Cookies, cakes and candies are dandy, but when we’re assembling our trays of holiday treats, we also like to include a little something extra in the mix. A sweet, crunchy snack mix made of nuts and cereal is sure to add a little goodness to your cookie trays.

To start, mix 1 cup each of unsweetened whole-grain or rice cereal (such as Cheerios or Rice Chex), whole almonds, pecan halves and popped popcorn. Add ½ cup each of sunflower seeds and soy nuts. Melt 1 stick of butter in a saucepan, and add ¾ cup of corn syrup or pure maple syrup, 1 cup of packed light brown sugar, ½ tsp. of vanilla extract and 2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice. Remove the glaze from the heat.

Pour the cereal mixture into a greased baking dish, then pour the hot glaze over the cereal mixture. Stir the snack mix to evenly coat the pieces, being careful not to burn yourself. Bake at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour, stirring the snack mix every 15 minutes. Pour the cooked stack mix into a heatproof container and continue to stir it every 15 minutes until it cools completely. (This keeps it from hardening into a big lump.)

Add 1 cup of raisins to the mix and store it in an airtight container.

What are some of your favorite holiday treats?

One of our favorite flours to bake Christmas cookies with is almond flour. It produces tender, nutty cookies that are safe for our gluten-free friends to eat. Love it! Once you get going with almond flour, you’ll realize that there are lots of different ways to use this ingredient in cookie recipes.  One of the best (and simplest) almond flour cookie recipes is for amaretti cookies! These sweet, chewy cookies contain just a few ingredients, and are the perfect treat to pair with a cup of coffee on a cold winter’s day.

Start by pouring 1-1/2 cups of granulated sugar into your food processor. Process the sugar until the grains are super-fine, almost like dust. Add 2-1/2 cups of almond flour to the sugar in the food processor, along with 3 egg whites, 1 tsp. of almond extract and 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract. Process the ingredients until a smooth dough forms.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Place rounded teaspoonfuls of the dough on the prepared cookie sheets, about 1-1/2 inches apart. Bake the amaretti cookies for 20-25 minutes, or until they are golden and still slightly chewy. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before transferring them to a cooling rack. The cookies will firm up as they cool, but they will be very soft at first. The recipe should yield about 30 cookies.

Store the amaretti cookies in a cool, dry place for up to two days. If desired, before serving you can make a special treat by spreading 1-2 tsp. of jam, chocolate filling or nut butter on the bottom of a cookie, then sandwiching another cookie against the filling. Delicious!

What are some of your favorite almond flour recipes?

Do you love to bake for the holidays? Well, we’ve got you covered! NutsOnline’s Cooking & Baking section offers a wide variety of the ingredients you need to make your baked goods sparkle!  We also have a wide selection of certified gluten-free flour and cooking & baking goodies, so you can whip up some delectable gluten-free treats!

For your sugar cookies, gingerbread men and other decorated treats, check out our dessert toppings! You can’t go wrong with our wide variety of baking chips. Nonpareils, sprinkles and sanding sugar make everyday treats even more festive! Pretty pearls add a shiny touch to elegant desserts and gingerbread houses. (Just be sure to keep in mind that, while they look lovely, our gold dragees and silver dragees are not edible.)

Do you serve up homemade fruitcake to all your friends and family? Our glazed fruit is fresh, moist and delicious! It makes superior fruitcakes with a fantastic fruity flavor! Add some of our premium nuts to the batter for a perfect holiday sweet!

If you follow a special gluten-free diet, you don’t have to feel left out of the Christmas cheer. Our Gluten-Free Cooking & Baking section has an array of amazingly fresh and delicious products that are all certified gluten-free! Take a look at our huge selection of gluten-free flour, with baking favorites like almond flour and organic coconut flour. You can also snag some yummy gluten-free decorations and toppings, as well as gluten-free dried fruit and gluten-free nuts, to round out your baking pantry.

Not feeling so confident when it comes to baking gluten-free goodies from scratch? We can help! Our gluten-free baking mixes include sweet choices like gluten-free brownie mix, gluten-free chocolate chip cookie mix and gluten-free chocolate cake mix. All of our gluten-free baking mixes are easy to use and of the highest quality, making it easy to bake up delicious gluten-free treats that taste homemade!

We hope that you have a happy holiday baking season! If you have any questions about our line of Cooking & Baking products, please don’t hesitate to contact us at CustomerService@NutsOnline.com. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Our holiday calendar is filling up quickly with parties and celebrations (yay!).  Whether we’re heading to a potluck, cocktail hour, or a small, intimate dinner gathering, we always come bearing gifts.  Since we have more than 100 gifts available, we wanted to share a few of our favorite host and hostess presents.

