Sahale Snacks

[juliebove]

I love these. The Valdosta Blend. They are not raw but I'm looking for a way to make them so. Seems easy enough to do. The label says "pecan, sweet cranberry, black pepper and orange zest". These are lightly sweetened and they've used evaporated cane juice and tapioca syrup to sweeten them. The cranberries have sugar, glycerin, sunflower oil. The nuts are only very lightly sweetened and are crunchy. But it's not like they have a glaze on them. More like just a hint of sweetness and just sticky enough to stick on the black pepper and orange zest. The cranberries are really where the sweetness comes from, I think. And given that cranberries are naturally tart, they are not all that sweet either.

It's still too early to buy fresh cranberries here, but when I do find some, I intend to dehydrate them. I would have to use a bit of something to sweeten them with though. Agave? Perhaps a bit of date paste thinned down with water? Not sure. Would also need something sticky sweet for the nuts. And I presume the mixture would need to be dehydrated till crunchy.

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

[juliebove]

Bumping this up because it looks like cranberries might be here. Anyone have any suggestions? Is there some way I can use dates for this?

Thanks!

[juliebove]

Well, I guess I'll just have to wing this one. Still haven't found the actual cranberries, but saw plenty of deli foods containing cranberries so they must be around. Will let you know how this comes out.

[juliebove]

Okay... Found my cranberries and I have this mixture steeping and will soon be putting it in the dehyrdator. The taste is almost exactly like the real thing and really it tastes good enough now that I'd probably eat it as is, perhaps with some chopped celery added in as a side dish. But I'm going to dehydrate this batch for snacks. Keep in mind that I do not like overly sweet snacks. You might want to add more dates, orange juice or even a squirt of agave nectar, honey, or whatever you normally use as a sweetener. I did not measure the black pepper but I used quite a lot. You want to be able to feel the bite of it yet not have it totally overwhelming. I'd estimate that I used about 1 T.

20 dates
Juice of 2 med. oranges
Water (about 1/2 cup)
Zest from 4 med. oranges
12 oz. fresh cranberries
4 cups pecans
Freshly ground black pepper (coarse ground)

Put the orange juice, water and dates in food processor and process with "S" blade until it reaches the texture of a med./thick syrup. Add more water if needed.

Add cranberries and give it a few pulses so most of the berries are slightly chopped. You'll have some whole ones still. This is fine.

Transfer berries and syrup to large bowl. Add zest, pecans and pepper. Stir to coat. Let sit for a few minutes and taste. Add more pepper or sweetener if needed. I started with 8 dates but it just wasn't enough. The berries were waaaay too tart. I then added the rest of what I had in one bag, totalling 20. That seemed the right sweetness for me.

Let the mixture sit for 20 or so, to allow the syrup to soak in well.

This is as far as I've gotten. I intend to spread this mix out on mesh sheets and dehydrate till the nuts are crunchy and the berries are dry and chewy. I may have to pick the nuts out and dehydrate the berries further. Will let you know how it turns out.

[juliebove]

Just an update in case anyone was interested. These are wonderful! My dehyrator is the round type. The bottom rack was crisp and ready for eating. Really yummy when warm. And not too sweet. The other trays need a bit more time for the berries to dry out more. I am certainly going to make this for the holidays. I just wish I could get cranberries year round!

[star1919]

Hey Juliebove... Nice going! That recipe looks wonderful! And, what a great idea to have that for the holidays! Thanks... :D