Honey Sesame Ginger Roasted Cashews and Almonds

February 10, 2013 · by ·
Honey Sesame Ginger Roasted Cashews and Almonds

I’ve got Purim on the brain right now. My schedule is off and I have been procrastinating on everything, but Purim is one of my favorite holidays. I want to make it special. Ever since I was a kid, I loved the whole process of giving Mishloach Manot. As a kid, it meant driving around the neighborhood with my parents and running in to houses to hand off the goodies to our dear friends. I now have a more active role though. I love to get creative with what we put in our little packages. I always try to include something homemade and something somewhat useful.

My parents recently mentioned a dinner that they made some candied nuts. My mother went on about how easy and tasty they were. I thought back to some honey sesame cashews that I used to buy from Trader Joe’s. They were so good. Unfortunately, they aren’t kosher. I set out to make my own – with a few adaptations on flavor. These were very tasty and came together pretty easily!


Honey Sesame Ginger Roasted Cashews and Almonds

Ingredients:

2 cups raw cashews
2 cups raw almonds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2 tbsp. coconut oil
4 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup crystallized ginger, chopped finely
4 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tbsp. water
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300.

Spread out the cashews and almonds on a baking sheet and toast in oven for around 15 minutes. Check on the nuts at around 10 minutes to see if they are beginning to brown. Do not let them burn.

Honey Sesame Ginger Roasted Cashews and Almonds

Spread the sesame seeds on a small baking sheet and toast in oven for 10 minutes. Again, keep an eye on these as well so that they don’t burn.

Transfer the nuts to a large mixing bowl.

In a small saucepan, melt together the coconut oil, honey, cinnamon, ginger, brown sugar, water and salt. Heat it on medium until the entire mixture is melted.

Honey Sesame Ginger Roasted Cashews and Almonds

Pour the mixture over the nuts and stir well until everything is well coated.

Honey Sesame Ginger Roasted Cashews and Almonds

Mix in the sesame seeds. Stir well.

Transfer the entire mixture to a parchment covered baking sheet. Spread out mixture well so everything is in a single layer.

Honey Sesame Ginger Roasted Cashews and Almonds

Place baking sheet in oven for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely.

Break up the mixture with a wooden spoon.

Once it’s cool, it’s ready for eating! Place in pretty bags for mishloach manot distribution, or serve in bowls. This mixture should be kept in an airtight container. Happy Purim!

Honey Sesame Ginger Roasted Cashews and Almonds

Filed Under: nuts, Purim, Snacks · Tagged: , , , , ,

Vanilla Kipferl Cookies

June 12, 2012 · by ·

This happens a couple times a year. My lovely daughter volunteers me to make something for the class. In December, it was latkes. She wanted to teach her class about Chanukah. This time around, she offered a German baked good. Or rather – anything German and cooked. I had no idea what to prepare.

I researched German baked goods on the interwebz a bit – trying to find something that my grandmother used to make. So many things are variations on recipes most likely handed down in her family. I finally came upon an authentic German cookie that I remember her making. The buttery, almond & vanilla cookies shaped in a crescent shape. These were always among the bags of baked good that she would hand deliver to Minnesota. This seemed easy enough.

These turned out to be successful. The class enjoyed – several kids even asked for the recipe! Glad the 4th graders approve!







Vanilla Kipferl Cookies
Ingredients


2 cups of flour
2 sticks of butter, softened
1/3 cup of sugar
3/4 cup ground almonds
2 tsp. vanilla
vanilla scrapings from 1/2 vanilla bean
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 365.

Mix all of the ingredients together except for the powdered sugar.

The mixture will be crumbly.

Use your hands to form some semblance of a dough.

Pinch of 1-2 tablespoon size pieces and shape in to a crescent or horn shape.

Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Bake for around 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet.

Roll in powdered sugar and cool on cooling rack.

Enjoy!

IMG_1514

Filed Under: baked, cookies, dairy, Dessert, sweets, tradition · Tagged: , , , , ,

Crunchy Granola and Proud

May 4, 2010 · by ·
My mornings are pretty routine each week. After waking up at 5:00, I only have eyes for my coffee. Breakfast is pretty distant in my mind. If I remember, I might just grab a granola bar, a Luna bar or something of that power/energy bar ilk. Once in a blue moon, I go high style and pick up an egg sandwich somewhere in Manhattan on my way to work. Between the coffee and the energy bars, my mornings can get expensive. I also feel guilty eating the overly processed granola bar products? I mean, really. I do love that whole coated in chocolate aspect of the Luna bars. At $1-2 a pop though, is it really worth it?
I started researching homemade granola, and homemade granola bars. To be honest, diving into this realm is not the best idea for me. My gut truly can’t handle most homemade granola bars. My gut should can only handle that processed stuff. Still, I wanted to try to make my own power/energy granola bar and feel some crunchy granola bar power.

