Once I began milling my own grain, I began playing with all different types of wheat. I have tried lots of whole grains like kamut (khorisan), soft white, hard white and red, spelt, and of course einkorn! I love einkorn in any baked goods and this freshly milled flour banana bread is no exception. It’s soft and delicate and does not even taste like it’s whole grain! This whole food snack or breakfast is perfect if you’re trying to add additional nutrition to your diet.

You’ll find that it’s a super easy one bowl banana bread that comes together quickly and tastes perfectly delectable! The whole grain gives this quick bread recipe a nutty flavor. While you can use some of the modern wheat flours in this recipe, using einkorn, which is an ancient variety of wheat that hasn’t been tampered with, is absolutely delicious.

This recipe doesn’t need a hand mixer or a kitchenaid mixer. You just need a bowl and a whisk. Super easy and very old school! You’ll love this einkorn flour banana bread!

Ingredients for freshly milled einkorn banana bread

It only takes a few ingredients to make this einkorn banana bread with freshly milled flour. Here’s what you’ll need:

Wet Ingredients

• 600g or 4-5 overripe bananas
• 2 large eggs
• 10g or 2t. vanilla extract
• 2/3c melted butter (or melted coconut oil) and cooled to room temperature

This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

Dry Ingredients

• 170g or 3/4c. brown sugar (can substitute coconut sugar)
• 360g or 3c freshly milled einkorn flour (or soft white wheat or spelt)
• 2 pinches of salt
• 8g or 2t. baking soda

Instructions for einkorn banana bread

Combine wet ingredients:

First, mash overripe bananas in a large bowl.

Next, add the large eggs one at a time and whisk together. Add the rest of the wet ingredients – vanilla extract and melted butter or coconut oil. (you could also replace the melted butter with a light tasting olive oil). Mix together well.

My very favorite way to combine the ingredients is using a danish whisk. I feel like it incorporates all the ingredients and they don’t get stuck like in a traditional whisk.

Combine Dry Ingredients:

The next step is to combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. 

I often sift these directly over the wet ingredients so that I can just use one large mixing bowl instead of having extra dirty dishes. If you have a large mesh strainer like this one, you can just set it on top of the bowl and sift all the dry ingredients right on top of the wet ones.

Mill your flour:

First, mill your einkorn. Here’s what the einkorn berries look like before they are turned into einkorn flour. They contain so many nutrients and because the flour will be used before those vitamins oxidize, it makes this einkorn banana bread a healthy whole food.

Mill the einkorn or other low gluten grain like soft white wheat, kamut or spelt. I use either a dry container for my Vitamix, or my Mockmill 200. Here, I show what the einkorn flour looks like after mixing the berries in my Vitamix dry container for 1 minute. It makes a gorgeous fine flour.

If you already have a Vitamix and would like to delve into milling your own flour, this is a very affordable alternative to a mill. I used mine to grind grain for over 15 years before I took the plunge into buying a mill!

Add the rest of the dry ingredients:

Next, add in the rest of the dry ingredients – brown sugar, salt, and baking soda. You could add one teaspoon ground cinnamon to the mix if you’d like to add a little more flavor. Whisk it up! This would also be a great time to add a good dose of walnuts if you want a little crunch in your einkorn banana bread!

Put the wet ingredients and dry ingredients together and whisk until just mixed. If you overmix the banana bread batter, it develops the gluten and makes it tough. So make sure to stop whisking as soon as it comes together.  This will keep the crumb light and delicate.

Prepare 2 loaf pans with nonstick spray or parchment paper. I normally do this by cutting the parchment paper as wide as the long side of the loaf pan. This way it doesn’t cover the ends, but it does give you excellent handles to lift it out. Divide the batter in half and pour each half into a prepared loaf pan for a total of two pans.

Bake your freshly milled einkorn banana bread:

The next step is to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. The banana bread batter needs to sit for 15 minutes minimum in order for the freshly milled einkorn to absorb the liquid and soften the grains and that’s why I choose to preheat the oven at this stage of the baking process. Then once it’s preheated, the batter had time to sit and absorb the moisture and it’s ready to go in the oven. 

Now, bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. 

Finally, take einkorn banana bread out of the pan and let it cool on a wire rack. Eat immediately with plenty of butter on top. Store leftovers in an airtight container – if you have any!

Banana bread freezes well – I love to wait until the banana bread cools and wrap one tightly in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer Ziplock bag and freeze for the next time I want freshly milled flour banana bread but don’t want to bake! It’s a great quick snack!

FAQs

Do I have to use freshly milled flour in this einkorn banana bread recipe?

While it’s a good idea to use fresh milled flour in this freshly milled flour banana bread recipe, it’s not a necessity. I have made this with regular flour (all purpose flour) from the grocery store, freshly milled einkorn, and freshly milled soft white wheat berries. Any of them work perfectly and will make a delicious banana bread. You could also try traditional whole wheat flour as well.

Additionally, they do sell whole wheat einkorn flour or einkorn wheat flour which has less gluten than modern wheat varieties. While this is not as nutrient dense as milling it freshly, it does have a lower gluten content and may be a better option over all purpose flour for those with gluten sensitivities.

The most nutritious way to make this bread is with freshly milled flour because it has the highest nutritional content. But any way you make this will be better than a store bought version, so bake away! Homemade banana bread ALWAYS wins out over the preservative laden variety you buy at the grocery store.

Can I use liquid sweeteners like honey or maple syrup?

There are definitely health benefits to using a less processed sugar in baked goods. While you could substitute something like honey granules or coconut sugar, it is a bit harder to substitute a liquid sweetener because it messes with the amount of liquid in the recipe.

If you decide to use maple syrup or honey, I’d play with it and make a half recipe until you figure it out. Cut back on some of the wet ingredients to compensate for the additional liquid and make sure there’s not too much moisture in the batter.

Variations:

Put a healthy dose of walnuts in the banana bread batter for crunch and Omega 3s for additional health benefits!

Add dark chocolate chips or white chocolate chips for a sweeter treat.

Top the loaves with raw sugar before you put it in the oven to give your einkorn banana bread a bit of a crunch on the top for a great snack!

Turn these into einkorn banana bread muffins by putting into cupcake liners in a muffin tin. Fill 2/3 full and lower the baking time to 18-21 minutes.