Our custom trays are a go-to favorite for any occasion.  We usually fill them with our host’s or hostess’s favorite treats – nuts, dried fruits, and sweets.  Sometimes, the host will even set out the tray for the party guests to enjoy.  Oh, and the trays are a lot of fun to design, too!

You might have trouble getting our Gourmet Christmas Basket through the door, but your host is going to love it!  The basket has 8 pounds of treats that the host can set out immediately, or enjoy with their family through the whole holiday season.

If you’re looking for something smaller, our wonderful Box of Winter Wonderland is certainly easier to carry, but overflowing with sweetness (and some salted nuts, too).

Our Movie Tin Assortment of sweets will provide plentiful provisions for those delightful family gatherings that end in a quiet evening of movie-watching.  If your host is screening old family movies, be careful that they don’t accidentally mount the tin on the projector.

After the party is over, the host can enjoy a treasured quiet moment.  Our Snowflake Bliss is a delightful indulgence, in a beautiful tin that’s full of yogurt pretzels shimmering with silver sprinkles.  A true reminder of the winter wonderland and the small joys of the season!

Know what we love to make for Christmas? Popcorn balls! Homemade popcorn balls are a delicious departure from the usual cookies and candies that are offered up during the holidays, and nothing beats a fresh popcorn ball with a cup of hot cocoa. They also look great as a Christmas tree decoration! Homemade popcorn balls are so simple to make, you’ll want to have them year-round.

Start by heating 2 tbsp. of vegetable or canola oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add 1 cup of popcorn kernels. Cover the pot with the lid and agitate the pot constantly over the hot burner while the corn pops. When the popping sounds slow, remove the pot from the heat and dump the popped popcorn into a large bowl that has been greased with butter or cooking spray. Set the popcorn aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt 2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter over low heat. Add 10 cups of miniature marshmallows to the butter. Stir the marshmallow mixture constantly until the marshmallows are completely melted. (At this time, you can also add extract or cocoa powder, or melt some candy in the marshmallow mixture to flavor the popcorn balls. Some of our favorite add-ins are 2 tsp. of Dutch cocoa powder, 1/4 cup of crushed organic mini candy canes or 2 tbsp. of cinnamon imperials.) Remove the marshmallow mixture from the heat and let it cool slightly.

Pour the marshmallow mixture over the popcorn in the prepared bowl. Grease your hands with butter or cooking spray, then use your fingers to evenly coat the popcorn kernels in the marshmallow. Form the mixture into 16 to 20 popcorn balls.

Serve the popcorn balls immediately or wrap them in decorative plastic wrap to gift later. To display the popcorn balls on the Christmas tree, wrap each popcorn ball in a square of red or green clear cellophane. Gather the excess cellophane at the top of the ball and secure it with a piece of decorative ribbon. After knotting the ribbon around the top tightly, pull the tails up and tie the ends together to form the ribbon into a loop. Hang the popcorn balls on the branches of the Christmas tree by the ribbon loops.

We hope you have as much fun making and eating these treats as we do. Have a sweet weekend!

Our lives are full of friends and family who are fitness fanatics and health nuts, so we’re always looking for the perfect gifts for them.  Below are a few of our fitness favorites to get you started (although we’d be delighted if you pulled up a chair and browsed through our full selection of more than 100 gifts)

Do you know a yoga nut that regularly gets twisted into a pretzel?  We sure do!  That’s why we love to give our Yoga Nut gift pack, complete with a nutty yoga mat and pretzels (chocolate covered for the indulgent yogi and yogurt covered for the virtuous one).

The Hole in One Gift Basket will make sure that you score a hole in one with the golf lovers among your friends and family.  Not only is this basket full of golf-fuel, like Damn Good Beef Jerky and Cajun Peanuts, it also delights with surprises, like a sleeve of our NutsOnline Top Flight Extra Distance Balls and 18 NutsOnline printed golf tees!  And the steel bucket  cools down beverages after a long day on the golf course!

Your favorite health nut can now enjoy their favorite nuts by the bucket!  Our buckets of nuts are sure to satisfy monumental cravings, from almonds to walnuts.

Even though berries may not be in season during the holidays, our Berry Good Tray delivers an anti-oxidant punch – and a pretty array of delicious dried berries.  The berries will fuel your fitness nut through grueling winter workouts (in preparation for the 2012 bathing suit season!).

If you’re looking for stocking stuffers or want to give a little bit of everything, consider designing a custom tray of nuts and fruits.  Or put together an array of our sample packs; from antioxidant mix to superfood spirulina, the sample packs are great for powering though the holiday season and jump-starting a healthy new year!

