Rosemary Thyme Spiced Nuts

 

INGREDIENTS
3 c. large whole nuts - I like to use 1 c. cashews, 1 c. pecans, and 1 c. almonds (I usually buy nuts at Trader Joe's)
2 T. olive oil
2 T. coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 T. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 300° F. Place nuts in a medium heatproof bowl.

Pour oil into a small heavy saucepan and place over medium-low heat until warm. Do not let it get too hot – the oil will burn. Add rosemary and thyme and stir until aromatic, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and stir in cumin and cayenne pepper. Pour the flavored oil over the nuts and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle with sugar, salt, and black pepper. Stir again. Transfer to a jelly roll pan or a baking pan with sides. Bake for about 15 minutes total, stirring after the first 10 minutes. Let cool. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

JEN'S NOTES:

• Very tasty and simple! A nice break from all the sweet snacks this time of year.
• I made a double batch and divided them into little mason jars as St. Nicholas day gifts for co-workers.
• I used half oven-roasted, salted almonds and half unsalted, chopped pecans, which was a good mix for flavor and texture.
• I didn't have fresh herbs, so I used dried rosemary and thyme, and changed the proportions accordingly.
• I added a little garlic powder because, you know, garlic.

Source

Homemade Cheez-its

Makes about 1 quart

3 T boiling water
1 T annatto seeds (optional), coarsely ground
6 ounces (1½ cups) finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 T (2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (3¼ ounces) all-purpose flour
2 T cornstarch

If using annatto, combine water and annatto seeds. Let steep for 5 minutes. Strain and discard seeds. Put annatto seed water in ice bath until cool.

Using stand mixer fitted with a paddle, combine cheese, butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper until combined and starting to stick to sides of mixing bowl, about 30 seconds. Add flour and cornstarch and mix until combined, about 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons of annatto seed water or plain cool water and mix until dough ball forms, about 10 seconds. Add remaining 1 tablespoon water if needed. Transfer dough to floured counter and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

Unwrap dough onto well floured counter and roll to 1/16 inch thickness. Cut into 1-inch squares. Using the blunt end of a skewer, poke a hole in the center of each square. Transfer to baking sheets. Sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Bake until light golden around edges, about 18 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cool completely on baking sheets. (Crackers can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days).

Notes: These baked up crispy and very tasty, if a tad greasy. My crackers were plenty orange without the annatto. Make sure you roll these quite thin (the dough should be translucent) as they rise about 4x in the oven. I did one pan where I spread the crakers out a bit, and one where they were left next to each other on the baking mat. The former baked up crisper.

Cherry Pie LaraBars

1 1/4 cups medjool dates, pitted
1 1/4 cups dried cherries
1 1/2 cups almonds, toasted (optional)

To toast the almonds, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 400°F for ten minutes. Remove from oven and transfer the almonds to a bowl or plate to cool.

Place dates and cherries in a food processor and pulse until a gooey semi-paste has formed (you want some bits of fruit, but not huge pieces). Empty the dried fruit into a large mixing bowl. Put the almonds in the food processor and pulse to coarse bits. You don’t want to make this a powder. Empty the almonds into the mixing bowl with the dried fruit. Knead the dried fruit and almonds together until combined and evenly distributed. Press the mixture into the bottom of an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan to about 1/2-inch thickness. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes. Invert the pan’s contents onto a cutting board and slice to desired size. Makes about a dozen 1.5- x 3.5-inch bars with a few odd pieces leftover.

NOTES: 

• Source for this recipe.
• I had a bag of dried cherries from Aldi which was a little more than a cup, so I just added 1 1/2 cups of dates.
• The Aldi cherries list sugar as an ingredient, so I might search for a sugar-free option next time.  The sad part of this is that Aldi's dried cherries are a fantastic price.  :(
• I added a little salt.
• Not sure I had the variety of dates this recipe called for - I bought whatever it is they sell at Sam's.
• It says that toasting the almonds is "optional."  Ignore that.  Toasting the almonds is fantastic!  It was an easy step and added a wonderful flavor.
• I would never do this without a food processor, but it worked really well with it.

Clif Bars

Yield: 9 bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes

1 cup dates (pitted)
1¼ cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup quick-cooking oats
¼ cup coarsely chopped peanuts
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
½ cup peanut butter
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1. Spray an 8×8-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.

2. Place the dates in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Combine the pureed dates with the cereal, oats, peanuts, flaxseed, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.

3. Combine the peanut butter and brown rice syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and completely blended. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

4. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the oat mixture and stir until well combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. Turn the mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly to pack the mixture into the pan. Let the mixture sit until completely cool and set, at least 1 hour. Cut into bars, then wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

NOTES:

• The recipe above is from Brown Eyed Baker.  
• I didn't add the chocolate chips because ... why would I want them for breakfast?
• I also looked high and low for brown rice syrup with no success.  I'll keep searching, but until then, I just used corn syrup.  I was tempted to use agave syrup, but had a sample at Costco once that I wasn't too fond of.  I hated to buy an overpriced bottle of something I likely wouldn't like and wouldn't have another use for.
• Bottom line: these are good.  I'll play around with different flavors if they work well for breakfast on the go and I make them again.