Remove 1/4c of flour and 1/4c of butter and replace with sourdough discard or fed sourdough starter for an einkorn sourdough banana bread. It’s even better when you pop the batter in the fridge in the evening and bake it the next day for the added health benefits of fermented sourdough.

Add a streusel topping for an extra decadent freshly milled flour banana bread.

How to ripen bananas for einkorn banana bread

If your bananas don’t have brown spots and aren’t ripe enough for banana bread, they won’t be very sweet. You need to wait until they have black dots all over them – the riper the better! However, if you’re ready to make einkorn banana bread, but your bananas aren’t ready, you can ripen them in the oven!

If you want to try to ripen them in the oven, just pop them into a preheated 300 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. You don’t even need to peel them! Leave them whole and when the skins turn black, you’re ready to go!

Next time you have over-ripe bananas and you’re looking to have a delicious snack or an easy breakfast, this is perfect and will become one of your favorite recipes. With a light crumb, the nutty flavor of whole grains and a rich banana flavor, look no further than this einkorn banana bread with freshly milled flour! THIS is real food! Follow along for more einkorn recipes!

Einkorn Banana Bread Printable Recipe Card

Freshly Milled Flour Banana Bread

This is absolutely the best banana bread I've ever tasted! Light, fluffy, moist, and so delicious!

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Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

Toggle ingredient group

• 600g or 4-5 bananas
• 2 eggs
• 10g or 2t. vanilla
• 2/3c melted butter

Dry Ingredients

Toggle ingredient group

• 170g or 3/4c. brown sugar
• 360g or 3c freshly milled einkorn flour
• 2 pinches of salt
• 8g or 2t. baking soda

Instructions

1. Mash bananas and combine wet ingredients together.

2. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.

3. Put the wet ingredients and dry ingredients together and whisk until just mixed. If you overmix the batter, it develops the gluten and makes it tough. So make sure to stop whisking as soon as it comes together.

4. Prepare 2 loaf pans with nonstick spray. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. The batter needs to sit for 15 minutes minimum in order for the freshly milled einkorn to absorb the liquid and soften the grains and that's why I choose to preheat the oven at this stage of the baking process. Then once it's preheated, the batter had time to sit and it's ready to go in.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

7. Take out of pan and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

The post Easy One Bowl Fresh Milled Einkorn Banana Bread appeared first on Little Reasons.

I am absolutely in love with Auntie Anne’s pretzels, but I don’t often buy them – partly because I never go to the mall, and partly because when I do, I’m too frugal to spend the money. Plus, I am addicted to sourdough!

Enter, copycat Auntie Anne’s sourdough pretzel bites. This easy recipe is simple to make and delicious to eat! The chewy texture and coarse salt is the perfect snack for pretzel lovers like me. Eat the warm pretzels alone, with honey mustard, or with a gooey beer cheese dip. You could even add cinnamon sugar and use this for a cinnamon pretzel bites recipe!

Any way you eat them, you’ll be glad you decided to make these easy homemade soft sourdough pretzel bites!

This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

How to make Sourdough Pretzel Bites:

1. Feed Your Starter

These soft sourdough pretzel nuggets don’t use any instant yeast or commercial yeast, so you’ll begin with a bubbly and active sourdough starter.  If you don’t have a sourdough starter, you’ll want to begin there.  You can click here to get my free checklist and instructions on how to make your very own sourdough starter!  Or, if you know someone who bakes sourdough, you can always ask if they will share some of theirs! While this recipe was adapted from one using commercial yeast, I find that it’s healthier and has a bit of a better flavor with the sourdough.

About 6-8 hours before you want to start mixing the dough for your pretzel bites, you’ll want to feed your sourdough starter with equal parts filtered water and unbleached flour.  Stir it, then leave it on the counter to let it get good and bubbly.

After it has doubled in size, you’re ready to mix your dough!  These soft pretzel bites only take a few ingredients.  

2. Melt the butter and heat the milk

In a small pot on the stove, combine milk and unsalted butter.  Melt the butter and heat until the mixture reaches 110 degrees.  You won’t want it much hotter than that or it can kill the yeast in your dough. You don’t need a fancy thermometer. One like this is inexpensive and works great!

While that is heating, you’ll want to get the other ingredients ready.

 3. Combine with other dough ingredients

In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, add flour (you can use all purpose flour or bread flour), salt, sourdough discard (it should be a fed and bubbly starter), and light brown sugar.  Once the milk and butter mixture reaches 110 degrees, you can add it to the other ingredients and mix.  

Stand mixer:

If you put the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer, you can use the dough hook attachment and turn it on a low speed for 5 minutes to bring it all together.   

By hand:

If you’re using a large bowl, just mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon.   If the flour doesn’t incorporate completely, you may need to get in there with your hands and mix it all up.   You aren’t trying to knead it, it’s just a great way to get all the ingredients integrated.

At this point, you have a pretty wet and shaggy dough. That’s exactly what it’s supposed to be like! You’ll begin to develop structure in the dough during the next phase of stretch and folds. It’s basically the kneading that happens with a sourdough recipe. It’s amazing how it will change in the process.

4.  Stretch and Fold the sourdough pretzel bites dough

Once you reach this point, you’ll want to cover your bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and do 4 sets of stretch and folds over the next two hours.  This process follows exactly what we do on other sourdough recipes like overnight sourdough bread or sourdough rye bread with caraway seeds.  It’s all the same process, just different ingredients!

Every 30 minutes or so, just stretch the dough and fold it over on itself.  Turn the dough ¼ turn and do it again.  You’ll keep doing this 4-8 times total.  As with other stiff doughs, you may need to stretch it with both hands and fold it over and then turn it and do it again.

Can you believe how different this dough looks from the shaggy, wet dough we saw earlier?!

5.  Bulk Fermentation

After you’ve completed the stretch and folds about every 30 minutes for two hours, let it rise in a room temperature location until it has doubled in size. I usually let mine rise overnight or all day long. In this case, I made the dough in the morning and got to this part later in the evening.

6. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees

Once the dough has doubled, move the oven rack to the center of the oven and set the temperature to 450 degrees.

7. Portion out sourdough pretzel bites dough

At this point, your bubbly sourdough pretzel dough can be cut into 12 equal portions.  I usually divide my dough in half, divide each of those halves in half, and then separate those 4 into 3 equal pieces.  If you’re more of a perfectionist, you can weigh your dough, divide that by 12, and then portion each ball out into that amount.  

