Tag: snacks

Snackies

Maple syrup caramelized pecans

by bakewithandrea1 Comment on Maple syrup caramelized pecans
Maple syrup caramelized pecans

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to share a really quick and easy snack that’s kinda salty, kinda sweet and overall really yummy! You can eat these on their own (believe me, once you start you can’t stop!) or you can use them with other foods – just the way you would regular pecans. There’s no wrong option here!

So tell me, are you a pecan lover or hater? I’ve never really liked pecans that much, probably because I didn’t grow up eating them – we ate walnuts instead. But since I left Spain and started trying different kinds of foods I discovered pecans and to be honest I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with them. Pretty similar to walnuts actually.

I think what I don’t like about pecans is their texture – particularly how they leave your mouth feeling after eating them. Is it just me? It’s just this weird dry feeling that I struggle to get on board with. Through time I’ve learned that the only way I actually enjoy eating pecans is by toasting them. It makes them crunchy, much tastier and not feel so “dry”. This recipe takes them to the next level.

 

Pecans
Admittedly, not the prettiest thing to capture on photograph!

 

 

First things first:

  • Preheat your oven to 170C
  • Line a baking tray with parchment paper

 

Ingredients:

Pecans

  • 80g maple syrup
  • 15g butter
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 200g pecans

 

What to do:

  • In a (preferably non-stick) frying pan, melt together your maple syrup, butter, salt and cinnamon on a low-medium heat

Pecans Pecans

  • When your wet mixture is fully melted and combined, add in your pecans and mix them through until they’re all fully coated

Pecans Pecans

  • Spread the mixture evenly onto your parchment paper-lined tray. Try to keep them on a single layer as much as you can!

Pecans

  • Put it in a 170C oven for 10 minutes, take it out and give it a mix

Pecans Pecans

  • Pop them back in the oven for another 5min and by now your house should smell heavenly and your pecans should look a deep caramel color. The edges might look a bit dark but don’t worry – it’s all good and delicious

Pecans

  • Leave them to cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Pecans

 

 

These are such a quick and easy little snack! As they cool down they get really crunchy – it’s basically a really easy and safe way to make caramel. They are great just on their own but they’re also amazing in other foods such as carrot cake or even some salads – they’re super versatile.

Keep them in an airtight container (super important if you don’t want them to get super sticky and lose their crunch!) and they’ll probably last about a week or so (if you can keep yourself from eating them all before then!). If you want to make a big batch of it just double or triple the recipe and they’ll also be good in the fridge for a couple of weeks or even in the freezer for a few months.

 

Pecans

 

I hope you give these a try and let me know if you like them! I hope to see you again soon and as always, thanks for reading me!

Snackies

Stuffed dates

by bakewithandreaLeave a Comment on Stuffed dates
Stuffed dates

Dates are one of those foods that I didn’t grow up eating at all. It’s not something that was around me as a child and I didn’t even try them until I was a grown-up. Honestly, I didn’t really like them at all. I remember just thinking “what a weird sweet and sticky food!” and they were just not for me. My husband loves them though so I thought that maybe if I tried to mix them with something they would be a bit more appetizing.

You’ve probably tried dates on their own and not really liked them and you’ve probably had them in other things without realizing they’re there! Things like healthy protein-type bars, some energy balls or bars, baked goods, and even some savoury meals. I think that you probably didn’t mind eating them that way because if you’re not used to having dates it’s actually pretty easy to hide them in other foods – I personally think the most difficult thing to get used to is their texture.

So here’s the best way that I’ve found works for me to eat dates – I love them as snacks, they’re super filling and they hit the spot with sweetness that’s not too sweet, but also a bit of saltiness that is just such a great balance! If you don’t particularly like dates give these a try – and if you’re already a date lover, this may be another great way to enjoy them!

Stuffed dates

 

 

First things first:

  • Make sure your nut butter of choice is nicely mixed – particularly if you’re using a natural one it’s completely normal that the oils separate from the rest of the butter. Just give it a good mix and it’ll be good to go!
  • Chop up your chocolate so that it’s easily mixable throughout.

 

Ingredients:

Ingredients for dates

  • Dates  – I like to use Medjool dates that have the seed inside. I find them to be the freshest-feeling and plumpest dates that just work best here.
  • Nut butter – I like these with crunchy almond butter but any kind of nut or seed butter that you enjoy eating will work!
  • Chocolate chips or regular eating chocolate that you like. I prefer it dark (70%). Make sure that they’re cut into small pieces!
  • Chunky / flaky sea salt
  • Optional: Hemp seed hearts

Note: I can’t really give you exact measurements here because every date is different so the amount of mixture that you’ll need will be different depending on your dates. It’ll also depend on how much you like to stuff them. On this day I made a total of a dozen dates and used about 100g of almond butter, and a tbsp of chocolate chips and hemp seed hearts.

 

What to do:

  • Mix all your stuffing ingredients together until they form a paste – your nut butter, chocolate chips, and hemp seed hearts

Almond butter mixture

  • Remove the seeds from your dates and make them into little boats – do this by cutting half of the date lengthwise and remove the seed that’s inside

Date and seed Date and seed

  • Once all your dates are de-seeded and ready to go, use a teaspoon to stuff them with your mixture
  • Sprinkle some chunky sea salt over the top (as much or as little as you want but please don’t skip this step!)

Dates Stuffed dates

 

And voilà! A quick little snack that’s both sweet and salty and a lot more filling than you may realize!

 

Top tips:

  • They’re ready to be eaten just like this but they’re even better if you put them in the fridge to cool down and set up a bit. That way they also keep their shape a bit better.
  • You can also freeze them by putting them on a plate or tray and putting them in the freezer until they’re solid. Then transfer onto an airtight baggie and they’ll last for a long time – all ready for when you need a quick snack!
  • You can play around a bit with what else you can add – maybe try some chia seeds or any other seeds, try some chopped up nuts if your nut butter is smooth, or even mix some protein powder with your mixture!

 

I hope you enjoy this little recipe and that you give it a try – it’s really helped me like dates a bit more and their texture doesn’t bother me at all when I eat them like this! I hope you like it and that you’ll stick around for my next recipe!