My family loves oven fries. They are really great with a sandwich or burger and make any meal kid-friendly.

I know a lot of people would question whether or not making fries from scratch is really worth the effort. After all, you can get a bag of frozen fries for a couple of bucks in every grocery store. Not only are home fries way better tasting, but they are also a lot healthier and cheaper.

Well, sometimes I like to make my oven fries over-the-top good. Leave it to Emeril to “kick them up a notch” in his children’s cookbook, There’s a Chef in my Kitchen. He turned the classic oven fries into Oven Crispy Cheese Fries. And they are so good.

I don’t bother to follow the recipe exactly, the idea is brilliant and although they certainly aren’t low-fat, they aren’t deep fried so they are a tad healthier. And they are cheesy, but not greasy. Gotta love that.

Emeril coats his oven fries in egg whites before baking, something most recipes don’t do. And it does produce really crispy fries. If you prefer a less crispy fry you might want to make a more traditional recipe like this one I posted few months ago. Whatever you choose, oven fries coated in cheese and green onions are unbelievably good. We have even topped them with chili for a nice dish of chili-cheese fries. Yummy.

We prefer our potatoes peeled before slicing into fries, but you could just scrub the potatoes really well.

Cheese Fries sizzling hot on the baking sheet.

Cheese fries with some slow cooker ribs!

Cheese Fries

If you add chili, this can be a main dish!

• 2 tsp canola or vegetable oil
• about 1 1/2 pounds baking potatoes (that’s about 2 really large potatoes or 4 smaller ones) peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tsp of seasoning salt like Emeril’s Baby Bam
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or colby-jack cheese
• 2 scallions thinly sliced

1. Position oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 425 or 400 on convection.
2. Grease a nonstick baking sheet with the oil
3. Pat the potatoes dry.
4. In a medium bowl lightly whisk the egg whites with a fork. Add potatoes and toss to coat evenly. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and place on the baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes.
5. Remove potatoes from oven and sprinkle with half of the seasoning. With a spatula flip potatoes and sprinkle with remaining seasoning.
6. Return to oven and continue baking for 20 minutes or until golden and crispy.
7. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese and scallions. Return to oven for about 3 minutes or until cheese is melted.
8. Serve immediately.

Cooking With Kids, Sides, Snacks Cheese homefries

First things first. This recipe should come with a warning label “Proceed with caution. The following snack is highly addictive.”

Okay, so maybe my family is behind the times. We just recently made the Chex Muddy Buddies recipe that can be found on the side of so many Rice Chex boxes. I am thinking that whoever has the gig to create new and exciting recipes for General Mills, especially the Chex recipes, has a perfect job.

Much like the Original Chex Pary mix, Muddy Buddies are really simple and quick to make and the whole family loves them. Too much. They are really sweet, crunchy and have that peanut butter and chocolate combination that we all love.

I like how quick and easy they are to make. Start to finish probably takes 10-15 minutes total. And unlike so many other treats, they don’t need baked, you can eat these immediately.

This recipe would be great for the older child eager to “cook.” But just be aware that melted chocolate + kids = mess. I let my three year old “help” and let’s just say the kitchen needed a little more cleaning than usual. But, what else did I have to do today? And it was priceless when she said, “I need washed, I got all muddy.”

So, next time you need a quick sweet, chocolate fix, I vote for Chex Muddy Buddies. Here is my version of the recipe; you can find the original on the box of most Rice Chex.

Muddy Buddies, a new favorite treat.

Muddy Buddies

• 9 cups rice chex cereal
• 1 cup chocolate chips, we like dark chocolate, but semi sweet or milk chocolate would work too
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter in 30 second intervals, stirring as needed, until melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla.
2. Place cereal in large bowl and add the melted chocolate mixture; stirring until evenly coated.
3. If the bowl has a lid, simply add sugar, seal with lid and shake to coat. Alternative method: place cereal in 2-gallon size resealable bag and add sugar. Seal bag and shake to evenly coat. Store in airtight container in the fridge.

Cooking With Kids, Desserts, Snacks Gluten free treats with chex

My family loves dill pickles. So I decided I should give homemade pickles a try. WOW! They are so good, almost beyond words good. They are crunchy, spicy, and full of flavor. Truly so much better than anything you can get a the grocery store. They remind me of fancy deli-style pickles, only better.

