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I’ve been seeing jars of chocolate almond butter available on grocery store shelves for several years now, but I’ve never been able to justify spending $10+ dollars to try one– especially when I’d probably devour most of it in one sitting. I’ve never had much willpower around chocolate.
This homemade chocolate almond butter was actually the result of one of my recent chocolate cravings. I had just finished making a batch of homemade almond butter (because I won’t spend $17 on a jar of organic almond butter at the store, either), and I decided to try out a chocolate version. I didn’t want to risk ruining my whole batch of almond butter if my experiment went poorly, so I started with just 1/2 cup and added small amounts of cocoa and sweetener as I went. I figured with this method, I couldn’t go wrong!
And I was right. Since you can taste this mixture as you go, you’ll always wind up with the exact chocolate flavor you’re looking for. The only downside to making your own chocolate almond butter, rather than buying the store-bought variety, is that the shelf-life will be a lot shorter. (After all, you’re not adding hydrogenated oils or preservatives.) I had to add a couple tablespoons of water to this batch, to make the consistency more spreadable, and added moisture means that it will spoil much quicker– probably in a week or two, when kept in the fridge. So, don’t make your batch too large, unless you plan on going through it quickly!
As always, this recipe is highly adaptable, too. You can use any nut or seed butter you like, by simply adding the ingredients and tasting as you go. Enjoy!
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Chocolate Almond Butter (Vegan)
Makes a little over 1/2 cup
Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond butter, or other nut or seed butter of choice
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons water, or as needed to make the mixture spreadable
Directions:
In a medium bowl combine the almond butter, maple syrup, and cocoa powder. It will probably become difficult to stir, so add the water one tablespoon at a time, as needed, to make the mixture smooth and spreadable. Feel free to add any more cocoa, sweetener, or water to make the mixture exactly how you like it.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks, and enjoy it with your favorite fresh fruit, crackers, or simply by the spoonful!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup almond butter , or other nut or seed butter of choice
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons water , or as needed to make the mixture spreadable
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine the almond butter, maple syrup, and cocoa powder. It will probably become difficult to stir, so add the water one tablespoon at a time, as needed, to make the mixture smooth and spreadable. Feel free to add any more cocoa, sweetener, or water to make the mixture exactly how you like it.
- Store the chocolate almond butter spread in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks, and enjoy it with your favorite fresh fruit, crackers, or simply by the spoonful!
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 79, Fat: 5g, Carbohydrates: 5g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 2g
Notes:
As I mentioned above, this recipe is very adaptable. Feel free to use carob or raw cacao powder, maple syrup, coconut nectar, honey, or stevia– adding each ingredient a little bit at a time, tasting as you go. You’ll simply need to adjust the amount of water or almond milk used to make it spreadable, depending on which ingredients you use.
And please leave a comment below, letting us know what has worked for you!
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Reader Feedback: Have you ever tried a store-bought chocolate almond butter? Any other flavored nut butters we should try to make at home next?
I roasted almonds and cashews and while they where still slightly warm, made nut butter in my high speed blender. Once that was runny I added the cocoa, maple syrup and home made almond milk. I had to keep adding more almond milk until it got smooth and spreadable. Great recipe. I hope the homemade almond milk will not reduce the life of the product. Not sure if it will last very long anyway its soooo delicious.
I used 3 cups nuts. 130g maple syrup, 6 tablespoons cocoa and not sure about how much milk but more than 10 tablespoons.
I want to make orange flavored chocolate almond butter.
I loved this chocolate almond butter recipe! I gave it as sifts for Christmas. Everyone loved it!
To make it orange, would I just make this recipe and then add some orange juice in place of the water and some orange zest? Any other suggestions?
Wondering if anyone had the same issue I did….add the water and the oil from the almond butter split and I ended up with a raw brownie texture. 🙁
So I thought I’d be all smart and mix the ingredients in my food processor. It’ll be smoother that way, right? Nope. Don’t do that. It will overheat and get all gummy and the oils will separate out. Granted, I was also working with freshly made sunflower seed butter which I was not smart enough to let cool down first. Just a few warnings for anybody who was thinking of improvising.
IT IS DIVINE! I have used organic honey instead of maple syrup it turned out amazing. Thank you.
Excelent recipe, I just add a litli bit more of water, thanks you very much.
I made this with Marcona almonds and Ghirardelli cocoa powder. Delicious!
Love your recipes!!! A fast question, what happend if i use coconut oil instead of the water or almond milk?
Just found this recipe. It is one of the best Paleo snacks EVER! I have eaten it with a green apple everyday! So easy and ridiculous! Thank you!!!!
Which kind of cocoa do I use? Dutch-process or natural? Should it be organic? One of the comments shared how the mixture became ‘gummy’. I wonder if melting baker’s chocolate would work better for mixing.
For no-bake recipes, I always use raw cacao to get the most nutritional benefits. I’m not sure how baker’s chocolate would affect things– I think that would make it harden and solidify in the fridge, thanks to the extra fat solids.