Monday, January 11, 2010

Nutty Trail Mix - Kooky Good!

OMG.....This is it! The best trail mix ever! Nutty, sweet, crunchy, chewy & just the right amount of salt. Mmmmmm......SO GOOD! The one danger.....tearing yourself away from it!
This stuff is so easy - and so much better than any of the 'already prepared stuff ', you won't believe it!
Grab a big, deep bowl and pour in about 1 1/2 cups each of pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds), slivered almonds and sunflower seeds. All seeds/nuts should be raw, unroasted and unsalted. I easily found all of these in the bulk department of my grocery store.
Next, grab some honey and maple syrup. I used 4 tablespoons of maple syrup and 3 tablespoons of honey, then ended up adding 2 more of the syrup. So - in total, measure out 5 Ts maple syrup and 3 of honey.
Pour the honey/maple mixture into the seed/nuts....
...and mix thoroughly.
Spread the mixture out onto a large, parchment or silpat-lined sheet pan and give them a light sprinkling of salt.
Lookit all those glistening, sweet, nutty nuts!
Next, slide these pretty beauties into a 350-degree preheated oven. Stir after 10 minutes and lightly salt once more. Stir again after another 10 minutes, then after 5 minutes - and possibly after one more set of 5 (depending on your oven). Suffice it to say that the nuts/seeds should be a wonderful caramel color when they're ready to come out and say hello.
Like this......
Mmmmm...and like this... Take note that the mixture will be moist and sticky when it first comes out of the oven. Once it's completey cool, it will be dry to the touch, I promise! Then you can crumble it into tiny clumps and individual pieces in a bowl.
Then....add in a handful of craisins and a handful of raisins and stir to combine. Is this gorgeous or what?!?!
Keep in a pretty airtight container or jar. I bet you'll wanna keep it out on your counter - 'cuz I'm telling you - this stuff is as striking in appearance as it is in taste!
Here's our full jar - last night.... This morning there's less than half! I'm sure this awesome, crunchy, addictive mix isn't as ideal for you when you dive head first into it like we the first day - but it IS that good. Hopefully once our excitement for it dies down, we can eat it like normal people rather than total spaz-dorks - but I'm not placing any bets yet!
Kooky Good Nutty Trail Mix
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups each pepita seeds, silvered almonds & sunflower seeds (all raw, meaning unsalted, unroasted)
5 tablespoons male syrup
3 tablespoons honey
salt
1 handful craisins
1 handful raisins
Directions:
Preheat oven to 30-degrees. Pour nuts into a large bowl and pour in honey & maple. Stir well to coat all nuts/seeds. Spread mixture onto a parchment or silpat-lined sheet pan. Lightly sprinkle with salt. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes stirring (and salting once again) after 10 minutes. Stir after every additional 5 to 10 minutes until mixture is golden brown. When done, remove tray to cooling rack. Mixture will be moist and sticky when first removed from oven but will be dry to the touch once completly cool. Crumble into small clumps/individual pieces and add in craisins and raisins. Stir to combine. Store in an airtight container.