nuts Archives - Sweet Potato Bites

The holiday season is here, and between Thanksgiving and Christmas it’s a continuous stream of delicious holiday treats. I’ve teamed up with Nuts.com to spread the word about healthy (nutty) snacks!

I love nuts as a healthy source of protein and fat, and usually find myself having some form of nut butter nearly every day. I find that including a healthy fat (like nuts) with my breakfast in the morning helps to keep me satiated throughout the day and I find myself snacking less. One way I love incorporating nuts is in by making granola or granola bars, which is why I wanted to share my healthy nutty granola.

The great thing about homemade granola is that you can control the ingredients in it and craft it to your personal taste. Since I’m allergic to walnuts, I like making my own granola at home using some of my favorite nuts including cashews, almonds and pecans.

This healthy nutty granola is great with some Greek yogurt as an afternoon snack or with some almond milk for breakfast. This would also make a great gift for someone this holiday season!

Sweet Potato Bites Healthy Nutty Granola

Healthy Nutty Granola (adapted from Thug Kitchen)

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup quinoa

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 chopped nuts

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt your peanut butter and olive oil in a sauce pan and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine your oats, quinoa, nuts, chocolate chips, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Gently fold in your peanut butter mixture and spread until the entire mixture is coated.

Pour your mixture onto your lined baking sheet and place in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before breaking into pieces. Eat and enjoy!

For more healthy holiday snack ideas, you can check out Nuts.com. Happy #SeasonsEatings!

I’ve made a lot of banana baked goods in my time. I’ve made vegan almond banana bread, banana spelt muffins, baked chocolate banana doughnuts and most recently grain-free peanut butter banana bars. But my latest banana creation is so good that the Englishman declared it was the best banana bread ever.

I really love baking with spelt, and I think the spelt flour contributed to the success of this banana bread. Combine that with a touch of peanut butter, some olive oil, honey, pistachios and chocolate chips, and you have a winning combination. The best part of this bread is that it’s egg-free so you can whip it up in a flash, and if you want to make it vegan, just swap the honey for maple syrup and use dairy-free chocolate chips. So easy.

I’ve been making this bread almost weekly, and the Englishman takes it to work for mid-afternoon snack. I also happen to know based on personal experience that this bread is excellent with some ice cream (a la bread pudding).

If pistachios aren’t your thing, pecans also go nicely in this bread. Or you can just omit the nuts all together.

For now I’m just going to keep declaring this the best banana bread ever until I come up with something else to nab the title. It’s that good.

The Best Banana Bread Ever (makes 1 9×5 loaf)

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas

1 1/2 cups spelt flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp peanut butter

1/3 cup water

2 tbsp raw pistachios

Handful of chocolate chips (basically as many as you want!)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment or coat with cooking spray.

Mash your bananas in a mixing bowl with a potato masher or a fork. Add your honey, water, olive oil, peanut butter and vanilla and mix well. In another mixing bowl add your spelt, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and continue to mix well. The dough will be nice and thick (I generally use my stand mixer, but good ol’ fashioned elbow grease works too).Gently fold in your pistachios and chocolate chips and continue to mix until well blended.