almond butter Archives

Peach Almond Butter Shortbread Bars

September 1, 2015 by Jenna

I know it’s September, but it’s still summer and it’s still hot. We should still be eating peaches every single day for every single meal: breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert.

Are we on the same page with this? I hope so, because I have a dessert for you. These beauts are peach almond butter shortbread bars.

Let’s dissect.

On the bottom is buttery shortbread acting as a strong base to hold the other delicious layers. It’s a simple crust made of butter, powdered sugar, flour, just a little bit of vanilla extract, and a pinch of sea salt.

Next is a layer of almond butter. This acts as a shield to protect the shortbread from getting soggy from the peaches. Not to mention, almond butter is amazing on approximately everything. I made my own by pulverizing almonds with a little bit of sea salt and maple syrup in my food processor, but you could totally use store-bought almond butter here.

Finally, we pile on peaches that have been roasted with maple syrup and brandy. They are juicy and delicious and perfect in every way; the real stars of this recipe. The brandy is totally optional, but really why would you skip it?

And hey, let’s just add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream on there as well. It’s summer and we should live a little before settling into fall.

I kept these bars in the fridge and the shortbread crust stayed strong and crispy for days (3 to be exact). There was no sogginess in sight, which is excellent, because I’m sure we can all agree that soggy crust is the worst. The mix of the shortbread with the creamy almond butter and the juicy peaches is a textural experience for your mouth. Your taste buds won’t be sad about it.

They tasted good cold and they tasted good heated up. They tasted good morning, afternoon, and night. I can say this all with confidence, because I did all the research.

So go run to the grocery store and buy all the peaches and enjoy every single last minute of summer.

Oh and while you’re at it, a few more peach recipes: browned butter ginger peach blondies, bourbon peach crisp, and fruit & coconut water ice pops.

Peach Almond Butter Shortbread Bars

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

50 mins

Serves: 9 bars

Ingredients

3 medium ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
4 tablespoons maple syrup (separated)
1 tablespoon brandy (optional)
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
⅓ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup dry roasted almonds
½ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the bars can easily be lifted out of the pan.
Place the sliced peaches on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with 3 tablespoons of maple syrup and one of brandy (optional), then sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl, cream together the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and the flour. Mix until incorporated. Then press dough into the prepared pan.
Place both the shortbread and the peaches in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. The rim of the shortbread should be lightly browned.
While the peaches and shortbread are baking, add the almonds, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, and the sea salt to a food processor. Process until smooth and creamy. Be patient as this can take up to 10-15 minutes depending on the strength of your processor. You can also use store bought almond butter.
Allow the shortbread and peaches to cool slightly, then spread a layer of almond butter on the shortbread. You’ll want to make sure everything is covered. Then add the peaches.
Cut, serve, and enjoy! I added a dollop of sweetened whipped cream to mine, because yum.

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Almond Butter Cannellini Blondies (gluten free, vegan)

June 19, 2015 by Jenna

Almond Butter Cannellini Blondies.

Wait.

What?

Cannellini blondies.

I get it. It’s weird. Stay with me.

These blondies were never on my radar. I never thought about them nor did I ever dream about them. They just kind of happened.

What I originally wanted to do was make black bean brownies. You have heard of those before, right? The surprisingly delicious and healthy little faux brownies made with black beans and cocoa powder (among a few other things). That was my plan.

But when I went to go grab a can of black beans from my cupboard, I *GASP* didn’t have any. My inventory (which I manually track in my memory) must have been off. Whoops.

(insert nerdy supply chain joke about inventory discrepancies)

I spotted a can of cannellini beans, shrugged my shoulders, and switched directions. If brownies can be made with black beans, then blondies could be made with cannellini beans, right?!

Well…

Sure.

These cannellini blondies aren’t made with butter, flour, egg, or lots of sugar. Instead there is coconut oil, cannellini beans, flax meal, maple syrup, and only two tablespoons of brown sugar. They also have some almond butter, walnuts, and dark chocolate chips, because those things just seem to be involved in everything that I do.

The texture is a lot softer and resembles more of a moist quick bread than a regular blondie (like these brown butter bourbon blondies or these brown butter ginger peach blondies). The taste is, well, different. No, they don’t taste like beans. They taste like a tasty sweet treat that I don’t have to feel guilty about. Not even if I stress eat two in the same sitting.

But who even stress eats? I DO.

