Baby shower snacks

So this weekend we attended a surprise baby shower for friends of ours. We signed up to bring beer and nuts. I know beer and nuts are sort of random for a baby shower, but they were on the Evite list of items to bring. Randomness aside, this presented an opportunity to attempt to recreate some peanuts I had a few years ago. A friend of mine brought peanuts to a New Years Eve party. The peanuts were not your run of the mill peanuts. They were sweet. They were spicy. They were perfect. I decided make my own version for the baby shower. Instead of using peanuts, I chose to use mixed nuts (peanuts are boring, plus I really like Brazil nuts!).

Sweet & Spicy Nuts

Ingredients

12oz Deluxe Mixed Nuts
1 - 2 tbsp Honey (add a tbsp and toss, if you need more, add more)
2 tsp cracked Red Peppercorns*

Preparation

Add nuts to medium non-stick pan. Cook over medium-high heat. Once the nuts are lightly toasted, add the honey and red pepper to nuts. Toss repeatedly to cook. Remove from heat when honey starts bubble rapidly.

Spread the nut mixture over a parchment paper lined baking sheet to cool. Once cool, break up nuts (they stick together a little) and serve.

*To ensure the nuts would be appealing to everyone I used red peppercorns instead of cayenne. Next time I'll use cayenne or chili powder. I really felt they needed a little more heat.

I also made a recipe from Weight Watchers that I downloaded awhile back called Teriyaki Snack mix. Since the name includes the sauce you would expect the finished product to have some semblance to teriyaki - it doesn't. I was disappointed by this recipe. So I've changed it - my edited version is below. I want to try making it again this weekend with my adjustments. I'll let you know if it improves, or if this recipe is just a write off.

Teriyaki Snack Mix
Adapted from WeightWatchers

Ingredients

2 cup(s) General Mills Multi-Bran Chex, or similar product
1 cup(s) unsalted soybean nuts
1 cup(s) ready-to-eat puffed rice cereal
1/2 cup(s) slivered almonds
3 tbsp teriyaki sauce
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 tsp sesame oil
2 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp wasabi powder

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375ºF. While the oven heats up, combine Chex, soybean nuts, puffed rice and almonds in a large bowl.

Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl.

Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and toss to coat; spread on a large baking sheet. Bake, stirring after 5 minutes, until lightly brown and crispy, about 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool.

I had a lot of fun photographing the step by step photos. I'll be adding more to my Flickr site tomorrow.