Happy Monday friends!  We had a big weekend including a book signing for my new cookbook First Bites, as well as Parks turning two!  First of all, someone please tell me how in the world I have a two year old now?  They say you blink and your kids are grown and I believe it!  I could get emotional if I think about it too much so let's move on shall we??  We spent the day yesterday just the three of us, doing all of Parks' favorite things, which now includes playing with his new train set!  Playing with trains works up an appetite you know...so birthday nibbles were a must!  We started the day off with pumpkin donuts (hello October) and rounded out the day with homemade spaghetti and meatballs!  Hands down our favorite snack of the day was sliced apples dipped in my homemade vanilla cinnamon almond butter!

I will tell you that once you make this almond butter, you won't want to buy it in the store ever again!  Since making this recipe for the first time, I have been making a batch every week since!  I decided it was time to share the love with you all, so we could all be addicted together.  I am not kidding when I tell you that you will want to eat this nut butter by the spoonful!  While I try to steer clear of that, I would be lying if I haven't been caught red handed with a spoon in the jar by my husband and my son!  Parks will go and get a spoon from the utensil drawer and then will open the fridge and asks for a spoonful randomly!  It's just that good guys!

If you haven't ever made your own nut butter, now is the time to do it!  It's a more cost effective way to eat nut butters and I love that you can play around with a multitude of flavors to create a really delicious and healthy snack!  

And talk about a delicious PB&J...this almond butter puts peanut butter to shame! (But don't get me wrong, I love me some peanut butter!)

Start your week off right and keep a batch of my homemade vanilla cinnamon almond butter on hand for healthy snacking all week long!

Ingredients:

• 8 Oz. Raw Almonds
• 1 Tbsp. Cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. Coconut Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Vanilla Bean Powder
• Pinch of Salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Place almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 10 minutes until just golden.
• Let cool slightly and then add to a food processor.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and process the almonds.
• Once the almonds become a sand like texture, you will want to scrape down the sides and repeat the blending.
• You will keep processing and scraping down the sides until the almonds become smooth.
• The almonds will form a ball in the processor which means they are about to make magic happen.
• Once the almonds are the consistency that you like your almond butter and are super smooth, store the almond butter in a mason jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. (But it won't last that long.)

I love having this almond butter on hand for healthy snacking, for making delicious toast, and for eating by the spoonful when the craving hits!  I can't wait for you to give this recipe a try!  Head over to my Instagram page for a full video tutorial!