I’m running a marathon TOMORROW and kind of have been nonchalantly internally freaking out about it all week. I think I’m in denial that it’s even happening. After doing a bulk of my runs solo and struggling a lot with my performance this training season, it just doesn’t feel like I’ve worked hard enough for the marathon to actually be here. Plus, my recently diagnosed arrhythmia hasn’t helped the situation. I guess my heart beats to it’s own awkward drum?

The Cardiologist gave me a Zio patch (like this) and told me I could run it. I am thankful that none of my other muscles or bones are injured and that my whole family is driving up to Duluth to cheer me on and that everyone else in the Calhoun Beach Run Club is totally going to kill it and that the experience as a whole will be really fun and rewarding.

Annddddd…. Back to the blondies. I am thankful for these too. Did I mention they are gluten-free and vegan (if you use vegan-friendly chocolate chips)? Neat!

I guess I really shouldn’t even call them blondies, but I’m going to anyways. What’s done is done.

Have cherry walnut butterscotch blondies when you ate healthy salads all week and want to delight yourself by eating something sweet and sinful. Have these almond butter cannellini blondies when you want a healthy little treat during the week so that you can save your big indulgence for Friday night pizza.

Different situations, but both are great ideas.

So yeah, cannellini blondies are real and I like them… for regular healthy enjoyment and for stress eating.

Now I’m headed up to Duluth to get ready for a 26.2 mile run tomorrow. Wish me luck??

Almond Butter Cannellini Blondies (gluten free, vegan)

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

26 mins

Total time

36 mins

These almond butter cannellini blondies might seem strange, but they are a healthy little treat. They are gluten free and vegan (if using vegan-friendly chocolate chips) and easy to make. These are perfect for a mid-day snack or for a post-dinner dessert without all the guilt of a classic blondie.

Serves: 9 blondies

Ingredients

2 ½ tablespoon water
1 tablespoon flax meal
15 oz cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ almond butter
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup dark chocolate chips (use vegan chocolate chips if needed)

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the blondies can easily be lifted out of the pan. Lightly grease with butter or oil.
In a small bowl, stir together the water and flax meal. Let sit for about 5 minutes. This is your flax egg.
Add all the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor excluding the walnuts and chocolate chips. Process until smooth, 3-4 minutes.
Add the walnuts and chocolate chips, reserving a little bit of each to sprinkle on top. Process a few times so that they get mixed into the batter and break up a little bit.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Top with the remaining nuts and chocolate.
Bake for 26-32 minutes. It will be will difficult to tell when these are done.
Let these cool completely in the pan before removing and cutting.
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container for a few days. I personally like them stored in the refrigerator and I bet they would hold up well in the freezer.

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Almond Butter Trail Mix Cookies

June 6, 2015 by Jenna

Almond butter and trail mix got married. Then they had two dozen children. These are their children:

Almond butter trail mix cookies.

Aren’t they beautiful?

All they had to was combine with an egg and some brown sugar. Then BAM! these cookies were born.

And then this blog post got a little awkward so I’m ditching this analogy right… meow.

So these cookies! They are so easy to make. I made them the hard way and they were still easy.

The “hard” way = make your own almond butter and mix your own trail mix.

The “easy” way = buy almond butter and trail mix at the store.

No matter which path you tread you’ll end up with delicious cookies and that’s the most important part. Gotta love that salty-sweet combo.

And you know what? As far as cookies go, these aren’t so bad for you. They are primarily made up of healthy, whole ingredients (nuts, seeds, egg), but we throw in some brown sugar to make them a little more of an indulgence.

Live a little.

They are naturally gluten-free, so if your body hates gluten it will love these!

These almond butter trail mix cookies would be great companions for when you go camping. They seem like very outdoorsy-type cookies to me. Maybe because they have the word “trail” in them? IDK.

I did bring them along to a picnic and they were good. I ate them inside and they were still good. I recommend trying both out!

Almond Butter Trail Mix Cookies

Prep time

25 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

33 mins

These almond butter trail mix cookies are basically just almond butter and trail mix with a few other ingredients. They are super simple to make! You can make your own almond butter and trail mix or buy your favorite at the store.

