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She Says: Raw Almond Banana Butter
‘Tis the last week of the Raw Challenge, which I will admit, has been hard. But, I am not a quitter, so I kept going. Today I made Raw Almond Banana Butter. I used a mini food processor, but I am sure you could use a blender.
Last week I made raw cashew butter, but it turned out a little chunky and more like a thick paste, which was good, but not what I wanted this week. I knew I needed to add something to make this a little more smooth.
Ingredients:
- 2/3 Cups of Raw Almonds
- 1/4 Banana
All you need to do is blend the nuts until they are crumbly. Then you just add a little banana right in there and blend until it looks like this:
And eventually you will get a big almond butter ball like this: 
I am keeping min in an empty Almond Butter jar for safe keeping!
Of course I had to try out my creation right away. Trying to keep it raw, I put it right on a banana and had it with some of my Raw Pineapple Almond Bar. So, the verdict on the Almond Banana Butter – overall excellent. Some notes:
- It’s really sticky!
- It probably could not be spread on bread, but maybe a sturdy wrap.
- Slight banana taste, but not overwhelming.
- Delicious on a banana and directly from the spoon.
- Imagine it would be excellent in oats.
So, I am v. proud of my new creation and plan to eat the rest of my jar in the next few days.
In other news, I got a great package from Quaker today! Last week I had a quick contest to give away a robe, slippers and some of their new Quaker Simple Harvest Chewy Granola Bars – Trail Mix. Well, they were super nice and sent me the same present the winner will receive!
Here is my new robe and slippers, which are both made from organic cotton. 
The new Trail Mix bar was similar to the Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond Quaker Delight bar that I reviewed here, but much less sweet and with less chocolate and other additional ingredients crowding the actual bar. 
They are like the granola bars I remember having as a kid (and last year), but with slightly better ingredients.
Here are the ingredients for the Trail Mix Bar
Serving size 1 bar (35g) Calories 150 Total Fat 5g Sugars 9g Protein 3g
WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, BROWN RICE SYRUP, CRISP RICE (RICE, SUGAR, SALT, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR), SUGAR, DRIED SWEETENED CRANBERRY PIECES (SUGAR, CRANBERRIES), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHUNKS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, COCOA BUTTER, SOY LECITHIN, SALT, VANILLA), ALMONDS, PEANUTS, HONEY, SUNFLOWER OIL, INULIN, WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED BARLEY, WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED WHEAT, MOLASSES, SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, GLYCERIN, SALT, VANILLA, SOY LECITHIN.
Versus the ingredients for a traditional Quaker Chewy Chocolate Trip Granola Bar
Serving size 1 bar (24g) Calories 100 Total Fat 3g Sugars 7g Protein 1g
GRANOLA (WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, BROWN SUGAR, CRISP RICE [RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT, MALTED BARLEY EXTRACT], WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED WHEAT, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND COTTONSEED OILS* WITH TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID ADDED TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL WITH NATURAL TOCOPHEROL ADDED TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS, DRIED COCONUT, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SOY LECITHIN, CARAMEL COLOR, NONFAT DRY MILK), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, COCOA BUTTER, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLA EXTRACT), CRISP RICE (RICE, SUGAR, SALT, BARLEY MALT), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, GLYCERIN, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL*, SORBITOL, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, WATER, SOY LECITHIN, MOLASSES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, BHT (A PRESERVATIVE), CITRIC ACID.
Versus the Kashi TLC Trail Mix Granola Bar:
Serving Size: 1 Bar (35g) Calories 140 Total Fat 5g Sugars 5g Protein 6g
Kashi Seven Whole Grains & Sesame® Blend (Whole: Hard Red Winter Wheat, Oats, Rye, Barley, Triticale, Long Grain Brown Rice, Buckwheat, Sesame Seeds), Whole Almonds, Brown Rice Syrup, Soy Protein Isolate, Evaporated Cane Juice Crystals, Soy Grits, Chicory Root Fiber, Raisins, Sunflower Seeds, Evaporated Cane Juice Syrup, Cranberries, Vegetable Glycerin, Corn Flour, Honey, Rice Starch, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Oat Fiber, Evaporated Salt, Natural Flavors, Molasses, Soy Lecithin, Peanut Flour, Whey, Annatto Color.
Overall, I would say they are a good snacky alternative to a granola bar that is filled with HFCS or hydrogenated oil but it is a sugary snack and really didn’t provide me with any sort of hunger control.
