The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carb diet that allows you to eat many of the foods you love while still losing weight, including delicious treats like these keto almond butter cups. We love these almond butter cups because they’re incredibly simple to make (just 5 ingredients!) and take care of our sweet tooth without setting us off our diet goals. After just one bite we know that you’ll love them, too.

Key to making these almond butter cups keto-friendly is to follow a few simple rules:

• Use coconut oil. Coconut oil contains certain fats called medium-chain triglycerides, which are rapidly absorbed in the liver where they’re either burned for energy or converted into ketones.
• Leave out any refined sugar. Refined sugar is a big no-no for the keto diet since it can inhibit your body’s ability to enter into ketosis. Stick to sugar alternatives instead, like Stevia or monk fruit sweetener.
• Be wise in your chocolate choice. To the point above, you’ll want to only use sugar-free chocolate, which includes chocolates that are sweetened with artificial sweeteners. Or you can just go plain sugar-free, which is what we opt for in our recipe since it gives you more control over overall sweetness.

Okay, ready to get cooking? Here is our recipe for super simple—and simply delicious—keto almond butter cups.

Ingredients

½ cup + 2tbsp coconut oil
½ cup Natural Almond Butter from Ezra Cohen Montreal
1 tsp Liquid Stevia or alternative sweetener of your choice (play around with this amount if you prefer your food more or less sweet)
½ cup sugar-free dark chocolate
Sea salt

Directions

1. Line an 18 cup mini-muffin tin with liners and spray each liner with a light mist of coconut oil spray. Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan set over low heat, combine ½ cup coconut oil with ½ cup Natural Almond Butter from Ezra Cohen Montreal. Once combined, add sweetener and stir to combine. Remove from heat.
3. In a microwave safe bowl, melt together sugar-free dark chocolate with remaining 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. Make sure to only use low-heat and to check progress in 15 second intervals. Once chocolate is almost fully melted, stir to combine until smooth.
4. Drop a spoonful of chocolate mixture onto the bottom of each muffin liner and spread it so it covers the bottom. Then put a teaspoon or so of the almond butter mixture on top and press down to flatten. Cover with remaining chocolate. Sprinkle each cup with sea salt.
5. Place in the freezer until set. Then enjoy!

Ezra Cohen Montreal was founded by Ezra Cohen, McGill graduate and nut butter enthusiast. Check out our recipe gallery for more healthy treats, and in the meantime, happy snacking!

An almond butter parfait might just be the perfect way to start your morning. There’s so much to love about it: creamy yogurt, fresh fruit, irresistible almond butter. Plus, it’s totally customizable depending on your taste and how much time you have!

There’s a lot of things that we love to do with the All Natural Almond Butter from Ezra Cohen Montreal, but this is definitely at the top of the list. Below, we’ll go over everything that you need to build a showstopping parfait that’s full of almond butter goodness. 

Recipe

Step One: Choose Your Base

The sky is the limit when it comes to what yogurt you use in your parfait. We like simple, whole milk Greek yogurt, but non-Greek yogurt, low-fat yogurt, or flavored yogurt all work just as well. To keep your parfait extra healthy, be sure to pick a yogurt that is low in added sugar. 

Step Two: Go Nutty

Take a cup of your yogurt choice and stir in 3 tablespoons of creamy almond butter. Then add 1 teaspoon of honey or maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon. Stir until smooth. 

Step Three: Freshen Up With Fruit

Fruit is an important component of any good breakfast parfait. And since so many fruits go well with almond butter, you should have no trouble picking out the right ones. Our favorites? Bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and peaches, but grapes, apples, pineapple, and orange will all work well too! If you just can’t choose, mix it up by opting for multiple kinds of fruit. 

Step Four: Pick a Crunch Factor

A good parfait is all about texture. Chopped almonds are a natural choice for your almond butter parfait, but shredded coconut, chia seeds, or dry cereal also make great crunchy additions. 

Step Five: Build Your Parfait

Sure you can just stir all of your separate parfait components together, but for a true parfait you’re going to need layers. Start with a layer of your yogurt and almond butter mixture, then top with a thin layer of your crunch element followed by fruit. Repeat these layers until you run out of ingredients, ideally ending with a layer of yogurt topped with crunch. If you really want to up the ante, melt 1 tablespoon of almond butter and drizzle it on top. 

