Trail Mix Recipe

Someone saw the video below and wanted to know the recipe for this trail mix my wife made. The rest of this post is written by Alycia.

The original nut recipe that won Justin over was given to me by my stepmother. It’s delicious. Aaaaand packed with butter and sugar. Once Justin realized it was delicious because of all the sugar I experimented with a few other variations…alas, this one was the best. So if you’re concerned with the carb content eat sparingly – if you possess that kind of willpower – and give the rest to your less healthy friends and family. The measurements are somewhat approximate because they vary depending on how sweet you want your mix to be.

Justin’s Cereal

Ingredients

2lb bag pecan halves
1-2c brown sugar
2 tbsp vanilla extract
zest from 1 medium orange and juice from half
1-2 stick(s) salted butter
2c dried cranberries

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 300*
2. Crush pecan halves into pieces
Pro-tip: While it may seem more efficient to pulverize the pecans using a wine bottle do not be fooled; this will only leave you with pecan dust and pecan dust does not make for good “cereal.”
3. Spread crushed nuts out on a baking sheet. It’s better to have a single layer – so you will likely need two sheets.
4. Cut butter into chunks and crumble over deez nuts.
Note: The butter allows the sugar to “candy” the nuts giving them that yummy crunch, so make sure there’s enough to go around.
5. Pour vanilla extract, brown sugar, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla over nuts
Note: I’ve gone more conservative with the sugar before and it just wasn’t the same. If you’re making this mix accept that it’s not going to be the most “healthy” and do it right. Otherwise you might as well enjoy a bag of plain nuts…and no one likes plain nuts.
6. Mix to coat then re-distribute over baking sheets
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes
8. Take baking sheets out, mix and redistribute nuts, then place back in the oven until the butter starts to bubble. This part is crucial because it’s when the nuts become crunchy – it could take 20 minutes or more, so be patient. Don’t let the nuts burn!
10. Allow mix to cool and enjoy “cereal” with almond milk.