(I hope these aren’t my only legacy)
The following recipe is for a snack many of my clients have just fallen in love with. It’s easy to make and utterly delicious. It’s also very satisfying for both the taste buds and the appetite. Should you find yourself hungry between meals and need “a little something” I think you’ll agree that these are wonderful.
You’ll need:
- One regular-sized jar of almond butter (or any other nut butter—other than peanut or cashew butter—that you prefer). Stir surface oil in well!
- 5-10 oz (an approximation) of organic nuts (almonds, pecans, macadamias, brazil nuts, pistachio’s…etc, preferably pre-soaked and dried). Use a food processor to grind or chop to desired consistency/”chunkiness”.
- Handful of organic sesame seeds and/or chia seeds (great source of mucilaginous fiber to help “keep that train rolling”)
- Organic shredded coconut (as much or as little as you like)
- Alcohol-free (glycerin-based) vanilla extract, or powdered/crushed vanilla beans
- One full brick (room temperature) of KerryGold butter (decidedly a “key” ingredient)
Optional ingredients:
- Organic coconut flour (Bob’s Red Mill makes a good one) – add for additional yummy coconut flavor and/or better binding
- Organic coconut butter…(you have to taste this stuff to believe it!)
- Stevia (for added sweetness, if needed or desired)
- Bee pollen (why not? Good source of flavinoids)
- Organic cacao nibs (Dagoba has quality ones) – adds chocolaty flavor without adding sugar. Also, cacao nibs have roughly 2X the antioxidant content of green tea!
- Lately I’ve taken to adding a scoop of Garden Of Life “Super Seed” (fiber supplement) for some added great texture and flavor
- Whatever floats your boat (and happens to be low carb)
Blend the above in a bowl thoroughly, then spoon out into little “balls” onto wax paper on a plate or tray. Refrigerate for a good hour, or until these firm up.
If you want to take them with you, you might consider placing them in a small portable cooler. You could also individually wrap these in wax paper to secure them (if they can’t be refrigerated) so that they don’t get all over everything if they melt.
Prepare your taste buds to be dazzled!
Is a brick of butter the same as a stick of butter? Or is it 4 sticks = 1 brick.
Would you say a regular sized jar of almond butter is 16 oz?
I’m just trying to get a feel for the ratio of almond butter to milk butter.
A brick of KerryGold butter is 8 oz. Not sure how this translates to “sticks of butter”, since I no longer use that kind. I’m partial to KerryGold because it is a pasture fed butter (and unbelievably delicious!)
I’m thinking the “standard” size of almond butter jars is probably about 16 oz. Just go for the regular size and you’ll be fine. 🙂
Thanks! I tried a roughly 1:1 ratio and it came out quite buttery. Still tasted great though.
I’ll up the almond butter and try again. I picked up some goat butter and will try a batch with that. I’m thinking cardammon would go well in these.
I made a batch of these last week and they turned out well. My 11 yo son liked them and requested them for his lunch box and after school. We had a 2.5 hour drive to an appointment one day with no time for stops. I hadn’t had time to eat before leaving due to a parent-teacher conference, so I put a storage container with a half dozen of these in a bag with a brick of artificial ice and we ate a few of these on the road to tide us over. They really satisfy hunger.
When I saw this recipe I’d just made about 8 lbs of soaked & dried almonds, pecans, and brazil nuts, so the timing was perfect. This is a great recipe template that is easy to customize. I tweaked a few things to suit my taste & what I had on hand. I also didn’t make rounded balls – I well-greased a half sheet pan (about 12″ x 9.5″ x 1.5″) with grassfed ghee (Purity Farms brand) then put down a piece of greased parchment, but the parchment probably wasn’t necessary. I spread the mixture in an even 1″ thick layer in the greased sheet pan and chilled it for several hours, then cut the firm mixture into small 1x1x1″ cubes, then transfered the cubes into 2 or 3 glasslock storage containers with a piece of waxed paper separating the layers (stored in the fridge).
I used one softened 8 oz/227 g bar of unsalted Kerrygold butter (1 bar equals 2 sticks – US butter quarters or “sticks” are 1/4 pound/half cup each).
I grabbed the wrong stevia product from my cabinet (one from Trader Joe’s). I have three stevia products but don’t use them often. I couldn’t remember which one I hated for its awful bitter aftertaste. Bingo, I found out which one to throw out. Luckily I hadn’t added much and tasted it right away so I was able to use another sweetener to mask most of the bitter stevia taste. I think I used a bit of Lo Han Sweet with xylitol or perhaps erythritol. Overall I didn’t make these very sweet anyway.
I also added about 1/4-1/3 cup very dark variety Dutched cocoa powder (King Arthur Flour co), a handful or two of “pulsed” raw cacao nibs, and one “pulsed” bar of Lindt 85% chocolate, which also added a very small amount of refined sugar. They were nice and chocolatey, but not at all candy-like.
I added the remains of a jar of Wilderness Family coconut spread (100% coconut, ground up like a nut butter), about 1/4-1/3 cup. I used lots of Let’s Go fine grated dried coconut too, but I added that at the end so it would just be mixed in and not pulverized too much in the food processor.
