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??
J3nn (Jenn's Menu and Lifestyle Blog) says
Love thumbprint cookies!
I like when nut butter is melted and gooey on bread or waffles. But straight out of the jar is good, too. :)
Tara @ The Game of Life says
Both of those look amazing! I love nut butters, but I have to say my favorite way to eat pb is on a pb banana honey and cinnamon sandwich! I have one every day, and always look forward to it! :)
Kristina says
At 8 in the morning this post was not good for me-haha…i’ve had to neglect from buying nut butters for 2 wks in order to stop the obsession, haha-looks so good!
chelsey @ clean eating chelsey says
Oh gosh – a day without nut butter is not complete, she has got that right!!
My favorite way to enjoy it – right off the spoon, in my oatmeal, on top of toast.
Faith @ lovelyascharged says
Since I was a little kid, I’ve always loved peanut butter maple syrup on top of my pancakes…ooey, gooey nutty goodness!
Melissa says
Wow, I want those protein bites, um, NOW!!! I love nut butter in a myriad of ways, but OIAJ is by far my favorite. With a banana & cinnamon? Heaven!
Carrie (Moves 'N Munchies) says
LOVE THIS POST CLEARLY!! im off to eat pb on a banana- thats my FAV way!
Lauren says
I love anything Almond! Those thumbprint cookies look right up my alley!!!
alyssa - fashion fitness foodie says
Love the sunflower seed bites!! I def wanna try those :)
Khushboo says
The protein bites look amazing and so easy to
Make! Will def be trying them!
Nicole @ Fresh & Fit says
I love those cookes! Working out will be a little easier knowing I have something like that to look foward to after!
Jenny (Fit Girl Foodie) says
I LOVE this post! Those thumbprint cookies look amazing and those protein bites are mouth watering. I’ve never tried sunflower before. I definitely need to jump on that bandwagon.
Christina @ Food.Fun.Fabulous. says
Nut butter is a must on my oatmeal, but lately i’ve been rocking the Elvis and having p.b. and banana sandwiches :)
Karen says
My favorite way to enjoy nut butter is definitely right from the spoon!! Is there really any other way to eat it? Those cookies look amazing! Definitely going to give them a try!
Samantha says
I love nut butter with apple slices wrapped up in a low carb wheat tortilla! I recently bought chia seeds…and sprinkled on top makes it even better!
Chris says
These cookies look great! The protein bites look great to fuel a workout!
Cara says
I love nut butter! I really can’t go a day without it! My favorite way to enjoy it is on toast, right off the spoon, and as a dip for apples.
Caroline says
I love nut butters! All of them! In fact I will take any nut product! My favorite way has to be peanut butter/almond butter with graham crackers and homemade jam dipped into almond milk! (Oh…Nutella is great too ;) )
Stacie says
I love all kinds of nut butters! I love them on pancakes! MmmmMmmm
Sarah says
mmmm the cookies sure do look amazing!