There’s nothing like them on the island.
A few months back, I came across an Instagram page called Munch A Bunch, and being the foodie that I am, my interest was piqued. The first thing I saw was jarred peanut butter, peanut butter balls and cookies. I was intrigued (and by intrigued, I mean I stalked her profile for all the golden nuggets she had to offer), and just had to get in touch with the creator, local girl Rebecca Camilleri, to ask about the secrets to her delicious treats (as well as to order some for myself!)
As a chocoholic child, peanut butter was never on her radar, she reveals, and only learnt about it after creating an Instagram account. By then she “had already followed a nutritionist’s course, so [she] was very aware of the good food to keep a healthy and balanced diet [like] palm oil, hydrogenated oil, and other ingredients, which to this day [she] still cannot pronounce!” Six months after her discovery of nut butters, here she is producing six nut butters and one seed butter “made with nuttin’ but nuts…and a whole lot of love!”
Rebecca is constantly thinking of new ways to be creative with her butters. “You’ll always find me with a pen and paper brainstorming, trying to come up with different recipes to try. From nut butters to protein balls, the flavours just keep on growing.”
Her nut butters are made of just natural nuts, with no additives included. Out of her range, four of them are 100 per cent nut butters: peanut, almond, hazelnut, and cashew. She’s also got two blended butters: 3-nut butter, a mix of peanuts, cashews, and crunchy raw pecans; and chai-spiced almond butter, a blend of roasted almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, all-spice, and ginger – Christmas in jar!
Rebecca also sells her products internationally. “My Instagram following grew to nearly 6k over the past two years, and this is mostly foreigners. They were curious and asked if I could ship some jars. Now I ship world-wide to anyone who wants to try them out. Talk about ‘spreading’ the love!”
Constantly working to make butters, deliver and keep up with her schedule, Rebecca is a busy bee. But when I ask how she manages to be so productive each day, she immediately jumps on it. “Making time for things I enjoy comes naturally, and that might mean waking up at 5am for a quick 10-minute yoga session or sleeping super late because I’m still working on a recipe or making nut butters. It’s all about realising what your priorities are. If you love what you’re doing, you’ll find time for everything!”
Rebecca also shares her recipes for protein balls, cookies, squares – you name it! She says they’re super easy to make and a healthy treat, using just three ingredients.
When asked what advice she would give to other upcoming entrepreneurs she uses three words, “Go. For. It! Life is too short not to follow your dreams… so don’t live a life of what ifs!”
Interested in trying out these utterly delicious nut butters? Head over to her Facebook page or Instagram account both called MUNCH.ABUNCH!