We all know how much I adore almond butter.

I heavily indulge in this item of decadence on a daily basis. Heavily.

So, while living abroad for close to a month, you can imagine how much my heart longed for this small (or somewhat large) item in my ritual consumption and routine.

I searched high and low.
Here in the good old U.S. of A., silky smooth and satisfyingly crunchy almond butter can be found on the shelves of just about any market.

In France, this is simply not so…
I did manage to find a delightfully raw version, along with my very favorite variety of raw kale chips at one gourmet market along the Champs Élysées – for a whopping price tag of about $40 for the butter and $10 for the tiny bag of chips.
I don’t think so…

Thus, my search continued.

With my beloved butter no where to be found, almond flour, however, did abound. This delightful treat, is on just about all the shelves of markets, convenience stores, and more. It must be due to the fact that fancy pastry shops align all the cobblestone streets as well, surely supplementing with this type of delicate almond goodness.

Thus, desperate to fulfill my ritualistic evening desires, just once or twice (thank goodness wine was everywhere to be found!!), I put on my cap of resourcefulness and created something somewhat similar to satisfy my desire.

Thus,

Almost Almond Butter

1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 cup almond milk (or coconut milk for something SUPER delicious and rich)
1/4 tsp. vanilla salt
sweetener to taste, optional

Mix almond meal/flour, milk, and vanilla salt until combined. If the mixture seems too thin, toss it in the microwave for 30 seconds until thick. Add sweetener to taste as desired. 

It’s ALMOST almond butter.

It will do…

Even if it doesn’t do for you, it’s something uniquely different and pretty darn delicious.