Roll each of those 12 portions into a long rope, about 20″ long.  You don’t need to measure it! I just wanted to give you a rough estimate. If it’s too sticky, you can sprinkle a little flour to create a lightly floured surface to roll them out on.

8. Baking soda bath

Many recipes for soft pretzels instruct you at this point to drop the sourdough pretzel dough into a large pot of boiling water with baking soda and have you fish them out with a slotted spoon.  That’s not my favorite step in the process, so we are going to dip our sourdough pretzel bites into a warm baking soda water bath.  It will accomplish the same thing, without the extra steps and risk of being burned! Plus it gives the chewy texture that we are looking for in a soft pretzel bite.

Instead of filling a pot of water, mix the baking soda and warm water in a bowl and stir it.  Once the baking soda is all dissolved, drop the sourdough pretzel bite ropes into the baking soda wash and then set them on a cooling rack placed on top of a cooking sheet.  I do this just to let them drip a little bit before I put them on the prepared baking sheet. This gets rid of the excess water from the baking soda bath.

9. Dividing the pretzel dough

Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, divide the rope in half, then each of those halves in half again.  Keep doing this until you end up with 16 rectangular pieces.  

Line a baking tray with a piece of parchment paper and put the pieces of dough in rows, leaving a little bit of room for them to puff up.  You may be able to use cooking spray instead, but I find that parchment paper gives the best results. Sprinkle with coarse pretzel salt. I had a hard time finding this locally, so I ordered it on Amazon. Here’s the link for the one I purchased. But you can top them with flaky sea salt, everything but the bagel seasoning, kosher salt, coarse sea salt, or pretzel salt.

10. Let the dough rest

At this point, some people choose to let the dough rest and get a second rise. I tried it right away and with the second rise, and I didn’t see a noticeable difference, so I’d say skip it! But you can put it in a warm place to allow it to have the dough rise more if you’d like.

11. Bake!

We are so close to being able to eat these soft sourdough pretzels!  Take the large baking sheets and pop them into a 450-degree oven until the sourdough pretzel bites are golden brown.  This usually takes about 9 minutes.

12. Brush sourdough pretzel bites with melted butter

This is the best part!  Brush the sourdough pretzel bites with a little bit of melted butter before serving and they are pure heaven! I use a pastry brush and melted unsalted butter in a small bowl.

Serve alone, or with cheese sauce, or your favorite dips!

Timeline:

I usually feed my starter in the morning, make my dough a couple of hours before bed and let it rise all night long.  Then the next day it’s ready to go!  

As an alternate timetable, I feed my starter the night before, make the dough in the morning, let it rise throughout the day, and then make pretzels in the afternoon/evening.

How to store sourdough pretzel nuggets:

These are very easy to store!  Place them in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag and they will last a few days at room temperature.  Or, you can put them into a zip top freezer bag and put them in the freezer for later.   Make sure to remove as much of the air as you can so they will last longer. 

I did try to store them in a paper bag, and that worked well too! I probably would not store them that way for longer than 24 hours, or they will get dried out.

Originally, I thought they’d be better stored in a paper bag, like many people store bread. But I couldn’t taste a noticeable difference between the two storage ways when I tried them the next morning.

FAQs

Can I make these into traditional pretzels?

Yes! Instead of cutting them into bites, take each piece of dough, roll it into a long rope, and then shape into a pretzel shape. Pinch the ends down and dip the pretzel into the baking soda solution. Follow instructions from there.

How to reheat sourdough pretzel bites

Oven:

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Heat sourdough pretzel bites on a cookie sheet in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Air Fryer:

Pop sourdough pretzel bites into cold air fryer and heat at 300 degrees for 5 minutes.

Can I make sourdough pretzel bites with sourdough discard?

Sure you can!   The biggest difference with sourdough discard is that it’s been dormant for a little while in the fridge.   Because of that, it may take longer to rise.  However, I have made these with bubbly active starter, and with sourdough discard and this soft sourdough pretzel recipe turns out great either way!  I think it’s best when you use sourdough discard that has been fed recently. That’s the best way to make sure it’s hungry and will rise for you! I guess I could have called them sourdough discard pretzel bites instead!!

Check out my other sourdough discard recipes:

Sourdough discard pancakes

Overnight sourdough chocolate chip cookies

Pumpkin sourdough waffles

Other variations:

Cinnamon pretzel bites:

Follow the steps outlined above but omit sprinkling with salt.  When they come out of the oven, brush them with butter and shake them in a paper bag with cinnamon sugar.  It’s a sweet treat you’ll love!

Sourdough pretzel sticks:

Cut each rope into quarters and score with a sharp knife, lame, or a flat razor blade before putting it into the oven.  It makes the most adorable soft pretzel sticks!

Sourdough Pretzel Bites

Yield: 16 dozen pretzel bites

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Total Time: 9 minutes

Who doesn’t love sourdough pretzel bites?! And when they are a copycat of Auntie Anne’s recipe, they’re even better!

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Ingredients

• 2c. milk
• 4T. butter
• 100g. brown sugar
• 420g. sourdough starter
• 750g. all purpose or bread flour
• 14g. salt

Baking Soda Dip

Toggle ingredient group

• 1/3c. baking soda
• 3c. warm water

Brush with Butter

Toggle ingredient group

• 6T. melted butter

Instructions

1. Feed Your Starter
These soft sourdough pretzel nuggets don’t use any instant yeast, so you’ll begin with a bubbly and active sourdough starter. If you don’t have a sourdough starter, you’ll want to begin there. Make your very own sourdough starter, or if you know someone who bakes sourdough, you can always ask if they will share some of theirs!
About 6-8 hours before you want to start mixing the dough for your pretzel bites, you’ll want to feed your sourdough starter with equal parts filtered water and unbleached flour. Stir it, then leave it on the counter to let it get good and bubbly.
After it has doubled in size, you’re ready to mix your dough! These soft pretzel bites only take a few ingredients.

2. Melt the butter and heat the milk
In a small pot on the stove, combine milk and butter. Melt the butter and heat until the mixture reaches 110 degrees. You won’t want it much hotter than that or it can kill the yeast in your dough.
While that is heating, you’ll want to get the other ingredients ready.
3. Combine with other dough ingredients
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, add flour (you can use all purpose flour or bread flour), salt, sourdough discard, and light brown sugar. Once the milk and butter mixture reaches 110 degrees, you can add it to the other ingredients and mix.

