by Ezra Cohen Montreal

Looking for some inventive pistachio butter uses? We’ve got you covered!

We’re big fans of pistachio butter at Ezra Cohen Montreal. Maybe it’s the creamy texture or the subtle saltiness or the versatility… or maybe it’s just the fact that you get all of that amazing pistachio flavor without having to unshell a single nut.

There’s no denying the deliciousness of pistachio nut butter, nor can you overlook the fact that it boasts a ton of good-for-you health benefits. These include:

• High nutrient content
• High protein content
• Antioxidants
• Potassium (as much as one small banana in every serving!)
• Fiber

Pistachio butter is also naturally low in cholesterol, and supports both the health of your heart and your digestive system. It makes sense then that you’d want to add it into your diet however you can.

If you could use more pistachio butter in your life, try out these three innovative ways to use it, courtesy of Ezra Cohen, McGill graduate and founder of Ezra Cohen Montreal.

3 Uses:

1. Pistachio Dressing

Whip up a simple pistachio dressing by combining ½ cup of high quality extra virgin olive oil, ¼ cup of pistachio butter, and a tablespoon of honey, plus salt and pepper as needed (you can also bulk it up a bit further with a squeeze of lemon, some minced shallot, or a ½ tablespoon or red wine vinegar). Toss with fresh greens topped with chopped scallions, cherry tomatoes, and feta cheese, or drizzle onto your favorite veggies.

2. Pistachio Chocolate Fudge

For an effortlessly tasty (and effortlessly easy) treat, combine 2 cups of powdered sugar with 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/8 cup milk (dairy or plant-based will work), 1 tsp vanilla, and ¼ cup pistachio butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave until smooth, stirring often — about 1 and a half minutes on high. Spread into an 8×8 pan, top with mini chocolate chips or shredded sweetened coconut (or both!), and chill for at least one hour.

3. Pistachio Butter Granola

Take breakfast to the next level. Combine 2 cup quick-cooking oats with 2 tablespoons shelled and chopped pistachios, ¼ tablespoon cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon salt; set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, combine 3 tablespoon pistachio butter, 2 tablespoons of honey, and a dash of vanilla; microwave until smooth. Pour melted mixture over dry mixture and stir to combine. Spread out onto baking sheet and bake in oven at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes (check for doneness — if the granola is still too wet, bake it longer).

Happy eating! Check out the Ezra Cohen Montreal blog for more nut and nut butter recipes.

When it comes to cashew butter benefits, the fact that it tastes delicious is just the beginning.

Natural Cashew Butter is one of the best selling Ezra Cohen Montreal products. And it makes sense: this super smooth, subtly sweet nut butter has an inherently buttery flavor and is packed with protein and nutrients. We love to eat it spread onto whole grain toast; stirred into smoothies, sauces, and dressings; and baked into bread and cookies. It also makes a great snack right out of the jar!

Of course, cashew butter brings more to the table than just its great flavor. Here are four of the biggest health benefits of cashew butter, in case you needed any more reasons to add this spreadable treat to your day.

Benefit #1: It’s Full of Nutrients

Our Natural Cashew Butter definitely has no shortage of nutritional strongpoints. You’ll find calcium, iron, vitamin E, magnesium, and riboflavin (a complex B vitamin) in every single serving. So while cashews might not have the omega-3 fatty acids that you find in other nuts, they more than make up for it in other good-for-you vitamins and minerals.

Benefit #2: It Has a Ton of Protein

Protein is fuel. You need it to stay strong and focused, and it also makes the difference between whether you feel satiated or still hungry after eating. And with nearly three grams of protein per tablespoon, cashew butter is a natural choice for giving your body the energy it needs and helping you maintain a healthy diet.

Benefit #3: It’s Chockful of Fiber

Cashew butter provides you with plenty of fiber, a necessary nutrient for managing digestive health and balancing out your blood sugar levels. Research shows that eating more fiber might even help you live longer!

Benefit #4: It’s Good For Your Heart

When you eat cashew butter, you consume both the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that your body needs to regulate cholesterol levels and protect the health of your heart. Even just a couple of tablespoons a day can provide your heart with big benefits, in turn reducing your chances of heart disease.

Ezra Cohen, McGill graduate and founder of Ezra Cohen Montreal, has been promoting healthier snacking since the inception of the Ezra Cohen Montreal brand. Incorporating nut butters—including our unbeatable Natural Cashew Butter—is a great way to add more nutrients to a well-rounded diet, and can take the guesswork out of getting the nutrients that your body needs.

Looking for inventive ways to eat nut butters? Check out our recipe blog!

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.

When it comes to the history of nuts, Ezra Cohen, McGill University graduate and founder of Ezra Cohen Montreal, considers himself to be a bit nutty on the topic. Nuts, after all, are at the very heart of our nut butters, and they’ve been a huge part of the human diet for centuries. In fact, archaeologists have discovered that we’ve been eating nuts—and lots of them—for at least 780,000 years.

Despite the fact that most of us regularly consume nuts, however, their origin story is not always very well known. That’s why we’ve put together this quick and handy explainer on the history of this unstoppable superfood.

Where do nuts come from?

There are a lot of types of nuts. As such, there is no singular place that all nuts can be traced back to.

The walnut, for example, is thought to originate in the Middle East, where its earliest remains can be traced back to 50,000 B.C. The pecan, on the other hand, is a nut that is only found in North America, and scientists were able to find evidence of the nut’s existence in Texas dated back to 6100 B.C. Then there’s the hazelnut, listed among the five sacred nourishments of God in a Chinese manuscript from 2838 B.C.

So how have nuts existed in so many places and during so many times throughout history? Nuts are derived from other natural wonders namely fruits, trees, and plants. And since these vary from location to location throughout the world, the nuts produced and found in these locations also vary. The way they were discovered and used has also varied. One thing is clear, however: humans knew they were on to something special when they discovered nuts, and their continued ubiquity today is really no surprise.

How many types of nuts are there?

There are 53 different types of edible nuts, but not all of them rank quite as high in popularity as the 11 that make up the core of our nut consumption:

• Peanuts
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Pecans
• Brazil Nuts
• Cashews
• Chestnuts
• Pine Nuts
• Pistachios
• Macadamia Nuts

Stretch the list a bit further and you’ll find some other familiar names, including hickory nuts, gingko nuts, and yes, even coconuts.

The list can be further expanded if you note not just the types of nuts themselves that have enjoyed popularity among humans for centuries, but their uses. Nut oils, nut butters, and other nut products are just as important in their own right in the human diet, and represent an obsession with this wholesome category of food that clearly has no sign of dying down any time soon.

Visit our product page and learn more about how our delicious line of nut butters can be added to your favorite dishes!