Espresso Cacao Cashew Almond Butter – kind of sounds like something you would order at the coffee house right? Well I have to admit, this cashew almond butter would fit right there! Cashew almond butter with a kick of espresso and crunch from cacao beans, I can’t think of a better topping for pancakes, biscotti or banana bread, can you?
Have I ever mentioned how much I love to play with my food and food combinations? One of my favorite things to do is walk around the grocery store and see what new flavored nut butters are in the market. As soon as I saw one with espresso in the name, I knew I had to make something similar very soon.
All throughout college I worked as a barista and I love the way fresh coffee smells. I used to eat that chocolate covered espresso beans we had to top our mochas like it was going out of style. So of course I had to include some cacao beans in this espresso nut butter recipe as well. Not only do the inclusion of the cacao beans give that chocolate punch that I was looking for, but they also make this a very crunchy nut butter since I add them in at the end.
I was introduced to almond butter about four years ago and I have to admit in the beginning I just didn’t love it. Clearly I have come around since then 🙂 I think I expected it to taste like peanut butter, which it doesn’t, but it does have its own unique flavor which I’ve come to love. Sometimes I find that adding cashews in with my almond butter creates this super luxurious spread that is a almost buttery from the cashews and of course that unique almond flavor still finds a way to shine through, although not as pronounced.
I have to say I am pretty obsessed with the way this turned out. It’s got a very unique coffee flavor which pairs beautifully with that slightly bitter cacao bean. I have found all sorts of ways to use this nut better. Some of my favorites include, stuffed inside of a strawberry (once you take the top off) or stuffed inside of a medjool date after the pit is removed. This espresso cacao cashew almond butter paired beautifully (almost too well) with my mocha banana bread that I’ll share with you soon.
The one thing that always gets me about making my own nut butters at home is that I can’t figure out how to get them to be crunchy. Give me the option and I will almost always choose chunky over smooth nut butter, but my at home butters are always smooth. Well all except this one! I love the little nibs of cacao that didn’t quite get broken up in the food processor. I’m sure adding whole coffee beans would have a similar effect but all I had on hand was pre-ground espresso.
Almonds and cashews are a great source of monounsaturated fat, which is an unsaturated fat, found mostly in plants. Unsaturated fats have been studied to show an improvement in blood cholesterol and ease inflammation in the body. They also have many other beneficial features and are recommended to be eaten on a daily basis.
Almonds also provide vitamin E, copper, E, magnesium, and protein to the body! They are a great portable snack, but I really love them ground up in almond butter as well!
I use my trusty food processor (affiliate link) to get these nuts all broken down into creamy cashew almond butter. I find the nuts are more likely to break down into smooth, creamy butter if they are first roasted. If you decide to use raw nuts and not roast them, you will likely have to add oil (melted coconut works well).
I used organic cacao beans in this recipe! They are one of my favorite superfoods, they are also great in chocolate crunch protein pancakes and single serve brownies!
Now excuse me while I go get my caffeine buzz with my afternoon snack!!
Get your snack on with this Espresso Cacao Cashew Almond Butter #nutbutter #snack @PancakeWarrior_ Click To Tweet
- 1¼ cup raw almonds, roasted
- ¾ cup raw cashews, roasted
- 2 tbs. cacao nibs
- ½ tbs. espresso powder
- 2 packets stevia
- Preheat oven to 350
- Roast almonds and cashews in oven at 350 for 7-8 minutes until fragrant. Take out of oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Add cashews and almonds to food processor and allow to process 5-6 minutes until butter starts to form. You might have to scrape down the sides at this point. Process until a smooth butter forms (this takes a total of 8-9 minutes at my house).
- Once smooth, add ground espresso, stevia and cacao nibs. Pulse until combined and cacao nibs slightly crushed.
- Store in airtight container.
What about you?
- Do you like your nut butters:
- Smooth or crunchy?
- Plain or full of crazy flavors?
- What is your favorite way to eat nut butter?
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OMG I need this like on my body. NOW
Love the smell, taste, and even ritual of making coffee so this looks heavenly. What a great combo! Pinning!
This sounds delicious!
Oh this would be so good on banana bread! I have a girlfriend who is obsessed with anything expresso. I am definitely sharing this with her!
yum yum yum!! I love nut butters, especially flavored ones – and crunchy all the way!
