Last week I talked about tasting honey. In my opinion, honey can be overpowering – rich, sweet, even palpitation-inducing – on its own and tastes best in combination with more savory ingredients…like tea, or nuts, or meat.
The very different flavors balance and enhance each other.
And, honey is a great binding agent for pulling together tiny ingredients.
That’s why I love to use honey in seed snacks.
How to Make Power Snacks
Power snacks are straightforward. No need for fancy equipment or culinary skill; just a bowl, a spoon, and a baking pan.
As for ingredients, you can use any type of nuts, seeds, or dried fruit you like, as well as unsweetened coconut flakes and flax meal.
Honey, the key to pulling it all together, is a real treat when eaten in moderation. So, splurge on your honey to get the highest quality, purest kind that you can… avoid blends which include processed ingredients, and instead look for honey that is raw, unfiltered, organic, and even wild. Cloudy, crystallized, and dark honey are signs that you are on the right track. And if you can support your local beekeeper in the process, all the better. Local honey may even help with seasonal allergies.
Down below, I’ve included 2 versions of the Power Snack recipe – one for those of you who want the basic formula so you can use the ingredients you have on hand; the other to show you exactly what I used to make the snacks in these pictures.
The snack ingredients are mixed together with honey and a bit of walnut oil (you could use avocado or olive if you prefer) and then baked at a low temperature. In the process, the honey melts. When it cools, the honey again transforms, leaving the other ingredients bound in a sweet, crisp glaze.
The snacks will last in an airtight container for a week or two, if you pace your self.
Simple Honey Seed & Nut Snack Recipe
- 2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 1/2 cup of raw seeds – sunflower, pepitas, white and/or black sesame
- 1/2 cup chopped or slivered raw nuts
- 1/2 cup chopped dried fruit
- 2 Tbsp flax meal
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup walnut oil
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
Place all dried ingredients in a bowl. Stir in honey and oil and mix until well-blended.
Pour mixture onto a lightly-greased baking sheet (or onto parchment paper). Spread out into a single layer. Clumping is OK.
Bake for one hour.
Cool and break into chunks.
The gorgeous painted backdrops are from a calendar of prints by Moab, Utah artist Serena Supplee.
Clear-the-Cupboards Honey Snack Recipe
- 2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2/3 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup raw pepitas
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1/3 cup sesame seeds
- 2 Tbsp flax meal
- 2 Tbsp roasted black sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
- 1/4 cup chopped dried cherries
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup walnut oil
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
Place all dried ingredients in a bowl. Stir in honey and oil and mix until well-blended.
Pour mixture onto a lightly-greased baking sheet (or onto parchment paper). Spread out into a single layer. Clumping is OK.
Bake for one hour.
Cool and break into chunks.
Looking for other healthy snacks?
Try this Exotic Trail Mix.
Or, these Mulberry and Walnut Snack Bars
And, of course, Homemade Lara Bars