Sesame seeds are the latest feature in my Effortless Additions blog. These tiny seeds pack a big punch of nutrition and are so easy to incorporate to your meals. Here are a couple of recipes and ways we enjoy using sesame seeds in our home that I hope your family will enjoy.
Almond Sesame Chocolate Milk
1 cup of raw almonds (soaked for 8 hours or overnight in 2 cups of water)
1/4-1/2 cup sesame seeds
4 cups water
1/4 cup cacao powder (or substitute carob or cocoa)
1/4 sweetener (maple syrup, honey, dates to taste, etc.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Drain soaked almonds and add to blender with sesame seeds and 4 cups of water.
Blend on high
Drain through a nut bag
Put milk back into blender and add cacao powder, sweetener and vanilla. Blend until mixed. Taste and add more sweetener or cacao if needed.
Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate until cool.
Lasts 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
Optional – you can use already made almond milk and add the ingredients listed (minus the almonds). You can add just sesame seeds and strain or leave if you don’t mind the fine ground sesame seeds in there and blend all ingredients.
Add your own ingredients. Cinnamon would add a nice flavour or almond extract.
Dry leftover nut and seed pulp in the oven on 250c for a couple of hours (until completely dry). I throw it in the freezer until I need it. Grind it up and use it as a flour substitute (or as almond flour – even with the sesame in there) or to make energy balls.
Energy Balls
Talking about energy balls, here’s a recipe that we use the pulp from making almond milk (with sesame seeds). Just replace the nuts with your dried pulp. You can grind it up like a flour first or just throw it in your food processor. If you don’t have pulp, you can always grind up some sesame seeds and add them in with your nuts so you can still get the added nutritional benefits of these super little seeds!
Feel free to use any extras such as cinnamon, mini chocolate chips, cacao powder for a chocolate energy balls etc. The ideas are endless and kids love rolling these balls almost as much as they like eating them so it’s a great way to get them involved in the kitchen!
Crackers
Most store bought crackers are highly processed and filled with preservatives. I often make my own crackers that contain mixes of seeds, they provide tons of nutrients such as fibre, omega-3 and calcium. It doesn’t take many to fill you up and paired with a nice hummus or hearty bean dip and they can make a quick lunch.
My 16 month old loved these crackers, they turned out nice and crispy and made a great snack paired with hummus when we went to the park.
I normally make my crackers in my dehydrator, they cook while I’m sleeping and there are almost impossible to ruin. Since not everyone has a dehydrator I scoured the internet for some similar recipes made in the oven and found this one to be quick, easy and approved in my household! What I liked about these crackers is that they only contained seeds and water (and a pinch of salt), you can easily add honey or a sweetener if you prefer a sweeter cracker or any herbs or spices to make them savoury. I also was out of pumpkin seeds and had no problem substituting more sunflower seeds in place and I added a splash too much water so I added a sprinkle of extra chia seeds to thicken the batter and these turned out perfect.
There are endless ways to use sesame seeds, I hope some of these ideas make it to your table and I look forward to creating and trying out more recipes to share with you and your family!
~Angelina
