of those long, retractable leashes so he can run and play and “pretend” to be free. I wouldn’t dream of using that leash on the street, since they’re can break easily, but it’s a great option while on a secluded trail.

So anyway, Matt’s walking along, and some large, off-leash dog comes bounding up, jumps up on him and starts getting aggressive with Parker. It’s owner comes comes up, completely oblivious to the fact that their dog is misbehaving, and starts going off on Matt about how those leashes are dangerous and dogs should be off leash because they’re wild animals, blah blah blah. Matt tried to be nice, mentioning how Parker’s still a puppy and that we only adopted him a few weeks ago.

The lady replied by saying that was stupid, dogs need to run free, and that Matt obviously didn’t have control of the dog if it needed to be leashed. “Don’t take your dog to an off-leash park if you’re keeping it on leash! Go to a leashed dog park!” she said. (What?)

Matt was getting angry by this point, and told the lady that she obviously didn’t have control of her dog, since it was growling and jumping up on everyone. He tried to leave, and then – get this – she attempted to unclip Parker’s leash. 

Whaaaat!?! That’s where I would have lost it, had I actually been there.

I can’t believe someone would have the audacity to attempt to unclip a dog’s leash when the owner was standing right there, clearly stating that he’s not yet an off-leash dog. Can you believe that!? Oh no she didn’t. *Z snap*

I’m a protective mama. If I had been there, things would have gotten ugly. How dare she try and unleash someone else’s dog!

Matt said some not-so-kind-words to the woman and left her there to huff and puff and continue ranting (to herself? To her dog?) about how it was disrespectful to be in an off-leash park with a dog on leash.

And that’s my story. Not a big deal, in the grand scheme of things, but wow, some people are crazy.

Now that that’s off my chest (seriously though, I still can’t believe someone would do that), let’s talk about this almond butter. It’s the kind of thing that you can whip up in minutes, and once you slather it on some toast or a banana, all is right with the world. Even after a rage-fest.

Who knew almond butter was so simple to make? I had no idea. I’ve always thought people who made their own nut butters were, in a word, crazy, but when I actually did some research and realized how simple it really was, I knew I had to try making some.

All you do is roast up some raw almonds and then puree them in a food processor with a little salt and oil. That’s literally it. Try adding some flavouring to the nuts as you bake them- this recipe calls for maple syrup – for an added flavour kick. The result is a creamy, nutty, homemade butter that’s perfect for slathering on toast or fruit. I’m trying peanut butter next!

When adding the oil to the pureed almonds in the food processor, add just a little at a time. You might need a little more, or a little less, depending on the moisture content of the almonds you’re using, or how smooth you prefer the butter to be. The butter in these photos used a full 4 tablespoons.

So next time you’re having a bad day, take out your anger on some nuts.