I knew what I wanted in there: some combo of oats, flax, wheat germ, almonds, dried fruit, and chocolate chips. But what else goes into that perfect bar, and how much? There are many recipes out there. Using my math skills, I came up with what I think works for us. Even my picky 8-year-old, who prefers bars of the “Kudos” variety approved of this nutty good-for-you power bar.
There are some modifications I may make next time, aside from processing my ingredients, so it isn’t too nutty for me. I may go all honey and no sunflower butter. Also switch up the fruit. I would like to play with some nut combinations. Maybe throwing in a pecan or two.

Granola Bars
Ingredients

4 cups oats
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup chopped, dried fruit
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sunflower nut butter
2 tbsp vanilla
4 tbsp butter
pinch or two of salt
Combine all the nutty stuff on to a baking sheet and toast at 350 for 15 minutes.

Stir the mixture around every five minutes. When done, dump in a large mixing bowl and cool down. Stir in the coconut, dried fruits, and choco chips in to the mixture. Turn the oven down to 300.

Get a 9×13 pan ready. Line it with parchment paper.
In a small saucepan, add the sugar, the nut butter, the honey, the vanilla, and the salt. Stir up until the brown sugar has dissolved. Just a few minutes. Let cool a couple minutes.

Pour the sticky mixture over the granola mixture and stir. Press the mixture into the pan. Press down so it’s all even.

Bake at 300 for around 25 minutes.

When done, remove from oven and let cool on counter for a good 30 minutes or so.

Slice into granola bar shapes – anything goes really. Enjoy!

Wrap in plastic wrap. I prefer the “Stretch-Tite” brand. Saran is for wimps. Enjoy your bars.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Snacks · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Chocolate Raspberry Rugelach

December 17, 2008 · by ·

I own a rolling pin, but never use it. It’s not that I am afraid of it, I just don’t really like using recipes that seem to have way too many process transitions. I use my rolling pin maybe twice a year. As you have seen by my carrot muffins, I am in some sort of wierd baking mood. I decided to get all brave and try to make some rugelach. I don’t like most bakery pastry, and I wanted to see if I could “have it my way.”

I used Ina Garten’s recipe for the rugelach dough and then came up with my own filling. The rugelach came out super tasty and they were suprisingly easy to make. My fear of baking is slowly fading.

Is rugel the singular of rugelach? I’ll go with it…
Chocolate Raspberry Rugelach (Dairy)
Dough Recipe – from The Barefoot Contessa by Ina Garten
8 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature
2 sticks of butter – softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 egg mixed beaten, mixed with 1 tsp of milk for brushing later on
2 tbsp sugar and one tsp. cinnamon, mixed for dusting
In your mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix up the cream cheese and the butter until well mixed.

Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Continue to mix on low speed. Slowly add the flour with the mixer running. Do not over mix the dough. The dough will be sticky.

Turn the dough out on to a well floured board and roll it into a ball. Cut the ball into quarters. Wrap each quarter in plastic wrap and chill in the refridgerator for at least an or…or you could freeze the dough for future use. The dough works best the colder it is.

While the dough is chilling, get your filling ready.

My chocolate/raspberry filling ingredients are as follows:

1 cup of walnut pieces
3/4 cup of chocolate chips – semisweet
1/4 cup of light brown sugar
Raspberry Jam – I used seedless
In a food processor, chop the walnuts and chocolate until ground well. Mix in the brown sugar.

I love my mini cuisinart. It’s petite,adorable, and cute. It was sitting lost and lonely in a cabinet behind my giant cuisinart. It should have a permanent place on my counter, but I dislike the clutter.

Once the dough is chilled, we are ready to roll up some rugelach.

On a well floured board, roll each ball into a circle, around 9 inches. Spread a very light layer of jam on to the dough circle. Do not add too much jam, as there will be too much oozing when baking. Sprinkle the nut/choc filling onto the jam. Cut the dough circle into wedges, around 12-16 equal wedges. I find it cuts best with a pizza slicer.


Starting with the wide edge, roll up each wedge. Put the rolled up rugelach on to a baking sheet lined with parchement paper or a silpat.
Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Remove the dough from the fridge. Brush each rugel with the egg wash. Dust with the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

Be thankful that I am not including any nutritional information on this one.

Filed Under: baked, chocolate, cookie, Dessert, jewish, raspberry, rugelach · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
1 2