Category: Snacks

Sugared Nuts

Sugared NutsI love appetizers – stuffed mushrooms, grilled shrimp, spanokopitas… I could easily make a meal out of just that. But when entertaining, sometimes I prefer something that’s quicker to prepare and a little less formal. I have two go-to options to meet this requirement. The first is a cheese and cracker tray. The second is nuts.

I like jazzing up some store-bought nuts with a little something special – rosemary cashews, spiced mixed nuts, and most recently, for Easter, this recipe for sugared nuts. It only took 5 minutes to put together and impressed everyone. They were sweet and additive – it’s hard to stop at just one handful!

Sugared Nuts

Adapted from The Gingerbread Blog

Ingredients:

  • 16 oz. nuts (I used a mix of walnuts and almonds)
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 c. confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Turn the crock pot to high. Cover and allow to heat up for 15 minutes.

Reset crock pot to low heat and add nuts and melted butter. Stir so that nuts are completed coated. Add confectioners’ sugar and stir again. Leave lid off and cook for 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Nuts should be coated in a glaze.

In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and ginger. Sprinkle over buttered nuts, stirring well. Transfer nuts to a serving bowl. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Storage: These nuts taste best the day they’re made, but will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days.

 

The Gingerbread Blog was no longer active in January 2019. The now-broken link to the original blog post was removed at that time.

Pretzel S’mores

Last week, I made the world’s most expensive salad. As I was getting the balsamic vinegar from my cabinet, a glass spice jar fell, and hit the stove top in just the wrong spot. It cracked the glass top, making two burners unusable. Now I’m afraid use the stove or oven at all. All it’ll take is a little water to slip through that crack and I’ll end up electrocuting myself.

The new stove is supposed to arrive this coming Saturday, putting a little bit of a cramp in my Veteran’s weekend baking plans. I had planned to knock out my holiday care packages, sending them early because of our upcoming move. Lucky for me that I had at least one no-bake item on my list – these pretzel s’mores that I discovered through Pinterest. Not only were the s’mores easy to make, they’ve got that amazing salty-sweet combo that I love. Fingers crossed that the recipients of my care packages enjoy them as much as I did!

Looking for more holiday treats? Head over to Meal Planning Magic to see what else bloggers made to celebrate the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats.

Pretzel S’mores

Inspired by Love From the Oven

Makes ~3 dozen pretzel s’mores

Ingredients:

  • 13 oz. bag of pretzels (I used the square waffle ones but use whatever shape you’d like)
  • ~18 snack sized chocolate bars (milk chocolate or dark, your choice)
  • 1/2 bag of marshmallows (~18 marshmallows)
  • 1 1/2 bags candy melts, melted
  • sprinkles (if desired)

Note: You may have extra pretzels, marshmallows, and chocolate melts leftover.

Prep: Line a shallow Pyrex (or other microwave safe dish) with wax or parchment paper. In addition, line a baking sheet with wax paper. Set both aside.

Prep the chocolate and marshmallows. Break the mini chocolate bars into 3-4 pieces, depending on the size and shape of your pretzels. Cut the marshmallows into 3 pieces.

Make the S’mores: In the Pyrex dish, place one layer of pretzels, leaving about an inch between each pretzel. Top with a piece of marshmallow and a piece of chocolate. Microwave for 10-20 seconds, until marshmallows puff up a little. Some of the chocolate may also start to melt. Remove from microwave and top with a second pretzel.

Allow pretzels to sit for a minute or two to set. Dip in melted chocolate melts and set on wax paper-lined baking sheet. Top with sprinkles, if desired. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes (or freeze for less time) until chocolate is set.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

This year will be the first year in five years that my hubby and I will not be hosting our annual holiday party. With moving to a new home in early December, it’s just going to be too difficult to manage. In fact, I’m not even sure that we’ll be decorating for Christmas this year. Even though I know it’s the right decision, I am disappointed. I absolutely love Christmas time – the parties, the decorations…. I love putting up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving day, wrapping gifts and setting them under the tree as soon as I purchase them…

But I couldn’t let this year pass without doing something for the holidays. While I might not be able to decorate or throw a party, I plan on indulging in holiday sweets over the next several weeks. And, I’m going to share those sweets with you! Over the next 10 weeks, I’ll be participating in Meal Planning Magic‘s 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats (I missed the first two weeks due to travel). Every Thursday, I’ll be sharing something new with you that might interest you for this year’s festivities.

For the first post, I’m sharing a sweet snack – Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels. Addictive is the best word to describe them. My book club ladies, my hubby, and my coworkers loved these little snacks. They’re quick and easy to make and keep pretty (mine were eaten within 3 days but were still fresh by the end). If I were hosting my holiday party, these would definitely make the menu!

