Almond Butter Oat Bran Biscuits By @balancednotclean

Nut butter is a typical staple of fitness fanatics –  but have you tried baking with it? Acting as a higher protein alternative to other fat sources, it’s a great way of adding depth of flavour to recipes. You just have to be careful with moisture levels when substituting fats for nut butter, as otherwise the recipe can turn out too dry.

Some nut butters are also runnier than others, so try not to be disheartened if a recipe you’re coming up with doesn’t turn out as intended on the first try. When I first started making recipes, many of them did not turn out as expected. However, this experimentation meant that I learned how many ingredients react with each other in protein baking.

This recipe resulted from my some of my latest experiments. Almond butter oat bran biscuits that are vegan (although you can use dairy-based cream cheese too to make this). Think Hobnobs, with a nutty crunch and a crispy element (yet soft centre) from using oat bran. This recipe is also easy to double, halve (or even quarter) if you want to change the size of the batch you’re making.

Ingredients:

• 150g almond buter
• 90g vegan soft cheese (cream cheese alternative)*
• 90g oat bran
• 30g sugar replacement (a 1:1 replacement: you can use sugar if you like – I use Sukrin Gold)

*if you want your cookies to be slighty softer rather than crispy, add 20g more of the soft cheese (or free from equivalent). You can also swap oat bran for oats for a softer biscuit.

Method:

1)      Mix together all of the ingredients into a thick dough.

2)      Roll the dough into 10-12 balls.

3)      Flatten the balls to biscuits about ½ to ¾ inch thick on a baking tray covered in baking paper (or a silicone baking sheet).

4)      Shape the edges of the biscuits so they are smooth circles.

5)      Bake at Gas Mark 5 (180C) for 15 minutes.

6)      Leave to cool on the tray.

7)      You can refrigerate leftover biscuits for a week or freeze these for a couple of months.

Nutrition (per 1 biscuit out of 11):

Calories: 140

Carbs: 32.2g (+2.5g)

Protein: 4.6g

Fat: 10.8g

Ashleigh Ponder

@balancednotclean