This festive spiced chocolate almond butter is a creamy, sweet and spiced spread that is the perfect addition to festive baking, cookies, porridge or a sweet toast topper. The perfect blend of nutty, sweet and spice.
Truth be told this spiced chocolate almond butter was invented out of the pure dislike I have for peeling freshly roasted hazelnuts. Originally I had water to make a spiced faux Nutella, but the though of spending any amount of time making sure I’d removed all those browned skins? I wasn’t up for it.
Turns out roasted almonds mixed with cacao, spices, sugar and a little oil is JUST as delicious as its hazelnut counterpart, but LESS FUSS.
All the fun of spiced homemade Nutella but NO FUSS.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Almonds– Just basic raw almonds, which we will roast up and blend into a creamy almond butter. You could get really fancy and use activated almonds if you like- read more about what activated almonds are here.
- Cacao or cocoa powder. Either works, but I prefer to use raw cacao powder for this recipe. This one here has the best flavour ever, so I always use that.
- Icing sugar. Trust me, it gives the best results and makes the most creamy chocolate almond butter ever. You can swap with other sugars (granulated) if you like, or even maple syrup BUT the result will be stiff (not runny, smooth and glossy and not recommend).
- Spices and salt– we use ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cardamom to give the a festive, Christmas taste.
- Neutral flavoured oil– I like macadamia oil but a light olive oil would be my next choice (or any light oily prefer).
HOW TO ENJOY YOUR SPICED CHOCOLATE ALMOND BUTTER
- Straight off the spoon (obviously)
- Spread on toast and topped with sliced banana or strawberries
- Blended into hot milk for a wonderful hot chocolate
- Drizzled over a bowl of steaming porridge, or over my fermented porridge
- Spread on crepes or pancakes
- As a dipping sauce for a fruit platter
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I swap out the icing sugar?
Yes! Icing sugar gives the best result if you’re after a mock-nutella taste and texture, but you can swap for any other granulated sugar. All other forms of sugar will give a courser/grainer texture but will taste great. Coconut/brown/rapadura sugar will add a caramel flavour into the mix, so it is up to you if you’d like this.
For a sugar-free version you could swap out for your preferred granulated sugar-free sweetener, like this one. This chai-spiced almond butter might also be a better option for you, as it has far less sugar.
I do not recommend using no form of sweetener at all. The sweetener is necessary to balance out the bitter tones from the nuts and cacao, as well as the spices.
Can I use maple syrup instead of sugar?
I do not recommend using straight liquid sweeteners for this recipe (like maple syrup) as the water and oil seize up. This creates a very stiff nut butter that will not be spreadable.
I am allergic at almonds, what can I use instead?
Any nut will work! Hazelnuts, cashews, macadamia or pecans would be great. For a nut-free option you could use sunflower seeds or shredded coconut but note that you will need to look up the individual times for roasting each of these nuts/seeds, to avoid burning them.
Looking for more great snack ideas? Try;
- Paleo lemon curd slice
- Cream cheese and whey (labneh and whey)
- Easy zucchini fritters (gluten free)
- Berry gummies
- Low sugar fermented dates
- Roast hazelnut butter
We hope you enjoy this delicious spiced chocolate almond butter as much as we do! If you make we love to hear from you- your reviews and comments help others find this recipe too.

Spiced chocolate almond butter
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 20 serves 1x
- Category: Desserts
- Cuisine: Christmas recipes
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This festive spiced chocolate almond butter is a creamy, sweet and spiced spread that is the perfect addition to festive baking, cookies, porridge or a sweet toast topper. The perfect blend of nutty, sweet and spice.
Ingredients
3 cups raw almonds
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 nutmeg, finely ground
1/2 tsp fine salt
2 Tbsp light flavoured oil (I used macadamia oil)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (350F). Add almonds to a tray and roast for 7-9 minutes, or until fragrant and just starting to change colour. Be careful to not burn the nuts- I always check at the 6 minute mark and ever minute after. Burnt nuts means burnt nut butter, which is not enjoyable. Remove from the oven and COOL for 5-10 minutes. PLEASE DO NOT blend nuts straight from the oven- they hold A LOT of heat inside, and you must allow them to cool a little. Heat + pressure from blending in a small contained space = potential for explosions.
- Once the its have cooled add to your food processor and blend for 7-10 minutes. My food processor is high-powered- if yours is not, expect this may take up to 20 minutes. At first you will notice the nuts looking dry and grainy but do not worry- with time you will have a silky smooth, drippy nut butter.
- Once you have a creamy, runny and drippy almond butter add all of the remaining ingredients and blend through until uniform.
- Scrap into a clean glass container with an air-tight and store in the pantry.
Notes
- I do not recommend omitting oil in this recipe as you will miss out of having drippy, runny chocolate almond butter (which is totally half the point).
- You can absolutely omit all the spices if you want a plain, sweet chocolate almond butter
Keywords: Almond butter, Christmas spice, chocolate almond butter
What other oil can you use?
Any neutral tasting oil will be fine