P.S. Please check out Missy Maintains for an awesome give away (that I reallly want to win)!
that almond banana butter looks glorious!
Oh wow, love the addition of banana!
Ohhh, I definitely have to try that!! What a cool idea.
The nut butter looks great! Do you know how much it yields (i.e. how much of a cup?) Thanks!
mmmm i love your nut butter creations!
I never thought to make my own nut butter creations. Great idea!
I wonder how long that almond banana butter would keep? I would imagine not too long, so you would only want to make it in small batches. Although, it would probably be all gone before it went bad anyways!
This is such a great idea!!! I love how you added the banana.
the banana almond butter is such a great idea
and thanks for the review of the quaker bar, it’s interesting seeing it compared against their (scary) chewy bar!
That is one huge almond butter ball! Never thought to add a banana, sounds great but I suppose the downside is that it doesn’t last too long…
That almond butter looks delicious – I will have to try it out! Thanks fot eh quaker review.
Wow, I never would have thought to add banana to the almond butter. That was a great idea
It looks really good and I fully intend to try it with the plethora of almonds I just bought…once I get back from spring break!
Love the Quaker package! Thanks for the review, too! Very detailed, just how I like ‘em!
I’m loving all the DIY projects! THe almond butter is clearly awesome looking!!! I’m wondering why it’s not as liquidy as the ones in jars – like barney butter? Is there an advantage in having it more solid and chunky like yours? It definitely looks really nutty and tasty….mmm now if only i could get some in my mouth. heheh
The almond butter looks good!
Thanks for the granola bar review!
mmm! looks good!
I’m impressed with your creativity during the raw challenge. Banana in the almond butter sounds very tasty.
This is so genius! I just saw a jar of banana flavored PB at Target today, but it had a lot of other less desirable ingredients. This is the perfect compromise!
Thank God your raw challenge is almost over. I say that with love, because every day I just think of how achingly hungry you must be. Have you lost weight (not that you had any to lose)? How has your energy been during workouts? I guess I should just wait for your recap post, right? How about another question? Chicken or egg…what do you think?
It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine.
almond banana butter looks great! i think you added the perfect ingredient to make it smooth and naturally sweetened.
Your almond banana butter looks yummy!! (and I like your new robe and slippers! : )
That nut-butter gets a maaaaajor “holy FREAKING yum” shout-out
That looks fantastic! Who knew you could make something so good with so few ingredients??
That sounds like such a great nut butter! I wish the nut butter companies would make banana versions as well!
That almond butter looks cool!! I love it all rolled up into a ball – (that’s what she said?) – lol
almond banana butter sounds so good! great idea
Thanks for the shout out!! Love the almond butter!!
I am so amazed by your will power and sticking to this!! You’ve done great!
Love the ABB! I made Almond Butter last week and it was so easy. Just process the almonds for about 15 mins until creamy. It will save me lots of money not having to buy my own!
PS- Love the new website design!
your almond butter looks amazing! Your new robe and slippers also look sweeeeeeeeeett!
WOW that banana almond butter looks incredible! You’re making me want to buy a food processor! I’m jealous of all the homemade nut butters floating around the blogosphere.
Hooray for the AB!! I saw almonds at the store yesterday and ALMOST bought them after the nut butter talk the other day – now I really need to get them!
the nut butter looks so yummy! what a great idea!! : )
banana!!!! way to pull the dust together into a paste
. and it’s my lucky day because my coworker just gave me a banana. i know exactly where it’s going tonight …
What a comfy look robe! That almond butter looks great, and I love that you put a banana in there!
[...] Heather Trains « She Says: Raw Almond Banana Butter [...]
the addition of nanners is so smart! natural sweetener and glue like consistency…mmm!
sweet robe!! (im a little jealous)
The naner/almond combo sounds great! I think bananas make anything even better!
Next time you come home I would like some almond banana butter… please!!!!
In my experience, if you’ll let the food processor run for a few minutes after the “ball” stage, the almond butter will get creamy without needing anything extra (such as banana or oil) added to it.
To one of the other commenters: 2 cups of almonds makes about 9-10 oz. of almond butter.
I roasted my almonds, but found out today that maybe I shouldn’t have (look up “acrylamide”). Yikes.
Allison, This made around 1/3 of a cup – a little more.
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