Lion’s Mane Almond Butter with Warm Berries and Yogurt on Sourdough

Here’s a lovely brunch idea that looks and sounds extravagant but is simple to throw together. Lion’s mane almond butter, coconut yogurt, warm mixed berries and cinnamon maple roasted seeds on sourdough.

Adding medicinal mushrooms or other powdered “super” foods to your nut butter is a fun way to get it down ya! Instead of lion’s mane mushroom, you could opt for something like cacao, a little cinnamon or perhaps some desiccated coconut or some cacao nibs for a lovely crunch.

I consume quite a bit of lion’s mane powder, so I really like finding new ways to include it in recipes. Lion’s mane mushrooms are also wonderful if you can get them fresh. They make an incredible chicken substitute, due to their meaty flavour and texture! They are beautiful looking things and have an array of pet names including: monkey head mushroom, bearded tooth mushroom, satyr's beard, bearded hedgehog mushroom, pom pom mushroom, or bearded tooth fungus.

Mushrooms such as Lion’s Mane have been used for thousands of years in Eastern medicine for a multitude of different reasons. It is claimed that they can improve:

• Nerve health

• Organ function

• Immune system

• Intestinal lining

• Cognitive function

• Memory

I get my lion’s Mane from Myshrooms who also makes wonderful medicinal mushroom snacks! Head over to the website for all sorts of useful info on medicinal mushrooms.

If you choose to mix something different into your nut butter, I recommend mixing up a little sample first, to check the tastes blend well together!

Berries tend to hold their nutritional value when frozen, so I always have a load in the freezer. I find they’re less expensive to buy this way and of course a great alternative when berries are out of season. Regardless of which berries you opt for, you can be sure you’ll be getting a wonderful dose of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Although I don’t buy it often, I love coconut yogurt because to me it tastes like actual heaven. You could go for any yogurt though. Quite a few yogurts are secretly packed full of sugar and there are a few plant-based yogurts that I steer clear of due to their long, weird ingredient list. I recommend checking the label and not just assuming that any vegan yogurt will necessarily suit your personal preferences just because it’s vegan. That said, you do you.

It is of course not essential that you use sourdough for this brunch recipe but I LOVE it and it’s the bread of choice in my household. You could opt for any bread, perhaps something gluten free or even leave out the bread and rearrange the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Ahh!

I tend to eat a lot of raw or seeds but roasting/toasting them brings out a different wonderful flavour. There’s really nothing to it, as long as you don’t burn them and you can make a big batch (with or without the cinnamon and maple) and keep them in a jar ready to sprinkle or munch whenever you get the urge!

You’ll notice that the quantities in this recipe aren’t very precise. That’s because this is a real “throw it all together” dish and you don’t need to get bogged down with exact measurements. Go with your guy. You’ve got this!

Ingredients

(to make two slices of toast like the photo)

For the cinnamon maple seeds

(I recommend making extra and storing for another day, this will give you enough for your brunch only)

Handful of mixed seeds of choice

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

a pinch of salt

For the berries

two handfuls of mixed frozen berries

a splash of water

a dash of maple syrup (optional)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

For the jazzed up nut butter

A few tablespoons (enough to coat both of your pieces of bread)of almond butter, or other nut butter of choice

1/4 - 1 teaspoon of lion’s mane (depending on how much you are used to)

1/2 teaspoon maple syrup (optional)

A splash of water

For the toast

2 slices of fresh sourdough or other bread of choice

Method

1. 
   Preheat your oven toIn a bowl combine the maple syrup, cinnamon and salt with your seeds. If you like, you can pulse some of them in a food processor to break them down. This will result in a clumpier mixture. Ideally you would need to be making a larger batch for this to work.

2. Spread the seeds out on a baking tray and toast for around 8 minutes. Check to see if they are just starting to turn golden and smelling beautiful. Seeds can burn very quickly in the oven so if they aren’t ready yet, pop them back in but keep checking every few minutes and try not to do anything else at the same time so you don’t forget about them!

3. Heat your berries with a splash of water in a small pan over a low heat. You don’t need to cook them, just defrost and warm them all the way through. Give them a taste and if they mixture is extremely tart or sour, add a dash of maple syrup.

4. In a small bowl or ramekin, combine your almond butter, lion’s mane, maple syrup (if using) and a few teaspoons of water. Mix to combine until the nut butter becomes creamy. At first it will separate and feel stiff but once it re-emulsifies you will have a lovely smooth mixture. Add a little more water if necessary.

5. Pop your bread in the toasted and when everything is ready, simply assemble as follows

   toast - nut butter - coconut yogurt - berries - seeds.

   Enjoy!