Have you started your holiday shopping? With holiday season in full swing, we’ve really started to think about the gifts we’d like to give our family members and friends! If you’re in the same boat, you may want to check out our line of holiday gifts! We’ve rolled out some special gift tins, boxes and baskets that are sure to please that special someone in your life!

Gift boxes like our Royale Gift Box and our Box of Winter Wonderland are packed with delicious nuts and sweets, such as pistachios, almonds, apricots and chocolate covered espresso beans. Our gift baskets, like our Gourmet Christmas Gift Basket and A Very Merry Christmas Basket, are packed with holiday classics such as dark chocolate cashew clusters and old fashioned Christmas candy. Delightful!

For the kid in all of us, we recommend the Nutty Reindeer and Nutty Lil’ Guy, both filled with festive red and green chocolate covered sunflower seeds. We also love the Nutty Snowman and Nutty Santa. They’re packed with layers of chocolate covered macadamia nuts, cashews, pecans and chocolate almond clusters.

Of course, if you know exactly what your loved one will enjoy, a custom tray is definitely the way to go! Fill this sectioned tray with up to five different treats for a gift that’s sure to thrill.

We’d be happy to assist you with any questions you may have regarding holiday gifts. You can contact us at 800-558-6887 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, or at CustomerService@NutsOnline.com 24 hours a day! You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. Let us help you make this holiday truly tasty!

We hope each and every one of you had a fantastic holiday yesterday! Now, we’re left with a pretty big question: What to do with all that leftover turkey from the big feast? One of our favorite ways to repurpose leftover turkey is to make a sweet and savory turkey salad, studded with dried cranberries, dried apples and chopped walnuts. When served on whole-grain bread, on top of a bed of greens or with crackers, this turkey salad sure takes the cake!

To start, chop up 2 cups of leftover cold turkey breast. Place the chopped turkey in a bowl and add ¼ to ½ cup of mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt. Stir in 2 tbsp. of Dijon mustard and a small sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Chop up ½ cup each of dried cranberries and dried apples, along with 2 tbsp. of fresh green onions, and add them to the turkey salad. Then, toast ½ cup of chopped walnuts in a skillet over medium-low heat until they’re lightly browned and fragrant. Add the toasted walnuts to the turkey salad, stir it up and you’re all set!

We love to enjoy this turkey salad with a side of leftover sweet potatoes! However, if leftovers aren’t your speed, may we suggest pairing the salad with a handful of sweet and salty veggie chips?

With the holidays approaching, we’ve been testing out some nutty new appetizers. Yesterday, we had a smash hit with pistachio-stuffed dates! These plump, delicious dates filled with soft cheese and pistachios are a perfect start to any meal.

Start with 1 lb. of pitted dates. Cut a slit longways up one side of each date, so that the hollow center in the date is easy to get to and wider. Set the dates aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together 8 oz. of soft cheese, such as goat cheese or cream cheese, with 6 tbsp. of cream, whole milk or almond milk. Add 1 tsp. of clover honey, ¼ tsp. of ground cinnamon and 1 tsp. of fresh grated orange zest to the cheese mixture. Stir until combined. Add 4 tbsp. of chopped, roasted pistachios to the cheese mixture.

Carefully fill each slit date with ½ tsp of the cheese and pistachio mixture and gently squeeze the date shut. (The dates will not close completely after stuffing them.) Sprinkle an additional 2 tbsp. of toasted, chopped pistachios over the stuffed dates. Serve the dates immediately or refrigerate them, covered, for up to a day.

What are some of your favorite nutty holiday appetizers?

Thanksgiving is less than a week away! In honor of one of our favorite holidays, we thought we’d share the recipe for a favorite holiday side dish. Twice-baked sweet potatoes with spicy and sweet pecan topping are sure to please your whole family.

To start, wash and dry six whole sweet potatoes. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork to release the steam while they bake. Wrap each potato in a sheet of aluminum foil and bake the potatoes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 45 minutes, or until they’re cooked and soft all the way through. Unwrap the potatoes and set them aside until they’re cool to the touch.

Slice the cooled potatoes in half longways and scoop the flesh into a medium bowl (keeping the skins intact). Stir in ¼ cup of light brown sugar, 4 tbsp. of butter, ½ cup of cream cheese and 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice. Spoon the mixture back into the sweet potato skins and place the filled skins on a baking sheet.

Top each twice-baked sweet potato with 1 tsp. of light brown sugar, 1 tbsp. of chopped pecans and a sprinkling of ground cinnamon. Bake the potatoes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, or until the filling is hot and the topping is fragrant and slightly brown.

What are some of your favorite nutty side dishes for Thanksgiving?