Stand mixer:
If you put the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer, you can use the dough hook attachment and turn it on low for 5 minutes to bring it all together.
By hand:
If you’re using a large bowl, just mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon. If the flour doesn’t incorporate completely, you may need to get in there with your hands and mix it all up. You aren’t trying to knead it, it’s just a great way to get all the ingredients integrated.

At this point, you have a pretty wet and shaggy dough. That’s exactly what it’s supposed to be like! You’ll begin to develop structure in the dough during the next phase of stretch and folds. It’s basically the kneading that happens with a sourdough recipe. It’s amazing how it will change in the process.
4. Stretch and Fold the sourdough pretzel bites dough
Once you reach this point, you’ll want to cover your bowl with plastic wrap and do 4 sets of stretch and folds over the next two hours. This process follows exactly what we do on other sourdough recipes like overnight sourdough bread or sourdough rye bread with caraway seeds. It’s all the same process, just different ingredients!
Every 30 minutes or so, just stretch the dough and fold it over on itself. Turn the dough ¼ turn and do it again. You’ll keep doing this 4-8 times total. As with other stiff doughs, you may need to stretch it with both hands and fold it over and then turn it and do it again.
5. Let the dough rise
After you’ve completed the stretch and folds about every 30 minutes for two hours, let it rise in a room temperature location until it has doubled in size. I usually let mine rise overnight or all day long. In this case, I made the dough in the morning and got to this part later in the evening.

6. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
Once the dough has doubled, move the oven rack to the center of the oven and set the temperature to 450 degrees.
7. Portion out sourdough pretzel bites dough
At this point, your bubbly sourdough pretzel dough can be cut into 12 equal portions. I usually divide my dough in half, divide each of those halves in half, and then separate those 4 into 3 equal pieces. If you’re more of a perfectionist, you can weigh your dough, divide that by 12, and then portion each ball out into that amount.

Roll each of those 12 portions into a long snake, about 20″ long. You don’t need to measure it! I just wanted to give you a rough estimate.

8. Soda bath
Mix the baking soda and warm water in a bowl and stir it. Once the baking soda is all dissolved, drop the sourdough pretzel bite snakes into the water and then set them on a cooling rack placed on top of a cooking sheet. I do this just to let them drip a little bit before I put them on the prepared baking sheet.
Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, divide the rope in half, then each of those halves in half again. Keep doing this until you end up with 16 rectangular pieces.
Line a baking tray with a piece of parchment paper and put the pieces of dough in rows, leaving a little bit of room for them to puff up. Sprinkle with coarse pretzel salt.

9. Bake!
Take the cookie sheet and pop it into a 450-degree oven until the sourdough pretzel bites are golden brown. This usually takes about 9 minutes.
10. Brush sourdough pretzel bites with melted butter
This is the best part! Brush the sourdough pretzel bites with a little bit of melted butter before serving and they are pure heaven!

Notes

How to reheat sourdough pretzel bites

Oven:

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Heat sourdough pretzel bites on a cookie sheet in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Air Fryer:

Pop sourdough pretzel bites into cold air fryer and heat at 300 degrees for 5 minutes.

Other variations:

Cinnamon pretzel bites:

Follow the steps outlined above but omit sprinkling with salt. When they come out of the oven, brush them with butter and shake them in a paper bag with cinnamon sugar. It’s a sweet treat you’ll love!

Sourdough pretzel sticks:

Cut each rope into quarters and score with a sharp knife, lame, or a flat razor blade before putting it into the oven. It makes the most adorable soft pretzel sticks!

I hope you love these sourdough pretzel bites! I’m experimenting with all sorts of new recipes like sourdough bagels, sourdough crackers, and sourdough English muffins…  But until I get those perfect, check out some of my other delicious recipes below!

Pin for Later!

The post How to Make Easy Homemade Sourdough Pretzel Bites appeared first on Little Reasons.

I love to make grazing boards. I’m kind of known for them. Maybe it’s because I serve them a lot. Or maybe it’s because whenever I make one, I can’t help but snap a photo because they are SO BEAUTIFUL! Either way, I’m sort of the charcuterie queen in my area.

The thing is, once you’ve made something enough times, you sort of get sick of it. While other people are impressed with the grazing board, I get plain bored with them.

Last winter, we co-hosted a wine and cheese night at our friend’s tiny barn where they had an ice skating rink. It was so fun! It seems that charcuterie and skating are the perfect combination!

There were about 25-30 people there, and I went all out with the boards. I wanted unique charcuterie board ideas so that I didn’t get bored with the process. So, I came up with a couple ideas that I’ll share with you here.

As a side note, if you’d like to hear tips on how to create grazing boards for a crowd, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned over the years! Just comment and let me know!

Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella – Unique Charcuterie Board Idea #1

This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

Prep them in advance

These were super easy to make in advance, which is a huge plus for me! Begin by cutting the mozzarella into 1/2″ chunks. Then cut the prosciutto slices into half. After that, cut each half into thirds so that each long slice made 6 strips.

Wrap each strip around a chunk of mozzarella and secure it with a toothpick. After they are secured, you can either use them immediately, or just put them all into an airtight container for a day or two.

When you’re ready to serve, put them in a dish

Once you’re ready to put them onto your charcuterie board, place the prosciutto wrapped mozzarella chunks in little dishes. I used low 1″ tart pan type dishes that I’ve found over the years. They are just like the ones you’d use to make creme brûlée – here’s an example of them. These would be equally as cute if you had a little plate with edges that curved up, or tiny pie plates.

Drizzle with chili oil

Next, drizzle them with chili oil. The chili oil was made by steeping 1 cup olive oil with 2 Tablespoons of Korean Chili Flakes in a pot on low for about 15 min. Don’t let it boil. Just let the oil get nice and warm. After it has steeped in the chili flakes, put it in a mason jar and pop it in the fridge and pour it over everything!!

I think you can also buy chili oil like this one – but it looks quite a bit chunkier than mine so it might not drizzle well without adding a little more oil to it.

Sadly resign yourself to the fact that there will be no leftovers

These were a huge hit and not a single one was left! Since they have a toothpick to secure them, it makes them super easy to eat. The bonus is that people can grab them by the toothpick and swirl them around in the chili oil to make sure they are good and covered in the yummy, slightly spicy oil.

