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!)
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)
Are you excited yet?
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.
I tried it with a tart Granny Smith.
This was a very happy moment in my day. ;)
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?
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!
Genius! I’m definately making this soon. Excellent way for me to get more fruit into my diet- covered in this deliciousness!
Yummmmmm……..I just made this recipe and poured it over a banana. *drool*
i cannot wait to try this! i’ve removed all processed foods from my diet and the post baby weight is just melting off. i do miss the yummy indulgences, but something tells me this will help with my sweet and savory tooth… thank you!
Just made “Banana Almond Butter Sandwiches” with this….. OMG!!!!
Hi there! I’ve been reading your blog for a while, “lurking,” I guess!! I’ve made about half a dozen recipes..all delicious! However I just made this and gave a spoonful to my 6 year old daughter and she sang the song “If your happy and you know it” while liking her spoon CLEAN! She then asked for some in a bowl, like ice cream! Thanks a bunch for this one!!!
Thats awesome Sonia! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been making this lately (my new favorite is salted sunflower butter with almond milk) and adding chia seeds to the mix. It gets a little gel-y, in a good way!
Hi,
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and I think its great! Also love that you are from Ontario (me too!!!) I love that you have a featured recipe of the week! I tried this today! And I dipped my sliced apple in it for dessert! Thanks for sharing all your yummy recipes!
I bookmarked this eons ago and just got around to making it. It tastes as just good as it looks, thanks!
Amazing. I just made this and I had to put it in the downstairs fridge to avoid eating the whole bowl! I just put some in my popsicle mold and topped it with puréed strawberries… Pb&j popsicles! My girls will be so excited.
I have changed my entire way of eating over the past six weeks and it feels great. I am eating primarily vegetarian/ vegan after a lifetime of poor eating habits. Your recipes and photos are amazing and have been so helpful on my new journey. I have recently started using PB2 in my shakes, but this maple cinnamon ABU looks wonderful. Keep the great recipes coming!
Congrats Peggy! So happy to hear about the changes you’re making. I’m glad you enjoy the blog too.
OMG!! Im not a vegan or even a vegetarian but have just made ur amlond butter and wow ur right i want to eat it all!!! Amazing. Now just got to decide what to put it onto first!!!
Also made ur overnight oats pie also very good. Keep coming back to ur site im sure now ive tried a couple of recipes i will keep coming back for more!
Thank you!! :)
Yum!! This thing is a lifesaver! I have used this trick many times and it works so well!!! :) I love how it makes it so much lower in calories so u can eat TONS! YUmmmm!! :D Thank uuuu!
i used sunflower seed butter instead of nuts and it’s amazing! reminds me of a frosting! so light and fluffy. Helps me feel a little bit better about my addiction to consuming nut butters [ you know the 10 extra licks and bites from the jar ;) ]
Oh my! thank god I am not the ONLY one that does this – however, as I am now trying to shift weight and still can’t control myself!!!
I can’t digest peanut butter, so I searched for a pure, raw almond butter, but was not successful. I then learned about transforming my own raw almonds into butter. I also added stevia and cinnamon and was very thick. I then tried your method and love it soo much. Now my new nightly snack!!
This is awesome!!
Would I use the same ratio of nut butter and milk for peanut butter, as well?
Thank you!
I wanted to love this, because almond butter is expensive and it would allow me to eat more of a food that I love, but it just tastes so watered down and bland, even with the maple and cinnamon. I also tried it with peanut butter and added chocolate to it, but still couldn’t enjoy it. I’m going to stick with regular nut butters in moderation. Thank you for the recipe, though!
How did you know how many calories it contained?
I just made this a couple days ago and it was amazing! But its only been a week and its starting to taste kind of sour.. is that still alright to eat? I put it in the fridge in a mason jar :S
How long does it last in the fridge?
I am soo excited to try this! Only one question. Why do you call it ABU? I am assuming the AB stands for Apple Butter but what does the “U” stand for? Is it for the “U” in butter? If so why? Then it should be APBU. Right? I’m so OCD I call it CDO so that the letters are in order. :)
SO! This is an absolutely incredible recipe and I love it! However, after about a week and a half, my double butter began to bubble and ferment, and now it’s…gross. Ha. So, I suppose it doesn’t last that long in large quantities unfortunately. Nonetheless, it is delicious!