I said it before, and you all know this to be true: what kid doesn't like to eat with his fingers? These nuts are a very hearty snack or light lunch. Add some fruit and veggies, maybe some cheese or yogurt, and I promise your child will be ready for whatever the afternoon brings his/her way. This recipe is from SmittenKitchen.com. Honestly, if you haven't checked out her site, you really really need to; Deb is nothing short of brilliant.
And, fyi, this recipe doubles easily. You might want to just go ahead and do that because you will fly through this.
Granola-Crusted Nuts
Makes 2 cups
Ingredients
3/4 cup rolled oats (quick-cooking or old-fashioned will work; instant might get a little dusty)
1/4 cup shredded or flaked unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons pepitas, or another nut or seed of your choice
1/4 cup dark or light brown sugar (for low-to-moderate sweetness, you can use less if that's your preference)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Few pinches sea salt
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon water
2 cups (approximately 1/2 pound) walnuts, pecans or nuts that you prefer (the bumpier and craggy ones will hold more coating, but almonds would work, too)
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil (if using foil, it's a good idea to spray it with nonstick spray). In a food processor, pulse oats, coconut, pepitas, sugar, cinnamon and salt in short bursts until the mixture is very well chopped but not powdery. In a large bowl, beat egg white and water until frothy (but not stiff). Add nuts to bowl and coat them very well, using a few more stirs than will seem necessary because if the egg doesn’t get into the craters of the nuts, no granola will stick there. And that would be sad. Pour oat mixture into bowl and very gently fold it together with the nuts, so that it just barely sticks. Don't stir it too much because then the mixture just started falling off. You’ll have more granola coating than will seem necessary, but this is fine. Spread nuts-and-granola out on baking sheet in a single layer but no need to separate them. Sprinkle any granola mix leftover in the bowl over the nuts.
Bake for 20 minutes, moving nuts around just once in the baking time so that the inner nuts get as toasty as the ones at the edge. Transfer pan to cooling rack and cool completely. Once fully cool, break up any nut clusters and place mixture in jars/bags/your hand. Enjoy!