Everyone loves a bit of toast slathered in peanut butter – it’s delicious, it usually comes with a warm glow of nostalgia for childhood and, as a bonus, it’s even good for you. Nut butters are full of muscle-building protein and the type of healthy unsaturated fats that help you burn flab.
But there’s more to nut butter than toast. It can be used to make all manner of healthy snacks, like the four great peanut butter recipes here. Below, we’ve got a quickfire DIY peanut butter flapjack recipe, peanut butter energy bites, and then there's this peanut butter granola recipe.
We tried all these recipes and it’s no exaggeration to say the food didn’t last more than a few minutes in the office.
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Peanut Butter Flapjacks Recipe
Photograph: Joseph Sinclair
Remember that tub of New Year’s resolution whey protein gathering dust on top of your kitchen cupboard? It’s time to put it to good use, with this indulgent yet healthy flapjack recipe from Chef Frankie. It swaps the traditional oven-baked approach for a quicker, easier, microwaveable method. A sweet, high-protein snack that doesn’t have to be saved for cheat days? Winner.
Ingredients (makes 10-15 flapjacks)
- 2 scoops of whey protein
- 170g cashew or peanut butter
- 2tsp malt extract
- 250ml agave nectar
- 75g porridge oats
- 200g coconut flour
- A splash of almond milk
To make
Mix the coconut flour in a bowl with the whey protein.
In a separate bowl, mix the nut butter, agave nectar, malt extract and porridge oats, then cook for one minute in the microwave.
Remove, stir and mix with the flour and whey, adding a splash of almond milk.
Spread the mixture evenly on a tray lined with greaseproof paper to your preferred thickness, then cover and refrigerate for 40 minutes. Remove, slice and enjoy.
Peanut Butter Energy Bites Recipe
Ingredients (makes 16 bites)
- 100g pecan nuts
- 2tbsp smooth peanut butter
- 2tbsp date syrup
- 50g ground almonds
- 50g chopped apricots
- 50g raisins
- Sprinkling of desiccated coconut
To make
Put the pecans into a food processor and chop finely. Add in the peanut butter, date syrup, almonds, apricots and raisins and blitz until they’re all well combined and the mixture clumps together.
Line a sandwich box with greaseproof paper and tip in the mixture. Smooth it into the corners then sprinkle over the coconut. Put it in the fridge to chill.
Once the mixture is firm, turn it out onto a chopping board and cut into small chunks. Store in the fridge in a sealed container.
Recipe courtesy of Meridian Foods
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Peanut Butter And Date Granola Bars Recipe
Ingredients (makes 25 bars)
- 100g self-raising flour
- 300g porridge oats
- 50g desiccated coconut
- 100g mixed seeds
- 125g chopped dates
- 50g unsalted peanuts, chopped
- 1 apple grated (skin included)
- 100g smooth peanut butter
- 150g unsalted butter
- 150g honey
To make
Heat the oven to 170˚C/gas mark 3. Line a 20cm x 30cm baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl combine the flour, oats, coconut, seeds, dates and peanuts.
Heat the peanut butter, butter and honey in a saucepan. Stir well as it melts together. Once it’s melted and loose, remove from the heat and add the apple.
Tip the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Tip into the baking tin and press out to the edges and corners. Use the back of a spoon to compact the mixture.
Cook for 20-25 minutes until it turns golden on top. Let it cool in the tin, then cut into 25 bars and store in an airtight tin.
Recipe courtesy of Meridian Foods
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