How to Use Your Seed Oils in the Kitchen

The AP Team on May 22, 2017

If you’re a fan of Perfect Press® oils, and a follower of the Activation Products blog, you know by now the value of high-quality oils in your diet.

Healthy fats help support better brain function, heart health, nutrient absorption and so much more.

Many people buy our oils for the health benefits, but don’t know how to use them other than to take them off the spoon. Today, let’s talk about some options for using your oils in creative ways in the kitchen.

Add your oils to fresh-pressed juice or smoothies

Certain oils, like flax and pumpkin, can enhance the flavor of your drink while increasing the benefits you get from it.

The oils themselves offer a lot of benefits, of course, (such as better brain health and heart support) but they also help to boost the benefits of the other ingredients in your smoothie.

How? Well, if you enjoy your juice or smoothie without any healthy fats, you’re only going to absorb about 5% of the nutrients that it offers. WITH the healthy fats, like any of our Perfect Press® oils, that number jumps to 65%. That’s a huge increase!

The reason you need the fats in your drink is that vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble. Blog.WellnessFX.com explains: “Fat-soluble vitamins dissolve in fats and oils. When absorbed along with fats in the diet, these vitamins are stored in the body’s fatty tissue, and then used. They come from plant and animal foods or dietary supplements.”

To learn more about this click here, and see a video on the topic.

Can you cook with Perfect Press® oils?

No, not really. They can be warmed gently, but when you approach the oils’ smoke points, you can damage their precious nutrients.

TheNibble.com explains that an oil’s smoke point is “the temperature at which the fat (including butter, lard, oil and shortening) begins to break down. Fats break down into glycerol and free fatty acids; the glycerol then breaks down into acrolein, which is a component of the smoke in the “smoke point.” At this point, both the flavor and the nutritional value of the fat begin to degrade. The higher the heat, the higher smoke point your fat must be.”

Cooking with oils that have lower smoke points can be detrimental to your health. We wrote a blog post on this topic too, which you can read here.

If you’re looking for a quality cooking oil, try avocado oil.

You CAN use Perfect Press® oils in no-heat recipes!

Perfect Press® oils make a great addition to salad dressings, puddings, dips, smoothie bowls and no-bake snacks.

Just Google no-bake cookies or energy bars and a long list of options awaits you. We recommend switching out ingredients so that you are using healthier sweetener options (like honey or maple syrup) and organic options where possible.

Granola bars definitely make the list of treats to add our oils to. The oil adds to the flavor of the bars, but also to the texture.

Certain parts of your recipes might call for heating, but as long as you add your oils while your mixture is off the heat, you have nothing to worry about.

We’ve included our go-to granola bar recipe below. Feel free to experiment with different additions and options to change up the flavor each time you make them.

Check out our how-to video:

Granola Bars:

Ingredients:

- 1 heaping cup (packed) pitted Medjool dates (aim for sticky and moist dates or soak them in warm water for 10 minutes)
- 1/4 cup raw, organic honey
- 1 tsp Perfect Press® Pumpkin Oil
- 1/4 cup (64 g) natural pumpkin butter
- 1 cup (112 g) roasted, hulled pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 cups (135 g) rolled oats
- Generous pinch salt
- Optional additions: chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts, banana chips, etc.

Instructions:

Process dates in a food processor until small bits remain (about 1 minute). It should form a dough-like consistency.
Optional step: Toast the oats in a 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
Place oats, seeds and dates in a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine.
Warm honey and pumpkin butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat, stir in pumpkin oil and pour over oat mixture and then mix.
Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper, making sure to have some overhanging so that you can lift the bars out.
Transfer mixture from the bowl into the pan and press down firmly, creating a uniform flat surface. Use your hands or a glass to press, but be sure the bars are tightly compacted.
Cover with parchment or plastic wrap, and let firm up in fridge or freezer for 15-20 minutes.
Lift the paper to remove from pan and cut into bars. Enjoy!

Other tips for using Perfect Press® oils in the kitchen…

Flax, Sunflower, Milk Thistle and Perfect Press® Five Seed Blend are all great drizzled over eggs. Whether you like them fried, poached or scrambled, drizzling a little oil over your huevos before you eat them adds a hint of flavor, improves vitamin absorption and grants you access to additional health benefits.
If you’re feeling snacky, toast up some bread and use your oils as a dip or drizzle. You could add a little minced garlic to the oil for extra flavor.
Enjoying some hot cereal, or granola and yogurt? Your Perfect Press® oils partner great with those too! You can stir the oil right in or just pour some on top.
You can even pour your oils over ice cream or frozen yogurt! Perfect Press® pumpkin oil and good-quality vanilla ice cream are particularly delicious together!

Time to experiment!

Do you have some Perfect Press® oils on hand? Head into the kitchen and start experimenting! Let us know which tips you like best, and share with us if you have any tips we didn’t mention here!

Need to get your hands on some oil? Click here to go to our online store.

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