There are few things as satisfying to me as creating a new nut or seed butter. They say necessity is the mother of invention. The boys needed a butter and the fridge was pretty bare….except for a few cups of raw pumpkin seeds and a jar of tahini. Though I use pumpkin seed butter quite a bit in recipes to make them daycare friendly, it’s kind of the red headed step child of the butter bunch according to J. Since pumpkin seed butter tends to be a little on the dry side, I experimented with adding a few tablespoons of tahini. Since tahini is savory, I added some sweetness and spice and voila! Nutella Knockoff was born. This butter is nut free, stimulant free (if you use carob), sugar free, oil free, and delicious! Let the blending begin……
Nutella Knockoff
Ingredients:
-2 cups raw pumpkin seeds
-3 tablespoons tahini (unsalted, just sesame seeds)
-3 tablespoons carob (I used roasted as opposed to raw. Cocoa would work too but you may have to up the sweetener)
-scant 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt (or any good quality salt)
-1/2 teaspoon gelatinized maca root powder (cinnamon would work well too)
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-stevia, equivalent sweetness of 1 teaspoon sugar (I used Stevia Select brand pure organic stevia, 1 smidgen scoop equals 1 teaspoon of sugar)
To make:
-Blend 2 cups of pumpkin seeds in food processor until thick butter forms, scraping down sides as necessary.
-Add tahini and blend again until creamy.
-Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until completely smooth and creamy. This butter takes a little longer to blend due to the lower fat content of the seeds but give it time, it will cream up nicely.