I have tried several different recipes, and our favorites are the refrigerator dill pickles. I have found that the recipes that just require refrigeration, as opposed to processing, stay crisp and fresh tasting.

This particular version is our family’s absolute favorite, we think it has just the right amount of dill, garlic and spice, but feel free to add or reduce the garlic, red pepper flakes or dill to suit your tastes.

Although I am sure you’ll enjoy these, maybe even too much to share, they make great gifts for friends and family.

Making pickles is rather easy and a fun summertime activity to do with the kids or grandkids, even my three year old likes to help. But of course, there are few tips that will help you create the best pickles possible.

Hints for the perfect pickles:

• Always use the freshest cucumbers possible. If you don’t have a garden, use the farmer’s market, local produce stand, etc to get the freshest pickling cucumbers possible.
• Use pickling salt. It’s cheap, has a long shelf life, and is available at regular grocery stores.
• Most stores with bulk foods have dill seed, pickling spice and red pepper flakes at bargain prices. You’ll only need a very small amount of each, probably less than $1 altogether.
• Cut thin slices off both ends of the cucumbers before pickling. Technically, it is the blossom end that has an enzyme that may cause the pickles to soften, but it can be difficult to tell which end had the blossom, so I just make a small slice off both ends.
• Refrigerator pickles need refrigerated These aren’t the processed variety, so they have to be stored in the refrigerator.
• Wait 10 days before eating. I know, this is the hardest tip to follow.

Refrigerator Pickles in the jar.

Ten days later....Can you see the spices? So yummy.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

I prefer to slice mine into spears and I tightly pack them into jars; if I find that this recipe makes the perfect amount of brine if I do it this way. When I sliced them into rounds I needed to double the brine in order to adequately cover the pickles.

• 12 3-4 inch long pickling cucumbers whole, speared, or sliced into rounds
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 1 /2 cups roughly chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 8 cloves garlic, chopping is optional
• 1 1 /2 TB pickling salt
• 1 TB pickling spice
• 1 1/2 tsp dill seed
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• approximately 4 clean jars and lids, I find that wide mouth pint size jars work the best

1. In a large non-reactive bowl, combine water and salt; stir until salt is dissolved. add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Allow to stand at room temperature for 2 hours.
2. Remove the cucumbers from the bowl and place, tightly packed, into clean jars. Make sure each jar has at least a sprig of dill and a clove of garlic. Ladle the liquid over the pickles, making sure to cover them entirely. Cover with a lid and refrigerate for 10 days before eating.

Cooking With Kids, Make ahead, Sides, Snacks, Uncategorized easy pickles, garlic dill pickles, refrigerator pickles, spicy dill pickles

If you spent any part of your childhood in America, I bet you ate a rice crispy treat. They are crunchy, sweet, and gooey all in one bite. What kid could resist?

Well, as soon as you go gluten free you realize Kellogg’s Rice Crispies are off limits. For whatever reason though, many people believe they are gluten free, but they contain malt. Here is a direct quote form Kellogg’s FAQ At this time, we do not offer products suitable for consumers on a gluten- or wheat-free diet.

Like everything else gluten free, cereal does come with a bit of sticker shock. Gone are the days when you can get a box for $1 using coupons and a sale. A box of gluten free cereal seems to run in the $4-5 range.

We really like Erewhon brand cereals and they make several suitable rice crispy alternatives that are in fact gluten free. They taste great and are fairly healthy.

I haven’t had a lot of luck using all puffed rice cereal, which is significantly cheaper. It just doesn’t have the same crunch. However I have used a cup or two in the bars and it works fine. So if you are trying to stretch you dollar, this might be an option.

So, the original Rice Crispy Treat recipe is fine. Nothing wrong with it at all. However, I wanted to make a slightly more creative batch so I added some vanilla and peanut butter and then coated them with melted chocolate. That idea I get from my mom. Growing up she always coated bars and brownies with melted chocolate. Mom was right, everything is better with chocolate.

I also reduce the cereal by one cup, I like the treats to be a little more marshmallowy. Okay, so that is probably not a real adjective, but you know what I mean. And not that they weren’t great before, but I think the minor changes I made make them a little more grown up.