Honey Whipped Goat Cheese – Unique Charcuterie Board Idea #2

I love goat cheese. One of my favorite cheese board regulars is goat cheese and strawberries on sweet Meyer Lemon Cookies. Or goat cheese and lemon curd with fresh blackberries.

Unfortunately, I find that sometimes people are a little weird about goat cheese?! Maybe it’s because it’s a bit crumbly? However, if you whip it up with honey and a drizzle of olive oil and a little cream cheese…people LOVE it!

Whip the honey goat cheese, cream cheese, and olive oil

This is such an easy one to prep in advance as well! To make this super easy, I’m using the goat cheese that’s already infused with honey.

If you can only find regular goat cheese, that’s fine too! Just add a couple more tablespoons of honey to the mix and it will bring out all that sweet honey flavor!

Add a 4oz. package of honey goat cheese, along with 2oz. cream cheese and 1T. olive oil to a bowl and mix it with a hand mixer.

After you mix that, add 1-2T. of honey and continue to use the hand mixer to whip air into the mixture.

Put it in a small dish

After you whip it up, put it in a small dish, cover, and refrigerate until it’s time to serve. You can use it right away, or you can make it in advance to save time before the actual event.

(I didn’t take good pictures while I was making it originally, so this bowl is different than the one I used in the after photos!)

When you’re ready to serve your honey whipped goat cheese, drizzle a little more honey on top and add a cute spoon – these are the ones I use – and tuck it onto your charcuterie board. Make sure you have some strawberries and blackberries and blueberries around it. They all go perfectly with the sweet and tangy honey whipped goat cheese!

Give your guests directions

I usually give my guests recommendations. Especially if they have never tried some of the items on the board, they tend to stick with what they know. However, when you say, “I love the honey whipped goat cheese on the Meyer Lemon Cookie with a chunk of strawberry on top” they will normally give it a try.

Other Unique Charcuterie Board Ideas

Homemade Ranch

In the photo above, you can see that in the center of the board, I put a tiny trifle dish of homemade ranch. This was a surprise winner! I had multiple people ask for the recipe and they LOVED having the veggies available on the board.

I tucked carrots, celery, radishes, and cucumbers throughout the cheese boards and it was a total hit. I’ll have to make a blog post about my ranch recipe. It’s SOOOOO good!

Chocolate Covered Goodies

Because this was a wintertime party, I went with a winter theme on the chocolate covered goodies. I covered mint Joe Joe’s from Trader Joes (but Oreos would be great), pretzels, and strawberries.

I sprinkled them throughout the boards to fill in gaps, and I had a little dish of them on a side table too. It wasn’t a surprise that there were none left over!

Salty and Spicy Treats

I always add in salty treats – I love the everything nuts from Trader Joes, or salted Marcona almonds. On this night, I put tiny bowls of buffalo seasoned pretzels. I got the recipe from Foodal.com and it was great!

I think it’s a good idea to always be adding little surprises to your grazing boards. It changes them up and keeps them from getting boring.

What unique charcuterie board ideas do you have? I’d love to hear them to add variety to my cheese boards!

Unique Charcuterie Board Ideas

These two recipes add so much diversity to your grazing boards!

Chili Oil

• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons Korean Chili Flakes

Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella

• 8 oz Fresh Mozerella
• Small Package Prosciutto

Honey Whipped Goat Cheese

• 4 oz honey goat cheese
• 2 oz cream cheese
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1-2 Tablespoons honey + more for drizzling on top

Make Chili Oil for Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella

1. Add 2T. of Korean chili flakes to 1c. olive oil and heat on low for 15 minutes to allow flavors to infuse. DO NOT BOIL. Remove from heat. Cool. Store in airtight glass jar in the refrigerator. Drizzle over anything!!

Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella

1. Cut mozzarella into 1/2" chunks.

2. Cut prosciutto in half. Then cut each of the halves into thirds so one slice is 6 strips.

3. Wrap a strip around the mozzarella chunk and secure with a toothpick. At this point, you can put them in an airtight container for later, or serve immediately.

4. Place in low serving dish and drizzle with a few Tablespoons of the chili oil before serving.

Honey Whipped Goat Cheese

1. Combine 4oz. goat cheese, 2 oz. cream cheese and 1T. olive oil in bowl. Mix with hand mixer until combined.

2. Add 1-2T honey and mix with hand mixer until smooth and creamy. I let it go for a little while to whip air into it. At this point, you can store in an airtight container for later, or serve immediately.

3. Put in small dish and drizzle with additional honey. Serve on charcuterie board with fruits and meats and crackers.

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When I was a little girl, I distinctly remember hearing my dad in the kitchen, shaking the pot on the stove. Multiple nights every week, he would make a lot of popcorn and bring it out in our huge silver bowl. The 7 of us would eat it in front of the TV during movie night or while we watched Love Boat or some other late 80s show. Those memories take me back to my childhood.

When I first became a grownup, I made store-bought microwave popcorn often. It seemed like the next iteration of popcorn. Who needed to make it in a pot anymore?

But over time, I became more health conscious. One day, my attorney friend was telling me about a class action lawsuit he was working on – gobs of people were suing the microwave popcorn companies for developing cancer after years of sniffing the fumes from ubiquitous bags of microwave popcorn right after tearing open the top of the bag. What?! Honestly, I’m not sure how that lawsuit ended up, but it freaked me out!

It was definitely time for me to go back to my roots!

Why is homemade popcorn healthier?

One of the things I try to do in my family is to make real food. That means as much as I can, I start with the whole food and go from there. In my recipe, I use coconut oil, sea salt, and a cup of popcorn kernels. Compare that with the laundry list of ingredients on the back of a bag of the microwave popcorn of your choice. I bet you can’t pronounce half of those ingredients!

Try to google the phrase “is microwave popcorn bad for you?” You will be amazed at the articles that come up. There’s a plethora of information showing that all the weird ingredients, paired with chemicals within the packaging like perfluorooctanoic acid (or PFOA) are a health nightmare.

Homemade popcorn is made with simple ingredients that are a healthy way to snack, and popcorn itself is a whole grain. There’s a huge benefit of this route. It’s amazing that just 2 ingredients, plus this humble corn kernel can make the most amazing transformation and turn into an amazing snack!! And they all can be found in your kitchen cupboard!