Peanut Butter Brownies

This is becoming my go-to way of dressing up plain brownies. Adapted from this recipe, I just add the peanut butter filling to a 9 x 13 batch of brownies. A couple notes: 1) Making the PB filling as written gives you brownies that are at least half PB. If you don't want that much, use scant measurements or half it. 2) These seem to keep better than regular brownies, no doubt due to all the extra fat. They'd probably mail well.

Peanut butter mixture:

• ½ cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1½ cups creamy peanut butter
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Mix brownies as directed, pour into prepared pan.
2. Mix all peanut butter filling ingredients, then spoon it out on top of brownie batter.
3. Using a knife or spoon (or finger if you want, I guess), swirl them together.
4. Bake as directed on brownie mix.

Irish Cream Brownies

BROWNIES:
1 (1 lb. 3.5 oz.) package fudge brownie mix
1/4 Irish cream liqueur
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs

FROSTING:
1/2 c butter, softened
2 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbls Irish cream
2-3 tsp. milk*

GLAZE:
1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp butter

Mix brownie ingredients and bake according to directions. (Do not overbake, of course!) Cool.

Mix frosting ingredients and spread over cooled brownies.

In small saucepan or microwave, melt glaze ingredients and drizzle over frosted brownies. Refrigerate 15 minutes or until firm.

NOTES

• *I skipped the milk in the frosting and used all Irish Cream. I feel this was a good choice!
• The presentation on the photo is pretty lame because I realized after I'd made about two rows of squizzles that the chocolate probably should've cooled a bit before I held it in my bare hand.

Candy Corn

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup corn syrup

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon vanilla extract(or 1/8tsp Fiori di Sicilia if you want creamsicle flavoured)

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup powdered milk

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

10-40 drops red and yellow food coloring

- Heat white sugar, corn syrup and butter in a sauce pan over low heat. Stir until all ingredients are dissolved. Turn heat to high until mixture comes to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and let bubble (uncovered) for 5 minutes.

- Stir in vanilla extract and remove from heat. Allow to cool until warm to the touch (about 15 minutes).

- In a large bowl sift powdered sugar, powdered milk and salt. Add cooled mixture from sauce pan and stir until it’s too thick. Begin to work with your hands and knead the dough until all of the powdered sugar have been absorbed.

- Divide dough into 3 sections, make a dent in 2 pieces and add 20 drops of yellow food coloring to each. In one of those, add 9 drops of red food coloring to create orange. Mix each until colors are even throughout.

- To make candy corns, eyeball 1/8th of the dough from each piece. Roll each color into long ropes and press together. Cut with a knife and smoosh the seams together. Microwave them in short bursts to keep the dough warm. Allow the candy to cool and air dry.

- Once dry, store in an airtight container.

Candied Nuts

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound walnut halves

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread nuts in a single layer over a baking sheet. Roast for approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until the nuts start to turn brown and the smell of roasting nuts fills the kitchen.
2. Stir together sugar, cinnamon, salt, and milk in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for 8 minutes, or until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage of 236 degrees F (113 degrees C). Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla immediately. .
3. Add walnuts to sugar syrup, and stir to coat well. Spoon nuts onto waxed paper, and immediately separate nuts with a fork. Cool, and store in airtight containers.

Great with pecans!

Granola Bars

(recipe source)

• 8 oz old-fashioned rolled oats (2 cups)
• 1 1/2 oz sunflower seeds (1/2 cup)
• 3 oz sliced almonds, (1 cup)
• 1 1/2 oz wheat germ (1/2 cup)
• 6 oz honey (1/2 cup)
• 1 3/4 oz dark brown sugar (1/4 cup packed)
• 1 oz unsalted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 6 1/2 oz chopped dried fruit*

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish** and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds,*** almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.†

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter††, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down,††† evenly distributing the mixture in the dish. Place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes:

*I used dried blueberries, cherries, and golden raisins

**A batch and a half works well in a 9x13 pan

***The original recipe calls for raw seeds in the shell. I used regular roasted seeds and added them with the fruit.

†Make sure you stir them together before toasting; the wheat germ will burn if it's left out on its own.

††I substituted peanut butter, and it was pretty yummy.

†††Pack mixture very firmly into the pan, or you will get granola instead of granola bars.

Special K Bars

1 c sugar
1 c Karo syrup
4 tbls butter
1 1/2 c peanut butter (creamy is best)
6 c Special K cereal
1 c chocolate chips
1 c butterscotch chips

Boil the first three ingredients for one minute; add the peanut butter and stir until creamy and well mixed. Pour over the cereal and mix thoroughly. Spread into a 9X13 pan for thick bars or a cookie sheet (with sides) for thinner bars. Melt the chips together and spread over the smooth cereal mixture. Cool and cut.

Source: Mrs. Sivula

Notes: Using the store-brand equivalent cereal is fine. In fact, I prefer it because it's lots cheaper and we get to make fun of the silly name.
I butter the back of a spoon and use it to firmly press the mixture into the pan.
I also sprayed the pan with non-stick spray.
These bars mail very well and stay fresh a long time. (perfect for mailing)