Chai Tea Latte, Chai Cashew Butter & Protein Bites

Hello! Here to share some delicious recipes made from cashews. Recently I’ve been obsessed with cashews, eating an alarming amount. However, cashews are extremely healthy; a 1/4 cup being extremely rich in copper, and very rich in phosphorus, manganese, magnesium and zinc. So why not add them in your weekly routine?

As odd as it may seem, cashew milk is possible. This is what you’ll need:

Cashew Milk 

Ingredients (makes approximately 4 cups)

• 1 cup cashews
• 4 cups water

If you’d like to flavour the milk:

• 1 medjool date, or sweetener of choice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in a pitcher and allow the cashews to hydrate overnight (8-12 hours).
2. After that, remove cinnamon stick if used and liquify in blender or food processor. This may need to be done in batches depending quantity made and appliance used.
3.  Using cheesecloth or a thin kitchen towel, filter the milk  into a pitcher. I recommend doing this in parts and removing the paste as it accumulates.

* You can keep the sedimented cashew paste for the cashew butter.

Chai Tea Latte with Cashew Milk

The cashew milk can be substituted by any milk or alternative.

Ingredients (makes 2 cups):

• 1 cup cashew milk
• 2 bags of spiced chai tea
  • alternatively you could use:
    • 2 bags of black tea
    • 1 cardamom pod
    • 2 cloves
    • 1 cinnamon stick
    • a nob of ginger
    • 1 peppercorn
  • and make a pouch with a cheesecloth. You can adjust the proportions based on your preferences.
• Sweetener of choice; 1 tbsp of maple syrup is delicious with cashew milk

Method:

1. Boil water an pour 1 cup over the 2 tea bags and allow to steep for 10 minutes until very strong. If using the spice mix, steep for 5 minutes before adding the tea bags.
2. Heat the milk and add the tea.
3. Sweeten as desired.
4. If you have a milk frother, froth the milk and serve. If not, an immersion blender works as well. Allow the foam to set for 2 minutes before serving.

It is possible to add the sweetener to the tea and allow it to reduce to a syrup. You can then add the syrup to the hot milk. This way, you can skip the tea preparation step, and prepare some in advance. However, it will be heavier, and richer in flavour as there will be less water in the mixture.

Chai cashew butter

Great, now that you’ve made cashew milk, you’re stuck with cashew paste.Seems like a waste to throw it away. How can you use this?

For this recipe, I used the leftover paste from the cashew milk and infused it with chai tea. It is possible to do this with any other flavour if desired. I use the paste because it contains water and is easier to infuse a flavour into. Also, when I add it to the butter, it will make it lighter than a regular nut butter because of the moisture.

Ingredients:

• Leftover paste from the cashew milk. Or 1/2 cup ground hydrated cashews.
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1  medjool date or alternative sweetener
• 1 bag of chai tea
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Method:

1. Prepare a strong chai tea (approximately 100ml ) and add to the cashew paste.
2. Dry the cashew paste over medium heat, stirring constantly. This may take a while.
3. Meanwhile, in a food processor, using an S-blade, ground the cashews and date into a butter.
4. incorporate the butter into the paste and add salt.
5. Adjust taste and enjoy.

Protein Bites

Now that you have chai cashew butter, why not make some sweet snacks with it?

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chai cashew butter
• 1 tbsp protein powder
• unsweetened shredded coconut, optional
• sweetener of choice
• 1/4 cup almond meal
• 1 tbsp chia seeds

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients together, adjusting sweetness with the sweetener and moisture with the almond meal and coconut.
2. Shape into individual bite sized spheres.
3. Refrigerate and enjoy

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as i did! Bon appétit!