Peanut Butter Hummus
By Kate Horney
From Snicker-doodle to caramel apple and (gasp!) chocolate chip cookie dough, any seasoned pinterester knows that “dessert hummus” is all the rage on healthy eating pinboards.
But a “healthy” recipe is not necessarily a fat loss recipe. Foods can be healthy (with lots of fiber, nutrients, vitamins, minerals and even “natural” sugars) but can do nothing to burn fat… and may even stall fat loss progress.
While a certain amount of sugar is needed to help maintain (and more importantly build) muscle, too much sugar- even in the form of healthy recipes- raises insulin levels and is disastrous for fat burning.
That’s why I got excited when a dear friend, and one of my personal training clients, Karen brought in her version of dessert hummus…. Not only is it flavored with natural peanut-butter (HELLO!) but it’s one of the few dessert hummus recipes I’ve seen without loads of added sugar in the form of agave, maple syrup, and the like. One serving (recipe makes 6 servings) has only 9g of sugar, compared to the 20-30g per serving of other “healthy” dessert hummus recipes.
Karen’s hummus is delicious, and is surprisingly versatile. Enjoy it for breakfast on toasted low carb, high protein bread, with celery sticks or apple wedges for a snack, or as I did when she brought me the sample… with just a spoon! 🙂 It was so good it got licked clean and didn’t even survive for the picture…
When eaten at optimal times and in the correct amounts, it’s the perfect combination complex carbohydrates and fiber that will maximize muscle building (thus increasing metabolic potential) and still minimize fat gain.
Karen’s Peanut Butter Hummus
Ingredients:
- 1 can chick peas (15 oz. size)
- 10-12 dates
- Scant ½ cup natural peanut butter
- 1 ½ tsp. vanilla
Directions:
- Soak dates in water to cover for about 30 minutes. Drain.
- Add all ingredients to food processor.
- Blend until desired smoothness. For me, this took about two minutes. I stopped the processor a couple of times to scrape down the sides.
- Taste the deliciousness!
P.S. Alone this is fabulous, but it would take a stronger will than mine (or Karen’s) not to try it with some Ghirardelli dark chocolate as a sweet treat.
Comment below & let us know what you think!