I was out for a wander this past Saturday and strolled through my neighbourhood hot spot: de Hallen, to see if there was a local goods market happening. Sure enough, the newly re-branded Maker Market was in full swing. This is a market that happens every other weekend where artisans and craftspeople sell their goods to the local crowd. I happened by one of the tables where they were giving out tasters of peanut butter. Enjoying three distinct flavours: Honey Cinnamon, White Pepper, and Chili Sambal, I soon realized this was not any ordinary peanut butter! I was totally impressed by what I tasted. By coincidence, I already had peanut, and cashew butters at home, and had a freshly purchased jar of almond butter in my bag. I felt I couldn’t justify another nut butter on my shelf at the moment, took a card, and was on my way, knowing I’d be making a purchase as soon as one of my jars ran out.
Sunday morning rolled around and I was planning my cooking for the day, and into the week. A fresh batch of energy bites was on my list of Things to Do, and I couldn’t think of a better way to solve that than by creating a new recipe with one of the NUTORIOUS peanut butters that stuck with me, excuse the pun 😉 after Saturday’s visit to de Hallen. I padded my way back over to the Maker Market, made a purchase and had another chat with Emiel letting him know his White Pepper Peanut Butter would be one of the starring ingredients in my energy bites. Along with it being organic and having no added palm oil or sugar, the taste of Nutorious peanut butter is brilliant: it’s soft and creamy with a smattering of small bits of peanut for texture. The White Pepper happened to be my favourite, and the Honey Cinnamon, and Chili Sambal are equally delicious!
I’m very pleased with the way these energy bites turned out. I actually made the recipe twice… once with chia seeds and honey, and a second time with ground flax seeds and maple syrup… and the latter, my taste testers and I, preferred. In these energy bites, there is a suggestion of warmth from the white pepper and the unmistakable comfort from nutty peanut butter.
If you are in Amsterdam, Nutorious is available at Koala Republic on Jan Evertsenstraat 115. Nutorious can also be shipped to your door in NL, Germany, Belgium, and the UK, at the click of a button. Please note: people who live within the Amsterdam ring can enjoy free shipping by entering AMSTERDAM as they check-out online.
And if you can’t get your hands on this peanut butter, or perhaps you’re allergic to peanuts, you can certainly try my recipe and substitute a nut butter of your choice. Either way, I think it’s a winning combination! Good, and good for you!
For the Energy Bites, you will need:
- 1 cup of dry oatmeal
- 1/2 cup ground flax seeds
- 1/2 cup Nutorious White Pepper Peanut Butter
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup dried currants
- a pinch of sea salt
Directions
- In a large bowl, measure out the oats and flax seeds and mix them together.
- Add the nut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla, and combine with the dry.
- Sprinkle in the chocolate chips and currants, stir, and roll into balls (16)