Now that you know what’s for breakfast, what about the rest of the day? Check out all of the recipes on our blog for more great ideas from Ezra Cohen, McGill graduate and founder of Ezra Cohen Montreal! 

At Ezra Cohen Montreal we go nuts for everything peanut, so it makes sense we’d be starting our summer right with peanut butter barbecue sauce for all of our favorite grilled foods. This sauce brings a Thai spin to traditional barbecue sauce, and is a guaranteed crowd pleaser wherever or however you decide to serve it. Read on for our recipe, plus ideas for a few extra twists you can bring to this inventive sauce by playing around with different Ezra Cohen Montreal nut butters.

Peanut Butter Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup ketchup
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp maple syrup
4 tbsp yellow mustard
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

Step one: Stir together peanut butter and ketchup until completely smooth and well combined, then add in other ingredients. Adjust the amount of crushed red pepper flakes you use depending on how spicy you want your sauce to be.

Step two: Pour the mixture into a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minute, or until thick.

Step three: Cool to room temperature and enjoy!

Want to change it up a little bit? Swap out peanut butter for our Brazil Nut Butter, Natural Almond Butter, or Natural Cashew Butter. All will bring a unique and complex flavor to your barbecue sauce that is totally dippable and delicious.

What Foods to Eat with Your Barbecue Sauce

Peanut Butter Barbecue Sauce is incredibly versatile, but we have a few different ways that we prefer to enjoy it. Here are a few suggestions for your next bbq.

Satay skewers. Cut up pieces of chicken or beef into bite-sized chunks. Take half of your peanut butter barbecue sauce and put it in a bowl with meat; let marinate for at least half an hour. Once marinated, put meat onto skewers and grill, basting with the rest of your sauce as they cook.

Grilled chicken sandwiches. Marinate chicken breasts in peanut butter barbecue sauce and then char on the grill. Put chicken onto sliced brioche and top with lettuce, tomato, and red onion.

Grilled peanut tofu. Take tofu out of package and cut into six strips. Wrap in towel and place something heavy on top—let sit for at least half an hour. Marinade tofu in half of your peanut butter barbecue sauce for 15 minutes and then add to a medium-hot grill brushed with oil. Grill tofu slices for 2 minutes on each side, and then glaze with remaining sauce. Enjoy on their own or make a sandwich.

For more great recipes from Ezra Cohen, McGill-grad and founder of North America’s favorite nut butters, check out the rest of our recipe blog.

Ezra Cohen, McGill University graduate and founder of Ezra Cohen Montreal, is back on the recipe blog with all of the tips and tricks you need for making smooth, creamy, and oh-so-tasty nut butters. So if you’re interested in making your own nut butter at home, read on for the expert advice you’ll want to know first.

The perfect nut butter recipe, just like the perfect crepe batter recipe or the perfect cake recipe, is all about the quality of your ingredients. Nut butters, even ones with added flavors, are actually extremely easy to make you just need to be sure you’re using the best nuts and add-ins you can find. Before we get in to a recipe though, let’s go over two of the most common questions we tend to hear regarding homemade nut butters.

What kind of nuts can you use for nut butter?

If you can dream it, you can make it! Pretty much all nuts can be turned into delicious nut butters, from peanuts and hazelnuts to cashews and pistachios. Experiment and see which ones you like best.

Can you use milk or water to make nut butter more creamy?

Skip the milk and water, which can make your nut butter gritty. In fact, skip the oil too, since nuts release their natural oils when they’re ground up. If you want extra creaminess, add a touch of oil at the end, after your butter is completely smooth.

Basic Nut Butter Recipe

(Makes 1/3 cup nut butter)

This recipe uses almonds, but you can sub them out with any nut of your choice. When selecting your nut, just make sure it’s raw—not roasted and/or salted.

What your need:

1 cup raw almonds
Sprinkle of seal salt

Directions:

1. Toast almonds for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees. Make sure not to burn them—you just want them to get them a bit aromatic. Let them cool completely.
2. Blend toasted almonds in a food processor or high-speed blender until creamy. Times will vary. Once you reach a good consistency, sprinkle in your sea salt.

And that’s it! Once you’re done with step two you can go ahead and add in any extras, such as a touch of vanilla and cinnamon, a squeeze of honey, or even some cumin. Transfer completed nut butter to a mason jar and stick it in the fridge it will last for up to four weeks (if you don’t eat it all before then).