You can even make your own popcorn in different ways with a variety of techniques. I find the best way to be on the stovetop, but that’s not the only way. You can also make it in an air popper, or even with homemade microwave popcorn in a brown paper bag. The best part is that you don’t even need to be skilled in culinary arts to make a huge bowl of popcorn!

Does homemade popcorn taste better?

This question is pretty subjective and a matter of opinion. There’s something about store-bought microwave popcorn that leaves a really weird congealed oil coating on the inside of my mouth. I don’t exactly know what it is, but it is definitely off putting and one of the things I hate about microwave popcorn. So for me, I’d definitely say yes!

If I go by responses to my fresh popcorn, I’d say it’s a resounding YES that homemade tastes better. Not only are people often commenting on how amazing it is, but I’ve had multiple people text me to ask how I make my popcorn after their children have had it at my house. To me, that is the best part. If teenagers prefer it, it’s a win!

I do notice that processed food tastes very different as I move more and more of our diet to real, whole food. I now would not even prefer to pop microwave popcorn because it is SO salty and tastes super artificial.

So….ditch those popcorn bags and try stovetop popcorn and judge for yourself! I think you’ll love it.

How to make homemade popcorn without a microwave:

1. Add 2T of coconut oil and 3 unpopped kernels into a large, heavy bottomed pot in a single layer. You can also substitute a light tasting olive oil, vegetable oil, or canola oil in the bottom of the pan. However if you’re trying to avoid seed oils, I’d stick with coconut oil or olive oil). When I was growing up my dad used butter and a little oil and it was amazing.
2. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and heat until you hear all 3 kernels pop.
3. Uncover and quickly add a cup of kernels (1 cup of popcorn kernels), and 1 1/2t. of pink Himalayan sea salt (preferably ground in a blender)
4. Shake lidded pan every 15-30 seconds. Some people want to stir with a wooden spoon, but I think that’s pretty dangerous since the kernels like a hard little pebble could pop at you. So just shake the covered pan.
5. In between shakes, tip lid SLIGHTLY to let out a little steam. Do not make this large enough for popcorn kernels to jump out like tiny projectiles!
6. When you hear the popping sounds slow to 1-2 seconds or 2-3 seconds between the last kernel popping, take off heat and pour into a large serving bowl!
7. Enjoy!!

Total Time: just a few minutes!

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Step by step instructions on how to make homemade popcorn without a microwave:

It will shock you to see how easy this is! Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients:

Popcorn – I love Jolly Time Popcorn because almost always completely pops, without leaving kernels at the bottom

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt – I put mine in a blender so it’s more like popcorn salt

Coconut oil –I use this one from Costco

Instructions:

Begin by choosing a large pot with a tight fitting lid. I use my big soup pot and it’s probably around 6-8 quarts. It’s also important to gather all your ingredients and your large bowl to pour the completed popcorn into. The process is really fast once you start!

To get the oil to temperature, put 2T of coconut oil in the pot with 3 popcorn kernels. Put the lid on and put it on medium-high heat.

Once you hear the 3 kernels pop, quickly take off the lid, add a cup of popcorn kernels in a single layer and 1 1/2t. salt and put the lid back on and shake the pot from side to side.

For the next few minutes, keep the pot on medium heat or medium-high heat. Shake the pot side to side every 15-30 seconds or so. In between shakes, tilt the lid so it is a tiny bit ajar, allowing the steam to escape. This part is really important because it makes your popcorn crispy, instead of chewy!

Once you hear the pops diminish to about 1-3 seconds between them, carefully pour the popcorn into the large serving bowl. You’ll want to do this quickly so the popcorn on the bottom doesn’t keep cooking and burn or set off the smoke alarm! Be careful and keep you face away so that if there are still unpopped popcorn kernels, they won’t pop in your face like tiny projectiles.

And that’s it! Even my 12 year old can easily whip out a batch! Don’t be jealous of his blue on blue, pattern on pattern look! 🙂

How do I make popcorn salt?

Making popcorn salt is essentially just making powdered salt! I take about 1c of our regular Himalayan sea salt and put it in the Vitamix. Any blender would work for this. Just blend it up for a few seconds until it looks powdered like the one below. This sticks SO well to the popcorn and makes it so you don’t need butter to adhere the salt.

Do I have to use coconut oil?

No, you don’t! I grew up making this with vegetable oil and a little melted butter. People also make it with canola oil. I do try to avoid seed oils as much as I can, so I think a better alternative would be a light tasting olive oil.

I absolutely LOVE making this with Ghee! It gives it such a buttery flavor. Ghee is butter with the milk solids taken out. The milk solids burn and make it so that butter cannot be heated to a high temperature. By taking those out, you can maintain the buttery flavor but still have a high smoke point, making it perfect for homemade popcorn.

Another one I absolutely LOVE is Red Palm Oil. Using this actually gives it the yellowish color and buttery flavor that you’re used to with microwave popcorn.

I always have coconut oil and rarely have ghee or red palm oil laying around, so that’s why I recommend coconut oil. It’s much more accessible and easily found in the grocery store. Plus it’s SO good!

Tips and tricks on how to make popcorn without a microwave:

*If you use a cast iron dutch oven to make the popcorn, once the oil is heated up, you’ll want to reduce to medium-high heat. Cast iron holds SO much heat, so you could easily burn the popcorn by keeping it at a medium-high burner.

*Mushroom popcorn is super fun and makes a huge puff without an enormous hull. This is especially good if you’re going to be making crunchy caramel popcorn or this amazing caramel corn that is soft and gooey!

*We use an enormous bowl to put our popcorn in. If you don’t want to make as much as we have here, you can easily cut the recipe in half!

*We often take this as a snack when we go places. People love it and it’s a wonderful alternative to to chips and all the other processed crackers and salty treats.

*Put your Himalayan sea salt in a blender and let it go for 10-30 seconds. You’ll powder it and that’s essentially popcorn salt! It makes the salt stick to the popcorn so much easier!

More tips:

*Make sure you add the salt when you add the kernels. Alton Brown says that adding it at this point allows the kernels to pop around the salt, trapping the salt inside the kernels. That way you don’t need to add any additional butter in order to get the salt to stick to the kernels. It works perfectly!

*If you make too much popcorn, just store the extra popcorn at room temperature inside an airtight container, and you can enjoy it for days!