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

Adapted from Your Home Based Mom via Your Cup of Cake

Makes 1 lb. of pretzels

Ingredients:
  • 1 16-18 oz. bag of pretzels
  • ½ c. canola/veggie oil
  • 1/3 c. granulated sugar
  • 1½ tsp. cinnamon
  • ½ c. cinnamon sugar for sprinkling  (½ c. sugar + 1½ tsp. cinnamon)

Directions:
  1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Pour pretzels into a large mixing bowl (microwave-safe if you have one).
  3. In a measuring cup, gently whisk together oil, the 1/3 c. sugar and the 1½ tsp. cinnamon. Microwave for 1 minutes. Gently whisk again. Microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Gently whisk. Pour over pretzels and toss until pretzels are coated in mixture. (If you have a microwave-safe mixing bowl, pour mixture over pretzels, microwave for 1 minutes, toss, microwave for 30 seconds, and toss again).
  4. Pour pretzels onto prepared baking sheets, spreading so that pretzels are in one even layer. Sprinkle with additional ½ c. cinnamon sugar. Allow to sit out for 30 minutes before moving to a serving dish or storage container.

Store in an airtight container.

I’ve got the munchies…

Confession: I’ve got the munchies and I’m tired of the usual snacks. Cheerios and my little bags of popcorn that usually satisfy my munchies aren’t appealing to me. Granola bars, crackers & cheese, and fruit don’t really work for munchies. What I really want are potato chips. That would work. Salty, thin Lay’s chips, perhaps with a bit of homemade onion dip. While I can eat these until I make myself sick, I would have to walk the entire weekend just to burn off those calories. And that’s not going to happen (instead, I’ll be painting our downstairs and shopping for dresses for my future sister-in-law’s bridal shower).

Inspired by some dried cranberries I found in my baking drawer, I went in search of a trail mix recipe that I found years ago. While higher in calories, the dried fruit and nuts qualified that recipe as a healthy munchie, at least in my mind. I wasn’t able to find the recipe online, in my recipe binders, or in my huge folder of torn-out recipes but I think this is a pretty good estimate of what I remember – the sweet cranberries adding a burst of flavor to the crunchy banana chips and the almonds. This is a munchie that will be left at home, out of sight of my cube-mate who loved this snack when he sampled it.

Cranberry-Banana Trail Mix

Inspired by a lost recipe from Self Magazine

Makes ~2 cups

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 c. banana chips
  • 1/2 c. dried cranberries
  • 1/2 c. almonds or walnuts
  • 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. pepper (white pepper is better than black, but use whatever you have)

Directions: Throw all ingredients in a bowl and toss.

Storage: Keep in an airtight container.

Crackers

Easter weekend, I hosted our almost annual wine and cheese party. I say almost annual because we somehow missed last year. I love hosting this party because everyone brings a wine and/or a cheese to share, keeping the menu diverse and the party stress-free. I always try to do a little something extra to make the food shine, like the cheesecake truffles I made a couple of years ago.

This year, I hoped that these crackers would stand out. I’ve been making them since they were first published in Fine Cooking in December 2007. They’re so easy to make, and I absolutely love the “everything” topping – it’s what first made me fall in love with fennel seeds. If you’re not interested in the “everything” or rosemary-sea salt toppings below, make up your own, but be sure to come back and share with the rest of us! 🙂

Crackers

Adapted from Fine Cooking No. 89 p. 45

Makes 3 dozen crackers

Ingredients for the Crackers:

  • 1 1/2 c. (6 3/4 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • scant 1/2 c. (2 oz.) whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp. table salt
  • 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 c. water
  • Choice of 1 topping – “everything” crackers, rosemary-sea salt, or your own

Ingredients for “Everything” Cracker Topping:

  • 2 tsp. sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp. poppy seeds
  • 1 Tbs. fennel seeds
  • 1-2 tsp. kosher salt

Ingredients for Rosemary & Sea Salt Cracker Topping:*

  • 2 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt

* I did not mix rosemary and sea salt in a bowl or measure. Instead, I just sprinkled the sea salt and dried rosemary on the crackers until it looked like enough to flavor the crackers.

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450F and pull out 1-2 large baking sheets. The baking sheets will remain unlined – no parchment paper necessary.
  2. Fill a small bowl with water and set aside, along with a pastry brush. Mix desired toppings in a small bowl and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and table salt. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir in olive oil and water.
  4. Lightly flour a counter top with either flour. Place 1/3 of the dough onto the prepared surface, leaving the remaining dough in the bowl and covered with a clean towel. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thick. Brush with water and sprinkle with your topping, adding extra kosher salt if necessary. Using a sharp knife, dough scraper, or pizza cutter, slice crackers into pieces, about 1-inch wide and 2 inches long.
  5. Using a rubber cookie spatula, place crackers on baking sheet, and bake for 9-11 minutes, until slightly browned. (While cooking, prepare the next batch of crackers to go in the oven.) Move to wire rack to cool completely.

Store cooled crackers in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to a week.