Use walnuts to create tasty shortbread or brownies

Walnuts are healthy, delicious, and may even help prevent certain diseases. They also add a lovely texture to baked goods like shortbread or brownies. We'll share 2 recipes that are sure to please.

Although shortbread is usually made with butter, replacing it with ground walnuts, olive oil, and walnut oil works beautifully. The result is a rich-tasting shortbread with no cholesterol and plenty of healthful monounsaturated fats. Walnuts and walnut oil also have ellagic acid, a potent antioxidant thought to help eliminate toxins from the body.

This recipe takes 10 minutes to prepare, 40 to bake, and makes 8 brownies. Here's what you'll need:

• 150 g (2/3 cup) walnuts
• 175 g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
• 125 g (1/2 cup) whole wheat flour
• 125 g (1/2 cup) confectioners' sugar
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
• 50 ml (1/4 cup) walnut oil
• 50 ml (1/4 cup) light olive oil
• 7 ml (1 1/2 tsp) grated lemon zest
• 5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Toast the ­walnuts for seven minutes or until crisp and fragrant. Leave the oven on. Cool the walnuts, then transfer to a food processor with the all-purpose flour and process until the nuts are finely ground.
2. Transfer the flour-walnut mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the whole wheat flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt. Add the walnut oil, olive oil, lemon zest, and vanilla, and stir until well combined.
3. Press the dough onto the bottom of a 22 centimetre (nine inch) tart pan with a removable bottom. With the tines of a fork, prick the dough. With a sharp knife, score the dough into 16 wedges, cutting almost, but not quite through, to the bottom.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until crisp and light golden. Check the shortbread after 20 minutes. If it's overbrowning, decrease the oven temperature to 150°C (300°F). Remove from the oven and cut the wedges through to the bottom while the shortbread is still warm. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Each serving contains the following nutrients:

• 273 Calories
• 19 g Fat
• 2.1 g Saturated fat
• 3 g Protein
• 24 g Carbohydrate (1.7 g fibre)
• 0 mg Cholesterol
• 73 mg Sodium

Peanut butter and olive oil replace the butter in these brownies. Cranberries provide vitamin C (to strengthen the immune system) and tanins (which are good for the urinary tract).

This recipe takes 15 minutes to prepare, 30 to bake, and makes 8 servings. You'll need the following:

• 150 g (2/3 cup) flour
• 125 g (1/2 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) baking soda
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
• 175 g (3/4 cup) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 50 ml (1/4 cup) creamy peanut butter
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) light olive oil
• 1 large egg
• 10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
• 125 g (1/2 cup) chopped walnuts
• 75 g (1/3 cup) dried cranberries or cherries
• 30 g (1 oz) semisweet chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Lightly grease a 20 x 20 centimetre (8 x 8 inch) metal baking pan. On a sheet of wax paper, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, beat together the brown sugar, peanut butter, oil, and egg with an electric mixer until well combined. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, add the flour mixture. Fold in the walnuts, cranberries, and chocolate.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, but with some crumbs clinging to it. Cool in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into eight brownies.

Each delicious brownie contains the following nutrients:

• 318 Calories
• 17 g Fat
• 3.2 g Saturated fat
• 6 g Protein
• 40 g Carbohydrate (3.2 g fibre)
• 27 mg Cholesterol
• 228 mg Sodium

If you're looking to add a tasty and nutty twist to some classic desserts, give these walnut-packing recipes a try. They taste so good that you won't even realize you're also getting the health benefits that walnuts provide.

--------------------

Discover the smarter way to save time and money

Ready to start saving more on your groceries and pharmacy purchases? Download the FREE YP Grocery app today! It lets you create shareable shopping lists, automatically finds all the best deals and coupons, then delivers them right to you. No more manually scrolling through hundreds of flyers to find what you’re looking for!

Download the YP Grocery app now!