Indian-spiced Nut-free Seed Mix

 Last year, I wrote about saving the pumpkin seeds from your jack-o'lanterns to make pepitas.  (You can check out that post here.)  Pepitas and sunflower seeds make for a great protein-rich nut substitute in recipes and snacks.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend, Julie, made a variation of the Indian-spiced cashews found here: www.food.com. 

This inspired me to make a nut-free version that I could serve at my house.  Julie had already vegan-ized this snack by using coconut oil as the fat, and she spiced it up by adding some cayenne and cinnamon to the recipe.  I took it one more Welcoming Kitchen step further, by switching out the nuts with a mix of pepitas and sunflower seeds.  The result was warmly spiced, slightly sweet, irresistibly crunchy little clusters.  You could definitely make them less spicy by cutting back on the cayenne. If you want a more brittle-like treat, decrease the amount of seeds so that the liquid will be a little more syrup-y.

These would be great to put around the house for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner snack.

We shared this recipe as part of Simply Sugar & Gluten-free's Slighty Indulgent Tuesdays and with Allergy-Friendly Fridays over at Cybele Pascal's website.  Please check out the other great recipes.

We also shared this with Allergy Free Wednesday and Allergy-friendly Lunchbox Love.

Indian-spiced Nut-free Seed Mix

Makes 3 cups

Ingredients:

2 cups pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)

1 cup shelled sunflower seeds

3 tablespoons packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine 2 tablespoons brown sugar, salt and spices.  Set aside.

In a saucepan, bring water, brown sugar and oil to a boil.

Add seeds,

Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour seeds and into spice mixture.  Stir to coat.

Spread on baking sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes.

Happy Cooking!

Kim and Megan

Find more tasty recipes in Welcoming Kitchen: 200 Delicious Allergen and Gluten-free Vegan Recipes.