A simple, nutritious sweet snack that is particularly yummy we enjoy around our house are honey roasted peanuts. I am not sure how others do it, but the way I make them is so easy and we have found that the nuts last a year or more when kept in a dry, glass jar with a tight lid.
Simply place your raw, shelled nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet. I put a piece of parchment paper under them just to make clean up a little easier. Place the nuts in the oven on a setting of 300 degrees or less and let them cook. You may want to stir them from time to time and you definitely will want to pay close attention to the process. The nuts will quickly change from "roasted" to "burned" if you are not careful.
Once you have removed the roasted nuts from the oven you can sprinkle them with a bit of sea salt or leave them unsalted, whatever your preference. Then, drizzle honey lightly over the nuts and stir with a spoon to make sure they are all coated. Leave the nuts to cool. Once they have cooled, put them in a glass jar with a secure lid.
The nuts will stick together and be a little messy to eat, but they are absolutely delicious and are a healthy alternative to peanut brittle.
Please be careful with the peanuts when they are taken out of the oven as they are very hot and will easily burn the unsuspecting individual.
According to
Livestrong, peanuts contain the following nutritents:
A single 1 oz.
serving of raw peanuts has 7.31g of protein and 4.57g of carbohydrates, of which
2.4g are
fiber
. There are
13.96g of fat in a single serving, although most of this is made up of
monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat, with only 1.9g of saturated fat
included in the total. One particularly healthful monounsaturated fat found in
peanuts is oleic acid, the same fatty acid found in olive oil, which may
contribute to cardiovascular health.
Peanuts are high in
vitamin E, with 2.6mg per serving, and folate, with 68mcg per serving. Other
vitamins in peanuts include thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid,
vitamin B6, choline and betaine. Minerals in peanuts include manganese,
magnesium, calcium, iron, phosphorus,
potassium, copper,
selenium and zinc. Raw peanuts only contain 5mg of sodium, but this level can be
significantly higher in peanuts cooked in salt.
In addition to the
vitamins and minerals present in peanuts, they are also a source of some food
components called phytochemicals that are not routinely measured in all
foods but may
hold health benefits for individuals who consume them. According to World's
Healthiest Foods, peanuts are a source of resveratrol, an antioxidant
phytochemical linked to heart health and the reduction of cardiovascular
disease. Another powerful antioxidant phytochemical in peanuts is the compound
p-coumaric acid, which is found at higher levels in roasted peanuts than in raw
or boiled peanuts.
