Lucky Nuts- Cinnamon Breakfast Clusters and Green Tea Cookies

hello there! I'm back from my holidays! We were in NYC and LA for 10 days which turned out to be 12 days due to Hurricane Sandy and the secondary storm that followed that. Fret not, we were safe. We swopped our NYC-LA itinerary to LA-NYC. Our flights were delayed but we managed to get to NYC when it started their recovery works. The last few days were adventurous as we managed to experience fall and winter weather in 24 hours. More photos to follow in the coming week. 

I came home to... THIS! 

Don't you just like having presents waiting by your doorstep? 

Courtesy of Lucky Nuts (through NuffNang), I have the privilege to taste test more of Lucky nuts products and more importantly, their two new additions to their range- The Almond Crumble and Oven Roasted Almond Meal. Perfect for Christmas preparations. 

Given that we have just recently moved into our new home, this year, we are hosting Christmas lunch for some of our closest friends and family. Yes, you hear right. My in laws (including brother in law) will be staying with us as well. That means catering for around 26-30 people. Exciting as it is, it is also about daunting, so I have actually began thinking about the menu. This is a great chance to start rehearsing and practising! 

Now, you may think 27 hours of flight, 33 hours of travel will stop me from screaming in glee. How can I resist? Flipping through the recipe book, I am excited to see what I can do with the nuts. 

I have to also confess that I nearly missed the deadline for the write up for this post. Flying across 4 different time zones and needing to change all our plans due to flight cancellations means I am a little disorientated. So while my mind is running a million miles an hour with different ideas, physically, I could only muster up enough energy to make two. So I did the next best thing, review + write you a list of some things I will be making with these amazing nuts. 

You see, I miss my normal routine of eating and baking with all natural products. That is what I like best about Lucky nuts- it's simplicity. No pretence there, just good quality nuts. I have sent my hubby into our nearby grocery store at 8:55pm at night because I have a sudden urge to bake flour less cakes, make our energy bars, or breakfast nut muesli (most shops here close at 9pm). My favourite of all would be the almond meal and almonds. They are my MUST have ingredients in the pantry. Lucky nuts also carry Brazil nuts, cashews, pistachios..etc. They are also Australian grown. 

I have experienced a huge change since eating more paleo friendly foods. Now, I don't subscribe to any "diet" per say. Just trying to eat clean and make better choices with food. Travelling means that I have chosen to indulge and as a result, I noticed I feel more bloated and gut discomfort. Almond meal is my must have, because it allowed me to bake and cook with texture. I'm really wanting to get back into using my nuts in my normal routine. I'm also into quality- and since I know that Christmas is a time when we are entertaining, I want to make sure we are serving guests meals made from ingredients that are fresh. 

Here are two ideas that could be interesting to you.

Presenting my Cinnamon Breakfast Clusters. I need something healthy and nutritious for breakfast after a 17 days indulgent trip. Combining the nuts with some coconut oil, almond butter and spices, I pressed them into little muffin cups. I love the crisp to go breakfast. Wouldn't your guests like this for their breakfast after a night or afternoon of indulgence? Your house will smell amazing with the combination of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. (ginger aid with digestion so it will probably be useful after an afternoon feast). I would also add cranberries for some festiveness. 

Cinnamon Breakfast Clusters (makes around 7)

1 cup of coconut flakes

1 cup of walnuts crushed

1/2 cup of silvered almonds

1/2 cup of almond meal

1/4 cup of coconut oil

1/4 cup of almond butter

2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 tsp of ground ginger

2 dried figs chopped

Preheat Oven to 180C. Line muffin tray with muffin wrappers. 

Melt coconut oil and almond butter together in a microwave. Combine all other dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix wet to dry. Spoon into muffin trays and press down. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating it after 10 minutes. 

My 2nd share: 

Are you bored of my almond bakes yet? I hope not!! :) I'm such a fan of creating desserts and bakes out of almond meal that I am still amazed by what I can come up with or find on the net!

As you know, I like my green tea. Having some more green tea powder in my pantry that I want to finish using (to keep it fresh), I experimented and came up with a batch of cookies. This has a crisp outer and slightly chewy in the centre. I love the hit of matcha that comes with it. Somehow, I can see this as a Chinese New Year Cookie as well!

(can you tell I am jet lagged when writing the post? Holiday posts coming up!)

Green Tea Almond Cookies 
1.5 cup of Almond Meal
1 tablespoon of green tea
1/4 cup of coconut oil melted
1/2 tsp of vanilla paste
handful of silvered almonds

Mix everything together. Shape into cookie form and bake in preheated 180C for 15 minutes!

Some other meal ideas

- Salmon and Goats Cheese Avocado Salad with toasted walnuts

- Balsamic brussel sprouts with toasted pine nuts

- Almond and lemon stuffing in roast chicken 

- "cheesecake crumble" using the Almond crumble mixture.

- Toasted crumble for ice-cream or to sprinkle on yogurt. 

I guess I have just given you a preview of up coming recipes that I am working on! 

This post is part of "Product Talk" by Nuffnang but thoughts and recipes are from myself.