Serves: 2 dozen

Ingredients

2 cups almonds
1 egg, slightly beaten
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup raisins
⅓ cup dark chocolate chips
⅓ cup salted sunflower seeds
⅓ cup roasted, salted peanuts

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Toast almonds in the oven for 7-10 minutes (oven doesn’t have to be fully pre-heated at this point) until toasted and fragrant. Let cool for a few minutes.
Place almonds in a food process and process for 5-10 minutes until it becomes smooth almond butter. You may have to stop it every so often to scrap down the sides. Once almonds have reached the desired consistency transfer to a bowl. Make sure this is about to room temperature before mixing with the other ingredients. It will make the dough easier to handle.
Add the egg, brown sugar, baking soda, and vanilla extract. Stir until completely combined.
Stir in the raisins, dark chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, and peanuts.
Roll dough into balls.
Optional step: refrigerate dough for 10-15 minutes before baking. This will result in denser cookies. If you don’t refrigerate they will spread a bit and will be thinner and crispier. They will be delicious either way!
and place on the cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Notes

You can use store bought almond butter rather than making your own. Use 1 cup.
You can replace the raisins, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, and peanuts with 1⅓ cups of your favorite trail mix.

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Coconut Oil Brownies with an Almond Butter Swirl

January 17, 2015 by Jenna

Hi. It’s Saturday and I have a brownie recipe for you! If you are trying to stay away from the sweets this month, don’t freak out. These are healthy-ish coconut oil brownies with an almond butter swirl and they are super delicious. I say “healthy-ish”, because I don’t like using full-on “healthy” unless it is actually 100% good for you clean eating food. I don’t want to mislead you into thinking they are health food. Afterall, brownies. BUT I took out some bad stuff and added some better stuff and they still taste pretty darn good.

So what makes them “healthy-ish”? I swapped butter for coconut oil, granulated sugar for honey, and all-purpose flour for a combination of almond meal and whole-wheat flour. I also made sure there were no refined sugars. See, not so bad. I based these off of the Blueberry-Mint Brownies that I posted back in August. Making brownies from scratch may seem intimidating. You guys, it’s not. Yes, it requires a little more effort than boxed brownies, but these are still pretty simple.

Start by combining all the dry ingredients. Then melt the chocolate and the coconut oil (over the stove or in the microwave). Whisk in the honey, then the eggs and vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients and there you have it: brownie batter.

Anything that takes four short sentences to explain can’t be that complicated. There are, however, more details and more sentences in the full recipe below.

To make these a little more fancy and flavorful I added in some chopped nuts and an almond butter swirl, because life is just better with nuts (and healthy fats). Melt some almond butter with a little bit of honey and swirl it into the brownie batter.

I used almond butter and peanuts, but you can use peanut butter and almonds or peanut butter and peanuts or almond butter and almonds. Or a mix of everything! Choose your own adventure.

I will tell you that these taste better the next day. Have one straight out of the oven, but save the rest for later. Another thing I will tell you is that you could pop these in the oven, clean the dishes, do this 20-minute plyometric tabata, and still have a couple of minutes to spare before pulling them out of the oven. If that’s not perfect, I don’t know what is.

Coconut Oil Brownies with an Almond Butter Swirl

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour

These are healthy-ish brownies made with whole wheat flour, almond meal, coconut oil, honey, and almond butter. They are free of guilt, but full of flavor!

Serves: 9 brownies

Ingredients

½ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup almond meal
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
½ cup coconut oil
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon honey
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup almond butter
1 cup roughly chopped peanuts or almonds (roasted, unsalted)

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8x8” baking pan, line with parchment paper, and grease again.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, almond meal, cocoa, salt, and baking powder.
In a saucepan on low heat, melt the unsweetened chocolate and coconut oil.
Whisk in ¾ cup of honey. Let it cool for a few minutes and transfer to a medium bowl.
Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.
Fold in the dry ingredients until combined.
Stir in ¾ cup of the nuts. Set aside
In a saucepan heat up the almond butter and 1 tablespoon of honey until it melts a little bit (this should just take a minute or two). Stir in the remaining ¼ cup of nuts.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Add spoons of the almond butter mixture. Run a knife or toothpick through the batter to create a marbled effect.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

Notes

I used peanuts because that is what I had on hand, but almonds would be fantastic as well. You could also use peanut butter in place of almond butter.

You can melt the unsweetened chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave. Just put it in a microwave-safe bowl and stir it every thirty seconds until it is melted. Same goes with the almond butter and honey, which will probably only take 30 seconds. My microwave doesn’t work so I need to use the stove for all of this.

So there you have it. No blood. No sweat. No tears. No guilt. Just love, some better-for-you ingredients, and delicious brownies. Hurray!

Coconut Oil Brownies with an Almond Butter Swirl

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