I like my nut butters smooth 🙂 this recipe looks amazing! I have a little container of almonds, ready to be made into some nut butter. Thanks for sharing!
I love almond butter but I think I would love it even more on your banana bread!
This sounds so delicious. I cannot believe I had never heard of it before. Thank you for the recipe, it sounds so easy to make for myself.
This looks amazing, I can think of so many uses for this!
Anything I can make in the food processor is my kind of food. Looking forward to trying this recipe!
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oh man this looks and sounds amazing! I’ve never tried cacao nibs before, but I have tried raw cacao! I love making nutbutters at home, so I will for sure have to give this one a try!
I’m not a coffee drinker, but Cacao Cashew Almond butter on it’s own already sounds absolutely delicious to me! I’m addicted to cacao nibs, they are so so good (and in pretty much every breakfast I eat!).
Great post! Thanks for sharing the recipe. It looks delish.
If nut butter weren’t ALREADY addicting! LOL!
This sounds and looks delicious! I am thinking this would be good on a banana, too! 🙂
Oh wow this sounds SO good! Love me some cacao espresso action in the nut butter!
Never would have thought to add cocoa nibs! Awesome idea!
What an interesting combination of flavors!
Well, I love all things almond/almond flavored, so I’m certain I would enjoy this almond butter. How fun that you wander stores thinking up new and interesting combinations. It’s never occurred to me to do that. Thanks for sharing your discovery/creation!
Nice! I love making nut butter and the touches of coffee and chocolate flavor sound great. I often use my Vitamix because I’m kind of the opposite of you, I like my nut butters smooth not chunky, and I find the food processor leaves them still a little grainy at the end. I’m allergic to peanuts so almond butter has always been my thing. Can’t have cashews either so I’d probably use macadamia in its place in this recipe. I’m thinking you mean almonds and cashews (not pecans) in step 2?
Wow, just wow! This looks amazing and I just got a Blendtec and have been wanting to try making my own nut butter.
Almonds and cashews are my favorite nuts, so this is a slam dunk for me!
This looks fabulous! I have been wanting to make a nut butter for a while now. I am going to have to save this recipe! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
omgosh Yummy!!! I want to use that all over my body as a body butter!! I can almost smell the coffee through my screen!
This seems doable for a person like me (non fancy cook, mainly toast… Just kidding heheh)
I’m going to have to pin!!
Ah this sounds amazing!! I am totally addicted to nut butters and have a different one on rotation every week – this one is definitely getting added to my list! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I bet that does pack a fun punch!! I started out hating almond butter too, it tasted like sawdust to me….so dry. But now it is on constant rotation for breakfast with my banana. Funny how that works.
That sounds delicious! A blend of two of my favorites.
This looks and sounds amazing! I’m a HUGE nut butter fan…my nut butter cupboard is actually a little ridiculous haha. I’ve always shied away from making my own because I don’t know if my food processor could handle it, but on the weekend I paid $18 for two small jars of nut butter than used to cost $11 for the two…it might be time to give it a shot, and I think this recipe is a great place to start!!
2 of my favorite things, nuts and cacao! Your recipe would be an awesome topper or spread for so many things.
ohh! I love both of these things. I’ll have to try it out soon – It might actually be up my picky husband’s alley as well.
This looks amazing and I bet it smells amazing.
I NEED to make this! I’m so glad you mentioned using stevia, too. I love using that as a sugar substitute. I eat a tablespoon of almond butter on a slice of Ezekiel bread for my post-workout meal, and this would be a delicious way to change it up without adding sugar. Thanks!
Perfection!!!! LOVE IT!
This recipe takes nut butter to a whole new level. What a delectable combination of flavors! Thank you for sharing your healthy and delicious Espresso Cacao Cashew Almond Butter recipe with us at the Healthy, Happy, Green and Natural Party Blog Hop! I’m pinning and sharing!
i love nut butters and this one looks awesome. I have not attempted to make my own yet, but maybe I will try this one!
This just sounds out of the world delicious! Perfection!
ooh! I would love this on toast. I love cacao. And thanks for the reminder to purchase a new food processor. My other one died recently!
This sounds amazing! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!