I had some flax seeds in the freezer so I pulsed a handful or two of those in the small food processor to break up the seed hulls before adding to the mixture.
I’ll be making these again. Thanks!
I made these recently and I think they are extra, extra tasty in a very satisfying way, and I will make them again. They keep very well in a covered glass container in the refrigerator. I am sharing the recipe with my nephew, who is new to Primal Body Primal Mind.
This recipe looks really good!! I was wondeirng if anyone had made almond butter from soaked and dried almonds? If so, how did you do it? Thanks.
In fact, you are in luck! I just got word about the following product available from Radiant Life (www.RadiantLifeCatalog.com):
Finally, an exquisite line of soaked, sprouted, dehydrated & certified-organic raw nut & seed butters!
Better Than Roasted™ products are:
· Whole, Premium, Raw Nuts & Seeds
· No Preservatives, Non-GMO
· USDA Certified Organic
· Certified Kosher
· Sprouted Superfoods
· Made Fresh in Small Batches
· A Peanut-Free and Soy-Free Facility
Nothing added… Just nuts and/or seeds!
Rashell,
I’ve made almond butter from soaked and dried almonds.
Simply put the dried nuts in the food processor and hit ON. It will take a few minutes.
First the nuts will become crumbs, then after a few minutes of processing the nuts will start to form together into a butter. It helps to stop and stir the nuts a bit to make sure they are uniformly ground up. When you turn the nuts out into a glass container, it will bind together when pressed into place with a silicone spatula. After sitting, the oil may separate; stir it back in.
Yum yum yummers. I can’t wait to try this out! thanks!
Wow! Thank you Nora, and all, for these great recipes and helpful hints and comments.
I am a Holistic cardiac rehab nurse and had a patient (imagine that!) tell me about this “new” diet he is on, so I thought I would look this up. This primal diet goes against everything that is taught for heart health, but V. lost 22 lbs on this new food plan and his cholesterol has dropped after eating this way for the last 2-3 months.
I am always looking for healthy and delicious recipes for myself, family and patients. This really seems like common sense to me. I will do more reading and research on primal eating.
Thank you.
I made these and they were great! I used an egg carton lined with plastic wrap to refrigerate/store them.
I’ve been making these for about nine months and they are wonderful for a quick breakfast, a snack, or any time a craving hits. My 10yo granddaughters love these, and help me make them. They like to squeeze them from an icing bag or a baggie with a corner cut off into small candy molds or 1″ foil cups, or roll balls in plain coconut. The recipe comes out a bit different every time which helps keep my seeds, etc from going stale. One batch the girls made at home used 1/4c honey and organic raw peanut butter which I don’t use but the girls’ sleep over friends raved about them. Far better than what they would normally have had!
Here’s my challenge:
My 4 year old son is peanut and tree nut allergic (the deadly allergy). He seems to be mildly dairy intolerant, but we can use Ghee with no apparent problems. Can I substitute sunflower butter, or does that just undermine all of the nutritional benefits of this recipe? We’re kind of desperate for healthy, non-grain snack foods. The only other thing I’ve been able to come up with is coconut flakes (oddly, coconuts are not, in fact, a nut, thus he is not allergic to them).
So, is sunflower butter an acceptable substitute or not? (And if anyone, anywhere, has snack food suggestions other than raw veggies for someone in our situation, I’d surely appreciate them!)
Oh, Nora… can I say: I love you! 🙂
I’ve been eating quite a bit of almond butter and hazelnut butter lately, and I have been dreaming about blending nut butters with kerrygold! 😀 It hasn’t been that long since I read your (fantastic!) book and yet I totally forgot about this recipe! (I know, horrible – right? ;).
So, my question is…. how much nut butter is too much?
In gratitude & love,
Jasmin
What if I’m addicted? Seriously, do they make a Nora’s Nut Butter patch to help curb your cravings?…Was actually quite interested in what an appropriate serving would be and what would be too much. My body really is lusting for this stuff. Don’t know if it’s the butter (I’m using Ghee) or what but I honestly can’t stop craving it. Thx!
Dear Nora:
I have purchased the almonds and soaked them. When they had finished soaking the skins came right off, then I dried them out. Are you supposed to take the skins off?
Also, I have the almons, sesame seeds, shredded coconut, butter, coconut flour, o. coconut butter, O. Cacao nibs, and the Garden Of Life “Super Seed”. I have no idea how much of each ingredient to put in, and what should the consistency be when I make it into the balls?
Thanks
Carolyn
Truly wonderful! This recipe is for the haters who always think that starch and sweet are the only way to go with delicious snacks and foods. Thank you for sharing, Nora. I didn’t have some of the ingredients but I did put in some pumpkin seed butter and sea salt. I love salt!
I’m just wondering, why can’t you use cashew butter?
There are oils in cashews that are an irritant to many people. Roasting helps but doesn’t necessary eliminate the problem. They are a very common source of digestive upset. Cashews are a higher carbohydrate than other nuts.