I did store these in the refrigerator because we are having a heat wave. Okay, so probably not really a heat wave, but for Oregon, it is really hot. Like above 70 degrees. I wasn’t sure the chocolate would set at room temperature.

So these were really great tasting. The peanut butter/chocolate combination is classic and oh so good. And even if you decide to omit the peanut butter, do try the melted chocolate on top. It is very good.

Any child eating gluten free will be thrilled that they can eat rice crispy treats again. They so quick and easy, not to mention utterly delicious, there really is no excuse not to make them.

I used 1 cup puffed rice cereal; they are the lighter pieces.

Peanut Butter Crispy Rice Treats

I like to make these bars really thick, so I use an 8×8 square glass pan, but you could also use a 9×13 if you prefer. However, you’ll have to melt more chocolate to cover the top entirely.

• 3 Tb butter
• 1 (10 oz) bag marshmallows
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 5 cups  gluten free crispy rice cereal (we really like Erewhon brand) or a combination of crispy rice/puffed rice cereals
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Grease an 8×8 square pan or line with foil.
2. Melt the butter in a large pan or dutch oven over low heat. Add the marshmallows, vanilla, salt and peanut butter, stirring constantly until melted and smooth; this takes several minutes.
3. Remove from heat and add cereal, stirring until well mixed. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and press it into the pan with a greased spatula (or you can place a piece of waxed paper over it and press down, this prevents you from burning your hands).
4. Place chocolate chips in small, microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals until melted; stirring as needed. Spread melted chocolate over the bars and allow to set completely, about 2 hours at room temperature (or you can place them in the refrigerator or freezer to speed up this process).
5. Cut bars into squares and serve.

Cooking With Kids, Desserts, Snacks gluten free rice crispy treats, peanut butter rice crispy treats

To say we like banana muffins at our house would be an understatement.

I don’t really know what it is about them exactly that we love.  I guess they make the perfect breakfast or snack on the go. And they are so tasty, not to mention how they make the house smell so yummy while they cook. And it’s the perfect way to use up those not so fabulous bananas you have on the counter or freezer (here is my post about freezing bananas).

I have already posted a banana cupcake recipe, but it has sour cream in it so I wanted to figure out a way to make them easier to adapt to be dairy free as well. The only dairy here is butter, so it’s super simple to substitute with a dairy free margarine or shortening.

And although I really prefer Authentic Foods Superfine rice flours, I have made these with Bob’s Red Mill rice flour and they were still really good.

I have read, as you probably have as well, that it is necessary to cook gluten free baked goods in light colored metal pans. They all warn DO NOT use the old, dark colored pans.

But as you can see, I didn’t toss out all my well-loved pans. In fact, I have one 6-space new, light colored pan and one that is so dark it is almost black. I can not swear they perform exactly the same for everything, but I can assure you that I made a pan of each for this recipe and the muffins took the exact amount of time to bake and they all looked identical.

Needless to say, I am not a big believer that the color of your metal pans matters much. I sure wouldn’t spend a fortune replacing them.

Sometimes I wonder about all these expert cookbook authors. Where do they find these people?

Yummy Banana Muffins

Banana Muffins

Yes, this is the same recipe I use for banana bread. I discovered it is the perfect amount of batter for 12 muffins. Although we are nut free, I think 1/4 cup chopped walnuts would be a great addition….or maybe some chocolate chips. And these can be mixed by hand with a wooden spoon if desired.

wet ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cups very ripe mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

dry ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups white rice flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease or place paper liners in a 12 space muffin pan (or 2 6-space ones if you are like me).
2. In a small bowl, mix together sugar and mashed bananas; allow to sit for 15 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at time, mixing well after each addition. Add half of the dry ingredients and blend until smooth. Add banana-sugar mixture and stir until well mixed. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
5. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until tester inserted in the middle of a muffin tests clean.

Breakfast, Desserts, Snacks gluten free banana muffins

Happy Cinco de Mayo.

My family LOVES Mexican food and all dishes Tex-Mex or Mexican inspired. We love the exciting flavors, vibrant colors, and combination of textures; it’s like a party on your plate every time you eat!

And lucky for us, Mexican food is typically gluten free!!!!!

