Go Dairy Free | Cinnamon-Fig Cashew Butter: A Nutritious Dairy-Free Dip or Spread for Healthy Snacking

Alisa Fleming ~ I’m celebrating the New Year, New You Event with Hallie at Daily Bites and Alexa at Lexie's Kitchen, and that means an awesome new recipe for you! The event is intended to inspire us all to make and sustain healthy changes by taking small but meaningful steps. Last week’s theme was focused on fitting in more produce, but this week is all about Smart Snacking. (See the New Year, New You post for more recipes and giveaways!)

To be honest, snack ideas are a tough one for me. I’m a simple girl, often noshing on organic carrot sticks, apples sprinkled with cinnamon, and rice cakes slathered in nut butter. But sometimes I do crave more, so I decided to tackle my weakness, sweet snacks. In the afternoon when I hit a wee slump, I often reach for a cookie or two. I don’t want to deprive myself of that sweet afternoon hit, but lately I’ve been working to healthify my mid-day snacking by using more whole food ingredients for a bigger energy boost without a subsequent crash ...

As mentioned, I like rice cakes with nut butter, so I decided to jazz up ordinary instant homemade nut butter for a slightly sweet, but still healthy treat. The recipe below contains a little bit of coconut oil for some healthy fats, raw cashews for a touch of protein and richness, and finally, figs. Figs might be deliciously sweet, but they also pack in a wallop of nutrition. Figs are a good source of fiber, potassium, and manganese. Also, a little known fact is that figs actually contain a good dose of calcium. As a double bonus, the potassium in figs may help to counteract the loss of calcium from our bodies. If you want to up the calcium in this recipe even more, use almonds instead of cashews.

Recipe: Cinnamon-Fig Cashew Butter Spread or Dip

Summary: I love this as a spread on brown rice cakes or whole grain bread, and as a dip for apple slices or whole grain flax crackers.

Ingredients

2 Ounces Raw Cashews (scant 1/2 cup)
1/2 Cup (80 grams) Dried Figs (I used Black Mission)
2 Teaspoons Coconut Oil (I used Nutiva Organic Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil)
2 Teaspoons Maple Syrup
1/3 Cup Boiling Water
1/4 to 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon (I like the whole shebang)
1/8 Teaspoon Salt, or to taste
1/4 to 1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice (just a quick squeeze)
4 Drops Vanilla Stevia (I used NuNaturals), optional

Instructions

Grind the cashews into a powder in your spice grinder.
Place the cashews, figs, oil, maple syrup, and water in a small food processor or blender, and let them sit and soak for a few minutes.
Add the cinnamon, salt, lemon juice, and stevia if using, and blend until relatively smooth.
You can eat it right away, but I like to let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to thicken up.
Serve as a dip for fruit, as a spread for rice cakes or bread, or even stirred into oatmeal! You can also top it with even more fruit, like the pomegranate seeds I've pictured above.

Quick notes

I use my cheapy personal-size blender for both grinding the cashews, and then blending the rest.

Variations

This recipe uses dried figs, which can be enjoyed year round. If you pick-up some fresh figs during their small “in-season” window, try this Fresh Maple-Fig Spread (pictured below) for a similar snacking treat.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Diet type: Vegan, Vegetarian, Dairy free, Egg free, Gluten free, Peanut free, Soy free, Wheat free, Refined Sugar free.

Number of servings (yield): 3

Article, recipe, and photos by Alisa Fleming, founder of GoDairyFree.org and author of the best-selling book, Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living. Alisa is also a freelance writer for several publications and a recipe creator for the natural food industry with an emphasis on dairy-free living and other special diets.