Paleo Whipped Protein Almond Joy Butter

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, toss together almonds with 2 tablespoons honey, using your fingers to make sure all the almonds are coated. Spread onto one of the prepared baking sheets and bake until almonds are toasted and smell “nutty,” about 15–17 minutes. Take out and let cool for 10 minutes.
3. While almonds cool, spread coconut flakes onto the other pan and bake until lightly golden brown, about 4–6 minutes. Watch coconut closely, as it burns very quickly!
4. Once almonds have cooled, add them, along with toasted coconut flakes, into a large food processor. Blend until almonds release their oil and turn into creamy, smooth almond butter. Make sure you stop to scrape down the sides every few minutes (see notes).
5. While almond butter is doing its thing, roughly chop 2 ounces chocolate and place into a small sauce pan. Then, take the can of coconut milk out of the refrigerator and flip upside down. Open it and pour out the liquid from the top, leaving a thick layer of coconut cream at the bottom (see notes). Scoop out 1 tablespoon of the cream into the pan with chocolate and place can back in fridge. Turn heat to low and slowly melt chocolate with coconut cream until it turns into a smooth and very thick ganache, stirring regularly. This does take some time.
6. Once almond butter is creamy, add in remaining 1 tablespoon honey, along with 1/4 cup protein powder. Blend until well combined, and butter begins to thicken. Then, add in chocolate ganache from stove top and blend again until well mixed. After that, add in the remaining 1/2 cup protein powder and cocoa power. Blend, scraping down sides, until well mixed. The dough will be very thick.
7. Take remaining coconut cream from refrigerator and scrape it all out into food processor. Blend until well mixed. The butter should now be soft and fluffy.
8. Transfer butter to a large bowl and refrigerate until it feels fully chilled, about 1 1/2 hours. Stir butter at around 30 minutes to make sure oils are evenly distributed.
9. Take chilled butter from fridge and beat it on high speed with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Make sure you scrape down sides as you go.
10. Grate remaining 1 ounce chocolate into butter and gently stir until well mixed. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge. Or eat at once.

Notes:
1. Chilling the coconut milk overnight is key, or else you won’t get the thick coconut cream that you need to make this recipe work.
2. Processing the almonds into a smooth nut butter does take some time, depending on the strength of your food processor. Mine took about 15 minutes.
3. Don’t waste the coconut water you pour out of the can, it’s great in smoothies!
4. The almond butter will harden as it refrigerates, but will still be scoop-able. So, just scoop out as much as you want into a small bowl (don’t keep letting the whole container go from room temperature to cold over and over again) and let it stand at room temperature for 10–15 minutes or so. It’ll go back to being light and fluffy! You can also just pop a small bowl of it in the microwave for a few seconds, if you’re cool with the microwave.