*You can use melted butter, cooking spray, or even sprinkle nutritional yeast or your favorite toppings or favorite seasonings like old bay seasoning, truffle salt, or cheddar cheese powder as a fun topping!

*Snack mix idea: Toss your popcorn with pretzels, nuts, or even chocolate chips for a yummy sweet and salty mix.

*Try a sweet treat by making popcorn balls with your homemade popcorn.

I hope you try it out!! If you do, let me know what you think!

How to Make Popcorn Without a Microwave

Learn how to make popcorn without a microwave. Not only is it simple, but it tastes better, and it's a healthy snack with whole grain!

Print

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 cup popcorn kernels
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt (blend a larger batch in a blender and keep it on hand - this is popcorn salt)

Instructions

1. Begin by choosing a large pot with a lid. I use my big soup pot and it’s probably around 6-8 quarts. It’s also important to gather all your ingredients and your large bowl to pour it into. The process is really fast once you start!


2. To get the oil to temperature, put 2T of coconut oil in the pot with 3 popcorn kernels. Put the lid on and put it on pretty high heat.


3. Once you hear the 3 kernels pop, quickly take off the lid, add the 1c. of popcorn and 1 1/2t. salt and put the lid back on and shake the pot from side to side. You can also lower the heat at this point - especially if you're using a cast iron pot.


4. For the next few minutes, shake the pot side to side every 15-30 seconds or so.
In between shakes, tilt the lid so it is a tiny bit ajar, allowing the steam to escape. This part is really important because it makes your popcorn crispy, instead of chewy!


5. Once you hear the pops diminish to about 1-2 seconds or 2-3 seconds between them, carefully pour the popcorn into the large serving bowl. You’ll want to do this quickly so the popcorn on the bottom doesn’t keep cooking and burn. Be careful and keep you face away so that if there are still unpopped ones, they won’t pop in your face.

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I grew up on homemade trail mix.  Usually it consisted of peanuts, raisins, and chocolate chips and it was such a treat.  This is my grown up, sort of healthified version of trail mix.  I originally found the recipe on Food Network and changed it up a tiny bit.

Start with raw almonds, raw pepitas, and maple syrup.

Chop the almonds — or you could use slivered or sliced almonds.

Add pepitas and toss with real maple syrup — not the kind you find on the table at a diner.  The real stuff.  I was using grade B, but either grade A or B would work fine.  I usually buy mine once a year by the gallon in Amish Country for about $40/gallon.  However you decide to buy it, make sure you keep it refrigerated once it’s open.  It’s not fun to open up a gallon of syrup and realize you forgot to refrigerate it.  Trust me.

Toss until completely coated.

Put it on a greased pan (or use a silicone mat or parchment paper).

Sprinkle it with sea salt.  I used this much.  I like the sweet/salty combo, so I used quite a bit.  Additionally, since I used raw pepitas and raw almonds, it has no other salt.

Bake it at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Let it cool, then add the dried cherries and toss.

I love this just how it is, but I had it on plain greek yogurt yesterday, drizzled with honey and it was absolutely amazing.  Next time you need an afternoon pick me up, pick some of this up instead of a candy bar or some other chocolatey badness!

[ultimate-recipe id=”2727″]

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There are times when I want to give a simple, inexpensive gift that will taste good days later.  My normal carmel corn recipe is amazing, but it’s really only great the day you make it.  I had a friend give me this popcorn in an adorable tiny paint can as a gift about 8 years ago and I’ve never forgotten that crunchy, carmel corn.  So when my kids asked for crispy carmel corn a few weeks ago, I knew just what to make!

Pop 1 1/2c. of popcorn kernels – It will make a huge bowl of popcorn!  I usually split it into two large mixing bowls so I can coat it with carmel easier.  Otherwise, I can’t quite figure out how to cover it all!

Make the syrup in a pot that is quite a bit larger than the ingredients you add.  Mine was too small and by the time it boiled and foamed up, I almost had an overflow!

For the Syrup:

In a pot, bring the following ingredients to a boil and boil gently for 5 minutes, stirring constantly:

1c. butter

1/2c. corn syrup

2c. brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar because it’s all I had on hand.  If you use regular brown sugar, it will look lighter than the finished popcorn in my pictures due to the difference in color of the brown sugar)

dash of salt

After it boils for 5min, remove from heat and add:

1/4t. baking soda

dash of cream of tarter

These will make it foam up and lighten in color a little.

Slowly pour on popped popcorn and stir until well coated.  You can also add peanuts at this point.  Spread it onto greased baking sheets (I lined mine with a Silpat for easy cleanup – you could also use parchment paper).  Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes.

Let it cool slightly and serve.  This popcorn is amazing the next day!  It seems like it gets cruncher and crispier.  Just make sure to store it in an airtight container.

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I used to buy jarred salsa all the time. I even switched to the refrigerated kind and that was definitely an improvement! But nothing has changed my salsa like making my own. Now, my guests rave about my salsa.

When I began making salsa, I thought it had to be made with fresh tomatoes. This totally limited my ability to make salsa for a couple reasons.

1. It’s super time consuming to chop all those tomatoes into super tiny pieces
2. I live in Ohio and finding flavorful tomatoes in the dead of winter is near impossible

So I trusted my dad and used his recipe for salsa. It called for canned tomatoes and I was very skeptical. It tastes EXACTLY like the salsa you’d get in a Mexican restaurant in Southern California — where all the best Mexican food is found?!

How to make authentic tasting Vitamix salsa

Ingredients:

28oz. canned stewed tomatoes, drained – do not use the kind that is pre seasoned!

14.5oz. can of Rotel tomatoes, drained

1 onion, diced (I prefer vadalia because they are so sweet and delicious! But a regular white or yellow onion works fine)

1 fresh jalapeño (I remove half the seeds and it’s about medium heat but you can keep all the seeds in or take them all out)

1T. oil

1/3 of a bunch of cilantro, finely chopped

1T. vinegar

1/2t. oregano

1T. lime juice

1 clove of garlic, minced

Add salt to taste – Make sure you taste it with a chip because they are salted.  So if you add too much salt and then dip a salty chip in it, you’re toast!

Instructions for Vitamix salsa:

I always dice up the jalapeños, onions, garlic and cilantro in advance. A food processor does not always do a great job finely dicing veggies, and nobody wants a huge hunk of garlic or chunk of onion in their salsa. So I dice it first, then add those to the bottom, put the tomatoes in next, and finish it off with the last ingredients.

