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On Tuesday, Eric said the Enchiladas with Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce would be the best recipe all week.
Today, I politely disagree. :)
(And I secretly thought he would be right!)
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After making this recipe yesterday, I announced it was the best recipe of the week.
Eric rolled his eyes. He just doesn’t ‘get’ nut butter!
Let’s see, this recipe is…
- Delicious & addicting
- Creamy, smooth, buttery, with a hint of cinnamon and maple
- Thrown together in 60 seconds flat. (2 mins. if you can’t find the cinnamon!)
- Long-lasting in the fridge (I made that up, but I assume so)
- Versatile- You can eat it every day with many different foods
- Customizable- You could make many different flavours
- You could make this nut free by using sunflower seed butter and a non-nut milk
- FUN! You can use it as a dip, spread, mix in, topping, or main food group (ok maybe that’s just me)
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Are you excited yet?
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This little gem of a recipe called, ABU, comes from Heather of Heather Eats Almond Butter, which was adapted from Emily’s PBU recipe. Essentially, you blend almond butter (or nut butter of choice) with an equal portion of non-dairy milk and add any sweeteners, spices, or mix-ins you desire. I believe the names ABU & PBU are a play off of the PB2 powdered peanut butter product.
By doing this, you are doubling the volume of your nut butter, while preserving a creamy nut butter taste. It is also great for those of us who are sensitive to nuts. Normally, I get stomach pains when eating plain almond butter, but I didn’t have any when eating this ABU so that is a huge plus for me.
I saw this recipe on Heather’s blog a couple years ago and I am kicking myself for not making it sooner! I obviously need to get my priorities straight.
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Maple Cinnamon ABU
Lightly adapted from Heather’s ABU, which was adapted from Emily’s PBU. (Ok, I just laughed when typing that out)
Yield: Approx. 28 tablespoons or 1 and 3/4 cup
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup natural almond butter
- 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, or to taste
Directions: In a blender add your almond milk, followed by almond butter, maple syrup, and ground cinnamon. Blend until smooth. Store in the fridge in a sealed container. Makes 1 and 3/4 cups.
Nutritional Info: (Makes approx 28 tbsp) Per tbsp: 45 kcals, 4 grams fat, 0.4 grams sugar, 1 gram protein, 2 grams carbs.
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By making this, you are basically doubling the volume, and slashing the nutritional profile in half. The way I see it, I can eat twice as much now. ;)
I added a touch of cinnamon to the original recipe and increased the maple syrup by a couple teaspoons since I don’t use stevia. It was just amazing! My mind is already swirling with other flavour ideas. I will have to try it out with homemade almond butter too. Can you imagine how good this would be with Barney Butter? Or a vanilla bean?
It’s dreamy.
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I tried it with a tart Granny Smith.
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This was a very happy moment in my day. ;)
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Some other ways you can enjoy ABU:
- Drizzled on oatmeal or VOO
- Drizzled over cereal
- Dips for fruit or veggies
- Topping for a dessert like a brownie or cake
- Spread on bread, muffins, or crackers
- Baked oatmeal
- messy s’mores
- Baked granola
- by the spoonful like I did!
- poured on Banana soft serve or ice cream
- poured over cooked vegetables like Broccoli (Heather does this!)
- Blended into smoothies or drizzled on top
How would you eat this? What mix-ins, spices, or nut butters do you think would be good in it?
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Eric took the day off work today to begin deck construction! Shayne and Dan are here to help out which is awesome. Zac is coming after work tonight and we have more friends coming this weekend. What would we do without our dear friends? Thankfully, today is a sunny day, so they are going full force all day long!
Early this morning I headed out for a chilly half hour walk and did some Whittle My Middle and stretching when I returned. Walking is a great way to ease back into exercise after being sick. I don’t want to overdo it, but I also want to get active so it is a nice compromise. I came back with a clear head and lifted energy to start the day.
Have a good one!
Yummmm….I would have to add cocoa and cinnamon. I love chocolate + cinnamon together. If I left it plain, I would try dipping carrots and celery in it.
This is sort of a silly omni question, but I’m assuming I can use regular milk and it’ll work just as well? My family refuses to buy non-dairy milk outside of Lent and Advent (the only times of the year when we eat a vegan diet) but I’d LOVE to try this. Sounds genius.
Ohh, yum – this looks incredible.
I might be able to get my kids to eat sunbutter if I can mix it with other things they love. Baby steps right?
This looks amazing Angela! I will definitely be making this ASAP! Can I ask why you don’t use stevia? I’ve never used it myself, but I see lots of people using it.
I am not a huge almond butter fan, but these photos have me drooling!
This looks absolutely amazing. These pictures seriously have my mouth watering. I am in search of some almond butter today! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to trying out this recipe.
www.birdietobe.blogspot.com
What a genius idea!!
Oh this is such a wonderful idea!!! I love nut butters but I’m watching what I eat because I want to lose weight, so this recipe comes just at the right time, thank you :)
That looks so delicious! I’ll have to check out HEAB’s original recipe!
Yum, I’ve always wanted to try one of these concoctions. I’ve seen them around…
http://goldhearted.etsy.com
Angela, I don’t know how you stopped yourself from eating the entire cup (or did you…)
Why haven’t I tried this either?! I want to try it with different nut butters as well, or even a combo of them…YUM! Thanks for sharing and thanks to HEAB as well!
I had no idea there was a whole movement!
I did this to thin out the Spiced Almond Butter I made the other day in order to toss it with quinoa. Deliciousness!
Yes, oooooh YES! I’m drooling. I’ve been buying Better n’ PB because I am nut butter obsessed and can definitely OD on the stuff, but I don’t like it’s “unnaturalness”. This may just be the answer to my craving. Now I can eat twice as much almond butter! ;) Must try immediately!!!
Wow – what a great way to make nut butter better! I could honestly eat half a jar in one sitting.. now I won’t feel so yucky if I do.. bye bye tummy pains!
YUM! finally I can eat a whole jar of nut butter ;) i love walks.. they’re so relaxing. probably my favorite form of exercise rather than running. walking = meditation to me!
I make something like this to put on my oatmeal sometimes. I love that it doubles the volume and helps to spread it all over my oats so that I get nut butter in every bite. :D
Drool inducing photos, recipe is phenomenal!
Genius. I’m doing it, because it looks amazing and almond butter is expensive!