Chai Cherry Fruit And Nut Mix Food

CHERRY-NUT SLICES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except cherries and nuts. Blend well on low speed.
• Stir in cherries and nuts, mix thoroughly.
• If necessary, chill 1 hour.
• Shape dough into two 10-inch rolls; wrap.
• Chill 1 to 2 hours.
• Cut into 1/4-inch slices.
• Place on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake at 400F for 7 to 10 minutes.

OLD FASHIONED CHERRY NUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a small bowl or container, mix together granulated sugar and ground cinnamon and set aside.
• In another small bowl mix together the walnuts, cherries and 2 tablespoons of flour to coat. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake. Set aside.
• Cream together the sugar and margarine.
• Beat in vanilla and almond extracts and eggs, one at a time.
• Beat in sour cream and buttermilk.
• Sift together: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and add to wet ingredients.
• Fold in the nuts and cherries.
• Spray the bundt pan heavily with Pam and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture.
• Pour in the batter.
• Bake for 27 to 35 minutes on middle rack, until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
• Cool 10 minutes in pans before removing to wire rack.

DATE AND NUT CAKE WITH CHERRIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Butter a 9" square cake pan.
• Put dates, butter and baking soda in a bowl. Carefully pour boiling water over the dates; let cool.
• Meanwhile, mix flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, mix egg and vanilla.
• When the date mixture is cool, stir in egg mixture and then stir in flour mixture.
• Stir in nuts and cherries.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan; bake for about 25-30 minutes.

STARBUCKS CHEWY FRUIT AND NUT BARS

Steps:

• Ingredient note: look in your health food aisle for a healthy alternative to Rice Krispies. The brand I found is made by Enviro-Kidz and uses BROWN rice.
• Prepare 9x13 pan with non-stick spray (or line with parchment paper).
• In a large mixing bowl, toss all dry ingredients. Feel free to substitute your preferred nut or dried fruit.
• In a saucepan, combine brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil and allow to boil one minute. (Note: boiling the sugars is what helps the bars become firm and not sticky, so this step is important).
• After boiling, turn off heat; add vanilla and peanut butter. QUICKLY pour this hot mixture over the dry ingredients and toss to combine.
• Pour warm mixture into prepared pan. Wet your fingers and press the mixture down into the pan to compress the bars so they will slice evenly.
• When cool, use a sharp knife to cut into 18 bars (1 long lengthwise cut and 9 cuts across). Enjoy with a hot cup of Starbucks coffee for an authentic experience!
• Note: Starbucks does not list corn syrup in their ingredients, but the sweetener in their list is not readily available. I tried using Maple Syrup, but the bars were very crumbly and would not stay together in bars. Therefore, I found that Corn Syrup is the best ingredient that is readily available.

CURRIED FRUIT AND NUT SALAD

Steps:

• Tear lettuce and spinach into bite size pieces.
• Cut grapes in half.
• Drain orange segments.
• Mince garlic.
• Peel, seed and slice avocado.
• In salad bowl combine lettuce, spinach, orange segments and grapes.
• In screw top jar combine salad oil,vinegar,garlic, brown sugar, chives, curry powder and soysauce.
• Shake dressing until combined.
• Just before serving toss some of the dressing with the salad.
• Garnish with avocado and almonds.
• Pass around the remaining dressing.