Sweet and Crunchy Nut and Seed Clusters —SCB


Our family is doing a little traveling this week and among the preparations was making some snacks. Because, well, we all need a good snack to get through a traveling day.

My favorite food for snacking is, by far, nuts. They pack a nutritional whallop of protein and fiber and can sustain me if I have to miss a meal. Since, airplane peanuts come in such sad little packages, I like to bring along my own.

This time I made some sweet and savory nut and seed clusters. The recipe is based on this one with a few adaptations. I increased the amount of nuts and used rice syrup in place of honey (and more of it). The result is a slightly sweet, crunchy snack that I hope will sustain my family on our travels. I worried that my finicky kid wouldn’t like the spices and left them out of my batch, but I think these would be best with the spicy kick.

Sweet and Crunchy Nut and Seed Clusters
Adapted from Whole Living

4 cups mixed nuts (I used whole cashews and sliced almonds)
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup quinoa
2 eggs whites
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together the egg whites, rice syrup, salt and spices and toss with nuts, seeds and grain to thoroughly coat. Spread mixture on a cookie sheet or roasting pan. Bake for approximately 30 minutes (start checking after 20 minutes as different ovens and baking pans produce different results). Nuts will be lightly browned. Remove to parchment to cool.

—SCB

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