Gooooood morning! Are ya feelin’ a little “nutty” this morning? I hope so, because I’ve got a great guest post for you all, featuring none other than…nut butters, from the fabulous Alexa. You just may find yourself in the kitchen after checking these out…
ENJOY!!
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Hi, Sweet Tooth Sweet Life readers! I’m Alexa, and I blog over at Simple Eats. I blog about food, fitness and staying healthy, while feeding my love of baking and experimenting in the kitchen!
Like Courtney, I have a raging sweet tooth and feel the need to give in to it frequently. I also have more than a few jars of nut butters in my pantry and am always looking to incorporate them into baked goods.
As much as I love peanut butter, it’s fun to venture out into the world of other nut butters. I recently found (and fell in love) with sunflower seed butter and can’t get enough of the stuff! Eating it straight out of the jar has become a daily occurrence for me-don’t judge. I love having a snack to look forward to before or after a workout, which is why I created these little protein bites. They’re packed with fruits, nuts and of course, sunflower butter. They’d be perfect for snacking throughout the day, before a workout or a hike, and maybe even crumbled on oats!
Sunflower Seed Protein Bites (makes 20 bites)
1 c. instant or rolled oats
½ c. dried cranberries
½ c. chopped dried apricots
½ c. chopped walnuts
3 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. ground flax mixed with 6 tbsp. warm water
½ c. sunflower seed butter
Preheat oven to 350F. First, prepare flax & water mixture and set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together oats, honey and sunflower seed butter until well combined. Fold in cranberries, apricots and walnuts. Mix in flax egg until well combined. Drop by tablespoon-full onto greased baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until slightly browned. Let cool for 10 minutes.
My next recipe is based on almond butter, which is tied for first with peanut butter on my favorites list. When I started eating almond butter, I often paired it with raspberry jelly on top of toast, which inspired these cookies. The combination of almond and raspberry is unbeatable and the flavors balance each other out. Not too sweet or on the salty side…just right!
Almond Butter and Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies (makes 15 cookies)
1 c. almond butter
¾ c. sugar
1 egg
~2 tbsp. seedless raspberry jelly
Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium-sized bowl, combine almond butter, egg and sugar and mix until well combined. Roll into small balls and place onto baking sheet. Press gently into the middle of each cookie with your thumb. Place a ½ teaspoon of jelly into hole of cookie. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed these recipes! Remember, no day is complete without a little nut butter! 
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Thanks, Alexa! I think I may need to head out to the kitchen and make a batch of each of these pretty soon. 
Question for the Day:
What your favorite way to enjoy nut butters??
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