Snacks Recipes

Sweet & Salty Trail Mix

Crack open a jar of this trail mix, and you’ll be hit smack-dab in the nose with the warm, cozy aromas of baking spices. It’s a delight! We toast walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and almond slices, and then coat them in maple syrup, cinnamon, brown sugar, and a pinch of cayenne. Folks in the test kitchen agree: the nuts taste kind of like a churro. They also remind us of the candied nuts we make during the holiday season — except here, we add a generous sprinkle of flake salt to balance the sweetness.

Also in the mix: rich, creamy white chocolate chips and chewy dried cranberries for teeny pops of tartness. We love how they play with the crunchy, spicy-sweet nuts and seeds. Once you have a little handful of this trail mix, you can’t stop going back for more. And each time you do, your handful gets bigger and bigger and bigger, until — oops! — the jar’s all gone.

Yield: 8 cups

Sweet & Salty Trail Mix
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Snacks

Sweet & Salty Trail Mix

Ingredients

1 ½ cups raw walnuts
1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
¾ cup raw sliced almonds
½ cup maple syrup
1 tsp Gelson’s ground cinnamon
1 pinch Gelson’s ground nutmeg
1 pinch Gelson’s ground cayenne pepper
3 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
Flake salt, to taste
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries

Directions

  1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

  2. Heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and almonds, and stir together until well mixed.

  3. Add the maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne, and stir until evenly coated. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring often, until the maple syrup has mostly adhered to the nuts.

  4. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top, stir, and cook for another 3 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.

  5. Remove the pan from the heat and spread the nuts evenly on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with flake salt and allow the nuts to fully cool for 30 minutes. Using your hands, break them up into small clusters.

  6. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and cranberries on top and mix them together. Enjoy! The trail mix can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe source: Free Your Fork

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