Pulse this in a food processor a few times, until it all comes together. I’ve also made this in my Vitamix as well. I find that I’m not as successful as with a food processor because I’ve ended up with salsa soup by allowing it go to too fast! But as long as you put the veggies on bottom and tomatoes next and then go on a very low speed, you should be fine.

As with all the best dips, this is best after it sits for a little bit, but I normally make it right before I need it.  Yup, I’m a procrastinator!

I love this delicious salsa paired with tacos, nachos, burrito bowls, or my black bean burgers!

So impress your guests and serve homemade salsa.  Everyone will be glad you did!

Low carb options to pair with authentic tasting Vitamix salsa:

Oh, and if you’re looking for a low carb option, don’t rule this out!  There’s no sugar in this recipe, and you can serve it with some delicious low carb chips.  

I’m working toward being a Trim Healthy Mama, so when I eat this on chips, I just take my Joseph’s lavash and spray it with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and broil for just a min or two.  Don’t actually do it for two minutes without checking on it or it will look like this.

I put it in for a minute, flip them and then put it in until I see them get golden.  Pull them out quickly and you’ll have this!  It’s a perfect low carb, Trim Healthy Mama Superbowl snack!

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Fast & Easy Authentic Southern California Salsa

What is a Superbowl Party without salsa?  Salsa from a jar is ok, but using your own fresh ingredients really kicks up the freshness, the flavor profile, and impresses your guests!  So here's the salsa recipe that's passed on through my family in Southern California.  It's authentic! 

• 28 oz. canned stewed tomatoes (drained – do not use the kind that is pre seasoned!)
• 14.5 oz. can of Rotel tomatoes (drained)
• 1 onion (diced (I prefer vadalia because they are so sweet and delicious! But a regular white or yellow onion works fine))
• 1 fresh jalapeño (I remove half the seeds and it’s about medium heat but you can keep all the seeds in or take them all out)
• 1 T. oil
• 1/3 of a bunch of cilantro (finely chopped)
• 1 T. vinegar
• 1/2 t. oregano
• 1 T. lime juice
• 1 clove of garlic (minced)
• Add salt to taste – Make sure you taste it with a chip because they are salted. So if you add too much salt and then dip a salty chip in it (you’re toast!)

1. I always dice up the jalapeños, onions, garlic and cilantro in advance. A food processor does not always do a great job finely dicing veggies, and nobody wants a huge hunk of garlic or chunk of onion in their salsa. So I dice it first, then add those to the bottom, put the tomatoes in next, and finish it off with the last ingredients. 

2. Pulse this in a food processor a few times, until it all comes together. I've also made this in my Vitamix as well. I find that I'm not as successful as with a food processor because I've ended up with salsa soup by allowing it go to too fast! But as long as you put the veggies on bottom and tomatoes next and then go on a very low speed, you should be fine. 

3. As with all the best dips, this is best after it sits for a little bit, but I normally make it right before I need it.  Yup, I'm a procrastinator!

The post How to Make Vitamix Salsa (so fast & easy) appeared first on Little Reasons.

First, pop some corn.  You can make two bags of microwave popcorn or you can pop it in a pot like I do.  I love to use coconut oil to pop mine, especially for a sweet popcorn.  You need about 8 cups popped, although I do not measure mine. I just wing it and it always turns out delicious.  After it’s popped, put it in a very large bowl.  I like the salty/sweet combo, so I always salt mine at this point.  Just a word of wisdom…when you are pouring it into the large bowl, try to take out any kernels.  I am not responsible for your crown cracking when you accidentally bite into a mouthful of carmel corn that still has one of those pesky guys in it!

Now in a pot, warm

-10 large marshmallows or 100 mini marshmallows

-1 stick butter

-3/4c. brown sugar

Don’t let it heat too much or the sugar makes weird crunchy crystals.  Just warm it up and melt the marshmallows.

Once you have that all melty, use one hand to stir the popcorn and the other to slowly drizzle the carmel over it.  I normally enlist my hubby’s help because I’m a bit of a perfectionist and can’t stand popcorn that’s unevenly coated!  I know you’re going to want to dig in right away, but have you ever burned yourself on a toasted marshmallow at a campfire?  Yeah, it stinks.  That’s what this is like if you try to eat it immediately.  So let it sit for a minute, get into some jammies, turn on your favorite movie, and THEN dig in!

The post Show your family some love with this amazing carmel corn! appeared first on Little Reasons.

I love cocoa almonds.  You know, those kind you buy for a snack at Target because you’re starving and they seem sort of healthy?  My husband always gets annoyed with me when I open food in the store to feed my ravenous kids (or myself!).  But I justify it by saying that I end up saving us so much money by not shopping while I’m hungry, right?!  I digress.  So those cocoa almonds are completely addicting.  I was looking in my cupboards today and realized that I have cocoa.  I have almonds.  I have honey.  I bet I could make some.  So, after searching Pinterest for way too long and pouring over everyone’s version of these crunchy treats, I decided to combine them all and here’s what I came up with!

Cocoa Almonds

3c. raw almonds

2-3T. honey

4T. cocoa powder, divided

2T. powdered sugar

Drizzle honey over almonds – actually I estimated 2-3T.  I didn’t measure.  So just use about this much.

Toss the almonds in the honey until they are evenly coated.

Sprinkle cocoa powder on top and stir until it coats the almonds. Just a disclaimer…I used black coca powder. I buy it through frontier co-op.  It’s awesome in chocolate cakes and brownies.  But I don’t know if I’d use it again for this.  It was a bit too black for my liking.

Spread nuts on a half sheet pan coated with cooking spray, a silicone baking mat or parchment paper (NOT wax paper.  Looks similar, but it’s not the same thing!)  Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  Take them out of the oven and let them cool for 5-10 min, until you are able to handle them.  Toss in a paper bag with about 2T. cocoa powder.  I did mine in groups.  I added about a cup of almonds, tossed them in the bag, added another cup right on top, tossed and the put final cup.  So they end up all being in the bag together.  That way they didn’t stick together.  Make sense?

They were so beautiful and velvety and chocolatey!

These were really good, but they weren’t sweet like the ones I remember buying.  So to fix that, my hubby suggested that I toss them back in the bag with a little powdered sugar.  Brilliant!  They were perfect!

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