These easy walnut recipes came from our September meetup, where the little nut that looks like a brain, found its way into our smoothie, snacks and a much loved Czech Christmas treat. That one takes a little work, so the others are super simple to make up for it!
Sharp Minds Brain Booster
A thick, creamy blueberry smoothie with walnuts, avocado and protein.
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/3 cup frozen blackcurrants
- 1 small avocado
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 1 1/4 cup unsweetened walnut or almond milk (1¼ cups)
- Optional: 1 scoop protein powder (I use Purasana pea and sunflower protein)
- Water or additional milk as needed
Method
Add everything to a high-speed blender and blend until completely smooth. Add a little more milk or water if needed. Serve immediately.
Tip
Soaking the walnuts for a few hours creates an even smoother drink. Drain and rinse them before blending.
Apple Wedges with Hazelnut Butter & Walnuts
Crisp, creamy and crunchy…the quickest recipe on the page.
Ingredients
- crisp apples
- natural hazelnut butter
- roughly chopped walnuts or shredded coconut
- Ground cinnamon (optional)
- A squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
Method
Core the apples, cut into wedges and spread each with hazelnut butter. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts or coconut. Finish with cinnamon if desired.
Tip
If preparing them ahead, lightly coat the cut apple with lemon juice to prevent browning.
Date Sandwich with Walnuts, Blueberries & Peanut Butter
A naturally sweet little bite with a surprisingly satisfying mixture of textures.
Ingredients
- Medjool dates
- natural peanut butter
- walnut halves
- fresh blueberries
Method
Cut each date lengthways and remove the stone. Fill with approximately little bit of peanut butter. Press in one walnut half and two blueberries.
Walnut Cookies
These are my healthified version of the traditional walnut shaped filled cookies. One bite takes me straight back to Christmas.
Ingredients
- 200g gluten free flour
- 100 g ground walnuts
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 100 g powdered allulose (or icing sugar)
- lard or coconut oil for greasing the moulds
For the filling
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 100 g ground walnuts
- 100 g ground amonds
- 50 g powdered allulose (or icing sugar)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C and lightly grease the walnut shaped moulds.
Combine the flour, ground walnuts, powdered allulose and cold butter until a soft dough forms. Press a small amount of dough into each mould, keeping the centre slightly hollow to leave room for the filling.
Place the moulds on a baking tray and bake for 8 – 10 minutes. Watch them closely because allulose browns quickly. Let the shells cool in their moulds (important!).
For the filling, first stir egg yolk with allulose in a heatproof bowl set over gently simmering water. Stir continuously until the mixture thickens slightly and reaches 71°C. Remove from the heat, allow it to cool, then combine it with the remaining filling ingredients.
Add a small amount onto each shell and gently press a second shell on top. Refrigerate until firm, you can also dip half in dark chocolate.
These recipes came from our wonderfully walnut-filled September meetup. Read the story behind the morning here.