Our Blissfully Delicious Life: nuts

Showing posts with label nuts. Show all posts

Homemade Granola

This stuff is so darn good! I'm kicking myself for not making it sooner. I love that you can can do so much with it. And well, let's be honest. I like that I can make it with all my favorite ingredients. I'll never buy it again, it is so easy to make & keep on hand. Add it to some yogurt or ice cream. Or, if you're like my family, just eat it with some milk like cereal. It's quick, easy, & good for you!! It makes for a great present too. Make it for holidays, bake sales, or any occasion!

Ingredients:

3 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

1 cup Sliced Almonds

1 cup Halved or Chopped Pecans

1/2 cup Dried Cranberries

1/2 cup Raisins

1/3 cup Vegetable or Canola Oil

1/3 cup of Honey

1/4 c Light Brown Sugar

1 tsp of Cinnamon

1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Kosher Salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except the dried fruit.

I used a stand mixer, but you could do it by hand.

Spread the mixture onto a sheet pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, stirring half way through. It should be a nice golden color. Don't be alarmed that it is still soft. It hardens as it cools.

Let it cool completely on the sheet pan.

When the oats & nuts have cooled, place them in a mixing bowl & add the dried fruit.

Stir to combine well.

Store in an air tight container.

Fill Mason Jars & tie with ribbon for gifts.

Enjoy!

Chex Mix

There is something about Christmas time that reminds me of Chex Mix. I don't know why. It must be repressed memories from commercials or movies because it is not something that my family made growing up. But I still think of it when I think of Christmas. I had visions of my family snacking on warm, tangy, salty Chex Mix while snuggled up under a blanket watching Rudolph or Frosty or the Grinch or (more accurately) all of them. So with Christmas nearing, I bought ingredients in preparation for it. It's all been sitting in the pantry just waiting. I thought maybe I would make it on Christmas Eve but when we woke up to snow yesterday morning, it hit me. This will be the perfect day to make Chex Mix! It never snows in this part of North Carolina in December. I mean never! It hardly ever snows here- period! So to see this 9 days before Christmas was exciting to say the least! My daughter is 4 years old & so captivated by the magic of Santa & Christmas. It is intoxicating to watch & I am loving every second of it. Having snow on the ground made it all that much more festive for us. We spent the day making ornaments, listening to Christmas music, baking Chex Mix, & watching Christmas movies. It was truly a heart warming, wonderful day. And from now on when we make Chex Mix for Christmas, we will remember it fondly.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Corn Chex Cereal

1 1/2 cups Wheat Chex Cereal

1 cup Gold Fish Crackers

1/2 cup Cashew Halves (roasted & salted, out of a can)

1/2 cup Pecan Halves (raw)

6 tbsp Butter

2 cloves of Garlic, minced

4 dashes Worcheshire Sauce

3-4 dashes Hot Sauce

3/4 tsp Lawry's Seasoning Salt

1/4 tsp Onion Powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

In a small, microwave save bowl add the butter, garlic, Worcheshire & Hot Sauces, & seasonings. Microwave in 10-15 second intervals until the butter is melted. Stir well to incorporate.

In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. And feel free to customize here. Like the Gold Fish, those were special for my daughter. But you could add in pretzels, bagel chips, mixed nut, what ever you'd like!

I like to line my baking pans with aluminum foil for easy clean up. Look at that face! My helper was really concentrating!!

Pour the melted, seasoned butter over the cereal mixture & gently stir to coat.

Spread onto a baking sheet.

Get very excited because this stuff is GOOD!!

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hr & 15 minutes, stirring ever 15 minutes.

Enjoy the wonderful smell that takes over your house!

Warm, straight from the oven- there's nothing like it!

Serve immediately. Store left overs in an air tight container.

This Chex Mix was based off of the Pioneer Woman's recipe.

And here's a preview of the family ornaments that we're making this year. Letters spelling our last name, with their first coat of paint...I'll post a follow up picture of them when they are finished. :)

Mini Pecan Pie Muffins

Oh my gosh! Run to your pantry, I'm sure you have everything that you need to make these. There are only 5 ingredients and trust me...you do need to make these!! They are SO good! It's rare that I get so excited about a sweet like this. I'm definitely a more savory type of person. But really, these are that good. I stumbled upon them while I was looking for a recipe to make for my husband's pot luck Thanksgiving at work. You know, one of those things where everyone in the office brings something & you feast all day long. When I worked, we used to refer to this day as, "Fat Day" and we didn't just do it for major holidays! (I know fun, right!?!) The only issue with all day feasts at the office is finding something that can sit out most of the day. Something that doesn't need to stay warm or cold. These little treats are PERFECT! And just in time for Thanksgiving, when everyone else in the world (or maybe just in the south) is making Pecan Pie. These are great with coffee in the morning, as a sweet snack, or as a perfectly portioned dessert on Fat Day!

Ingredients:

1 cup Light Brown Sugar

1 cup Pecans, chopped

1/2 cup All Purpose Flour

2/3 cup Butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan oven low heat.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, nuts & melted butter.

Beat the eggs & add them to the batter.

Spray a mini muffin tin with non- stick cooking spray then spoon the batter evenly into the cups. I topped mine with an extra pecan half.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Let cool completely before removing them from the tin. I ran a butter knife around the sides to help get them out of the pan.

YUM!

Gobble them up! (That's my Thanksgiving pun.)

See that crispy pecan pie edge?

This recipe makes 24 mini muffins. Here is where I found it.

Extra Nutty Banana Muffins

This is a slightly different recipe than my Banana Nut Bread. It's super quick & easy with lots of pecans- just how we like them! My husband prefers the muffins to my bread, although I don't think it has anything to do with the flavor. It's simply faster for him to get them in his belly! He can grab a couple on his way out to work in the morning with coffee & he's a happy man.

Ingredients:

4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 cup butter, softened

¾ cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 ½ cups flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.In a large bowl, mix the butter into the mashed bananas. I used my stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment.

Mix in the sugar, egg and vanilla. Add the baking soda and salt. Add the flour and mix until just incorporated.

Fold in the chopped pecans.

Pour mixture into prepared muffin tins, lined with cupcake liners or sprayed with non stick spray. I made both mini & regular sized muffins. I used paper liners on the regular & non stick spray on the minis. Sprinkle additional pecans on the top.

Bake the mini's 12-15 minutes & the regular 15-20 minutes, until golden brown or once a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

This made 24 mini muffins & 10 regular sized muffins. If you just make regular sized, you should get 18 from the recipe.

Allow to cool some before taking them out of the tins.

I found this wonderful recipe here.

Banana Nut Bread

Old fashioned, comforting, & delicious Banana Bread!! My daughter loves this stuff! It's so easy to make too, the hardest part for my family is keeping bananas in the house long enough to over ripen!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour

1 cup White Granulated Sugar

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

3/4 cup chopped Pecans

2 eggs

3 ripened Bananas

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease & Flour your loaf pan. (I used cooking spray & flour, my loaf came out of the pan perfectly.)

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar & salt. Set aside. Chop the Pecans. You want to use extra rip bananas so they are really soft, almost mushy.