Almond Butter Brunches

Pippa Murray, founder of nut butter brand Pip & Nut and author of the new Pip & Nut cookbook, has some fantastic brunch ideas featuring her scrumptious almond butter recipe for you to try this weekend.

First things first you’ll need the nut butter recipe:

Ingredients:
300g/2–2½ cups almonds
Pinch of sea salt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2. Spread the nuts out on a large baking tray in a single layer. Roast until golden brown, about 10–15 minutes. Keep an eye on them, as nuts can turn from golden brown to burnt very quickly! Generally speaking, when you start smelling them around the house it’s time to take them out – pronto!

Tip the nuts into a food processor with the salt, if using, and blitz. The whole process takes about 10 minutes, depending on how powerful your blender is, but don’t stop until the nut butter is smooth and glossy:

After 2 minutes: The nuts turn into a crumble-like texture. At this point, stop the blender and use a spatula to scrape down all the pieces.

After 4 minutes: A small ball forms.

After 6 minutes: The nuts will be smooth, but will still have a slightly rough texture.

After 8–10 minutes: Don’t stop yet. Keep going until the nut butter is smooth, glossy and runny. Pour into an airtight container or jam jar. It will be good for 3 months, but to get the best flavour from the nuts, eat within 2 weeks or so.

Makes 1 jar, take 10-12 mins. 

Now test your almond butter out using one of the fantastic combos below:

AVOCADO, ALMOND BUTTER AND SPICED SUNFLOWER SEEDS TOAST Avocados are awesome. Almonds are ace. Altogether they are amazing. Think that’s enough alliteration for one recipe. • 2 Tbsp sunflower seeds • ¼ tsp paprika • ¼ tsp ground cumin • Pinch of sea salt • 2 slices of multigrain bread • 4 Tbsp almond butter • 1 ripe avocado   Toast the sunflower seeds in a dry pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes, then add the paprika, cumin and sea salt and toast for another 1 minute. Meanwhile, toast the bread and spread with almond butter while still warm. Peel and thinly slice the avocado. Lay the avocado on the toast and sprinkle with the seeds.

BAKEWELL TART WAFFLES The combination of cherry and almond in these waffles was inspired by the good ole’ classic English pud, the Bakewell tart. A Sunday lunch classic that we’ve squashed in between two waffle irons.    • 100g/¾ cup plain (all-purpose) flour • 50g/½ cup almond flour • 1 tsp baking powder • 1 tsp ground cinnamon • 2 eggs • 225ml/scant 1 cup almond milk • ½ Tbsp coconut oil, melted • 120g/½ cup almond butter • 150g/5¼oz cherries, pitted and quartered to finish and serve • Icing (confectioners’) sugar • Coconut yoghurt • Almond butter • Cherries, pitted Heat up your waffle iron. Sift both flours, the baking powder and cinnamon together into a bowl. Mix the eggs and almond milk together in a separate bowl and gradually add to the flour mixture to make a smooth batter. Stir the melted coconut oil into the mixture, then stir through the almond butter and cherries. Once the waffle iron is very hot, ladle in the batter and cook until nice and crispy on the outside and they come away easily from the sides (follow the manufacturer’s instructions). Dust with icing (confectioners’) sugar, top with coconut yoghurt, drizzle with almond butter and scatter with more cherries. Makes 5, takes 20 mins.

Get more delicious nut butter recipes and combos in Pip & Nut: The Nut Butter Cookbook. Available from 29th December 2016, where all good books are sold. More info here