Yesterday I found myself in a minivan loaded with adults headed to Pigeon Forge for lunch and go-karts.
My husband's boss ok'd him taking the supervisors he manages on an out of town team-building off site to Pigeon Forge and I managed to finagle myself an invite. I tagged along, keeping my nose in a Sunset magazine during the "work half" of their day as they talked about business stuff, then enjoyed myself and my child-free time in the afternoon after their work day was officially adjourned. Gotta say- definitely better than staying home and cleaning the house!
Anyway, when they found out I was tagging along, the first thing- I'm told- my husband's coworkers asked about was snacks. I have a bit of a reputation for providing good ones!
So, I've been doing this low carb thing for quite awhile now, right?
I'm cool with that. But I LOVE to cook- especially the bad-for-you stuff.
I decided on a snack mix I stumbled across called Toasty Sweet Coconutty Graham Chex Mix®.
Other than halving the recipe (because it made a MASSIVE amount) and adding a little sea salt, vanilla, and almond extract I left it alone...taste was great, consistency was horrible. Tacky, chewy, thoroughly unpleasant- but I was determined to save it.
I noticed that the coating on the snack mix was almost identical to that of caramel corn, something I have quite a bit of experience with at this point. I decided to take that tacky, chewy mess and toss it in the oven in low-ish heat for an hour, just like I would with caramel corn- absolute perfection.
Not going to lie- I went so far off of the low carb bandwagon last night that I threw in the towel and went out for sushi for dinner too.
I regret nothing!
Anyway, this snack mix (and the sushi, now that I think about it) was well worth every last carb.
Rice Chex, Golden Grahams, Toasted Coconut, Slivered Almonds, and light candy coating to tie it all together.
Oh. My. Goodness.
This stuff is PHENOMENAL.
You won't regret eating it any more than I do! This is seriously the most amazing snack mix I've ever eaten and...dare I say it...I think it might be even better with brown sugar. Now...I'm off to the kitchen for another hand full!
1 (14 ounce) package sweetened shredded coconut
6 oz slivered almonds
7 oz Rice Chex®
6 oz Golden Grahams®
1 C white sugar
1 C corn syrup
3/4 C butter
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Spread coconut and almonds out on a baking sheet. Bake coconut and almonds in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the coconut is golden brown, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 255 degrees F. Combine coconut, almonds, rice cereal squares, and honey graham cereal together in a large bowl.
4. Bring white sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, allow to boil for 5 minutes stirring often. Add baking soda, vanilla, and almond extract to sugar mixture.
5. Pour sugar mixture over cereal mixture and stir until well coated. Transfer to roasting pan and allow to bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Allow to cool in single layer on wax paper-lined countertop. Store in airtight container.
I'm making THIS!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's so good!!
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