Vanilla Archives - Slice Of Honey

COVID quarantine has me craving all the snacks! I’m not the only one, right?! I’ve realized that when I’m working from my office, there are multiple factors that keep me from thinking about food all day. As an audiologist, I’m obviously not going to be snacking while seeing a patient. Can you imagine your doctor doing something like that? No way! The second biggest reason I don’t snack at work is that I simply don’t have access to snacks. We don’t even have a vending machine at our office, let alone a cafeteria. Sure, I could keep a box of snacks in the break room but if that doesn’t exist, I don’t even think twice. Working from home is strange in general but my biggest struggle has proven to be full kitchen access just 20′ from my desk.

I love snack mix! Yes, it satisfies my snacking urges but it is also so versatile! You can change up the flavor based on your cravings – sweet vs salty, etc. But you can also change it up based on what you already happen to have in your pantry. Currently, my daughter has been on a kick of mixing Cheerios and Crispix into one bowl for breakfast. Since that’s what we have on hand right now, both of those went into this new recipe. I happen to keep pecans on hand for baking so I tossed those in as well. You see what I’m getting at here? My general process for snack mix includes two cereal varieties, a cracker, some sort of nut and something salty. On occasion, I also add something sweet. To help get you inspired to create your own mix, I’ve created a list of possible ingredients for you.

Snack Mix Ingredient Ideas:

Rice, corn, wheat or oat based cereals that have a crunch
Peanuts, cashews, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans
Sunflower seeds, pumpkins seeds
Pretzels, bagel chips, rye chips, oyster crackers, cheese based cracker such as cheez-its or goldfish
Candy coated chocolates such as m&m’s, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, banana chips, dried mango – note, these sweet ingredients are best added after the rest of the mix has baked and cooled completely.

SEET VANILLA SNACK MIX

Sarah Baade

This sweet vanilla snack mix has a crunch and light sweetness that will keep you coming back for more.

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Course Snack

Cuisine American

Ingredients

3 cups Crispix cereal
2 cups cheerios (plain)
2 cups pretzel sticks
1 cup oyster crackers
1 cup pecan halves
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup candy coated chocolates (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 250°F.
In a large bowl, mix together Crispix, Cheerios, oyster crackers, pretzels and pecans.
In a medium, microwave safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Then, with butter still hot, whisk in brown sugar, vanilla and salt.
Pour butter mixture over cereal mix and stir until cereal mix is evenly coated.
Transfer mix onto a parchment lined baking sheet and and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Let snack mix cool completely before stirring in candy coated chocolates.

Keyword Snack, Snack Mix, Sweet Snack, Sweet Vanilla Snack Mix, Vanilla

*If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like my Honey Sriracha Snack Mix.

I currently have two food obsessions. First, popcorn. My daughter and I have been sharing a bowl of popcorn after school lately. We sit on the front porch and snack while we wait for my husband to get home. She isn’t old enough for this to become a long-term memory for her but I’m holding it dear to my heart. When I look back at my own childhood memories, it is the simple moments of quality time with my parents that are my favorites. I am trying to be fully present in these little moments with my daughter so that eventually they become memories for both of us.

My second food obsession of the moment is homemade granola. I’ll eat it as a bowl of cereal or mixed in with some yogurt. If nothing else is available, I’ll just eat it by the handful. I have rarely bought granola in recent years simply because of the frequently high sugar content. One of the things I love most about cooking is knowing exactly what is in my food. Granola incredibly easy to make, my daughter was able to put it together with me helping her with measuring ingredients. Granola is also easy to customize. You can keep it simple or add in all sorts of nuts or dried fruit. I’ve been making a batch every week over the past month and this particular recipe is too good not to share with you.

Tips:

If you like a chunkier granola, let it cool completely before stirring it.
I like to store my granola in the freezer to keep it fresh and crunchy longer.

VANILLA ALMOND GRANOLA

This lightly sweetened granola is easy to make and easy to customize.

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 5 mins

Servings 7 servings (1/2 cup)

Calories 383 kcal

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup crisp rice cereal
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300F.
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together.
Spread mixture out on a parchment lined sheet pan.
Bake for 1 hour. Let cool before serving.