Friday, May 4, 2012

Banana Peanut Butter Spread






A mashed banana blended with  peanut butter equals much more tantelizing flavor than just a banana and peanut butter..

This incredible spread is a perfect match for any breakfast food including ( gluten free of course) muffins, pancakes, toast, etc. It is sweet but contains no sugar or sweetners and it's made with nut butter which provides protein. Kids will love it, and it will send them off with a healthy meal!

I found this recipe for banana peanut butter spread on a wonderful blog that I subscribe to called Chocolate Covered  Katie . It is a simple recipe made from two healthy ingredients that tastes absolutely fabulous together.

When I first read the recipe, I was in such a hurry to make it, I made it incorrectly.

Instead of putting the ingredients in a food processor to whip it up and refrigerating for at least 4 hours before eating it, I just mashed the banana well and then hand mixed it with the nut butter and we ate it immediately.
We spread it on top of gluten free pancakes and thought it was outrageous!

When I went back and re-read the recipe to make it another day, I was surprised that it actually said whip it together in a food processor and then allow it to sit at least 4 hours in the refrigerator to enhance the flavor before eating. ( uh oh! )

Well, I can report that it was different but great both ways.
I was  happy with the results of mashing, mixing by hand, and eating.
I was also happy with the results of processing, chilling, and waiting. ( it gets better the longer it stays in the refrigerator up to about a week)
So, there you have it.. you can make this recipe 2 ways!

Ingredients:
1 large banana
1-2 Tablespoons nut butter
After the butter is made and tasted , consider
Optional: 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
Optional : 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:

1.Directions for method 1: -mash 1 large banana and mix it with 1-11/2 Tablespoons of nut butter in a small  container ( use either peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, etc.) This way is a little thicker , more like a spread.

2. Directions for method 2: Mash 1 large banana and mix it in the food processor ( I used a small  food processor that you would use to chop parsley) with 1-2 Tablespoons of nut butter ( I used almond butter ) This came out a little thinner but after refrigerating it, it got thicker. You can keep banana butter in the refrigerator for about a week!

We ate it on top of pancakes, but it could be a spread on GF bread, muffins, rice cakes, in oatmeal, over ice cream etc.

You could make it with any nut butter. We used organic( no salt added)  almond butter that I get at Trader Joe's. If you use peanut butter, all natural organic is a good choice.

Here are seven reasons you may want to try this :

  •  It is that good 
  •  Kids ( of all ages)  will go crazy about it. 
  • There is no added sugar and its heavenly sweet
  • It's  lower in fat than straight peanut butter ( or any nut butter)
  • You could add cinnamon or vanilla to make it even better
  • It's gluten free, dairy free, egg free, grain free, vegan
  • It goes great with chocolate too for a dessert
  • *** use a frozen banana and it will taste like peanut butter ice cream
  • 
    Assemble ingredients ( you can use peanut butter or any nut butter)
    Slice Bananas
  • Put in Food Processor

    Serve with unsalted GF crackers, GF bread, in oatmeal, over pancakes, in yogurt
      High quality natural nut butters are a great source of nutrients especially for kids. I always buy organic and all natural when it comes to nuts and nut butters.
     Nut butters are high in protein, have lots of important nutrients, provide unsaturated fats and are low in saturated fats. You may not know that they have no cholesterol or trans fatty acids. In addition, they are gluten free. In addition, good quality natural nut butters provide soluble fiber, a variety of antioxidants including vitamin E, copper, potassium, B vitamins.
    Studies show that eating nuts can help you reduce the risk of getting diabetes by 30% read article.

For those who would like less animal protein in their diet, nut butter can provide a good alternative.

If you are following WW; these are my calculations and estimates for Points + ; please check and calculate yourself if you are on Weight Watchers ( let me know your calculations in the comments.. thanks) 

1 TBSP Peanut butter  2 points +
Banana butter made with 4 TBSP peanut butter and 1 and 1/2  large bananas make about 8 TBSP banana butter.
1 TBSP banana butter = 1 point +

Love to hear your thoughts and comments....Who in your family would love this banana Peanut Butter Spread???

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11 comments:

  1. Sounds easy to make my own banana peanut butter spread. I'm so excited to try this =)

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  2. What a perfect snack for peanut butter and banana lovers!!!

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  3. That looks great. Do you think it would work using pasteurized peanut butter?

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  4. My mother-in-law (actually, she was my boyfriend's mother at the time) made a spread similar to this. She added a little grape jelly instead of the cinnamon or vanilla, though. She mixed it together and placed it on the table next to the loaf of bread for a quick and easy after-school snack. Thank you for giving me a nice memory and a yummy lunch, as well!

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  5. Dan,
    It will work with any kind of nut butter. Let me know if you try it..

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  6. Sounds divine. I follow CCK too - she comes up with some amazing dishes...this being one of them. Thanks for sharing. Such a perfect combo.

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  7. Oh yes sounds great! Would indeed be great on my protein waffles! :)

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  8. This sounds and looks amazing! What a great combination. Thanks so much for sharing at Mix it up Monday :)

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  9. I really like the sound of this combo and especially for my teens- I shall give it a go!

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  10. Will the recipe work with reduced fat peanut flour, instead of peanut butter?

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