There are so many delicious and fun dishes to prepare today, I had trouble deciding.

Personally, I love guacamole, but not that runny, flavorless stuff you can buy in the refrigerator case.

Buy some fresh, ripe avocados and whip up a homemade version that will really wow you!

Great on chips, or served with tacos, burritos and tortillas, it’s a dip you should know how to prepare.

It is my understanding that there is no one authentic recipe for guacamole; it has many variations, but basically it is mashed, but still chunky avocados, often with onion, Serrano chiles, cilantro, salt and lemon or lime juice and maybe some garlic.

One thing is for sure, it isn’t made in a food processor. The molcajete and the tejolote are the Mexican mortar and pestle and traditionally what guacamole is made in. They are available in many Mexican markets and some finer kitchen stores. They can be used to crush garlic, herbs, chiles and spices, among other things.

As much as I love cooking Mexican foods, I have never bought a molcajete, although I am sure it would improve the textures of my dishes.

When making guacamole in particular, I am mindful to not completely puree it, it should be creamy, but still have chunks. I read a tip to dice half of the avocados in any given guacamole recipe and mash the other half with the back of a fork; this provides a nice texture.

Here is one version of guacamole that I enjoy, but there are so many variations you’ll probably want to make a few adjustments to suit your tastes.

Grab some chips and enjoy!

Chunky Guacamole

Make sure you choose ripe avocados, they should yield to gentle pressure, but still be firm. Ones that feel soft will most likely be over ripe and brown inside.

If you make your dip too spicy, you can always add some more avocado.

• 2 avocados, slightly ripe, but not mushy
• 1 medium tomato seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup minced, fresh cilantro leaves
• juice of half a lime
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2-1 fresh jalapeno or Serrano finely chopped or a few dashes hot sauce, optional
• 1 clove garlic, crushed, optional

1. Place one of the avocados in a medium bowl and mash with a fork. Dice the reserved avocado and add to the bowl along with all remaining ingredients.
2. Taste and season with additional salt, pepper, or hot sauce as needed.
3. Guacamole doesn’t store well, it is best served very soon after preparing.

Sauces & Dressings, Sides, Snacks chunky guacamole

There is something about meatballs kids just love. Perhaps its the fact they roll around on their plates while they try to stab them or that they are usually served with spaghetti, which is nearly every child’s favorite dinner.

Whatever the reason, being able to create a delicious gluten free meatball is a necessity for any meat eating family. I made a few modification to my favorite meat ball recipe and we can once again enjoy meatballs. My kids were so delighted.

You do need gluten free bread crumbs. I typically pull out a roll or two when I make a batch, or the heals of the bread when I make loaf, just to throw in my food processor for crumbs. I place them in a resealable plastic bag and toss them in the freezer until needed. I find this is the easiest way to assure I always have breadcrumbs on hand.

Although fresh bread crumbs typically need toasted in the oven for a few minutes, I find that gluten free bread produces pretty dry breadcrumbs, so this step isn’t usually required.

I always cook meatballs in the oven now. You don’t need to stir them or risk breaking them apart. There is nothing worse than telling your family you are having meatballs for dinner, and end up serving crumbled browned beef. It will still taste okay, but it isn’t pretty, trust me I know from experience.

We like the outside of our meatballs cooked really well, very browned and slightly crunchy. So I always cook mine on convection for the full suggested cooking time. If you prefer a softer meatball that is less browned,  you will want to watch the cooking time closely and probably avoid using convection all together.

Meatballs aren't very photogenic.

Gluten Free Meatballs

• 1/2 cup gluten free breadcrumbs
• 1 pound ground beef (I use 10% or leaner)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp seasoning salt (I use McCormick)
• pepper to taste
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1. Preheat oven to 400 or convection 375.
2. Place all ingredients in a large bowl, and with a wooden spoon stir until combined.
3. Roll into balls; I make mine 1-2 tablespoons sized, yielding 20 meatballs.
4. Place on rimmed baking sheet and bake 10–15 minutes or until no longer pink in the center.

Cooking With Kids, Main Dishes, Snacks gluten free meatball recipe

I really wanted to figure out how to make scones gluten free. I figured having a good scone recipe could come in handy for entertaining or a child’s tea party. I have seen a few recipes, but they had a lot of ingredients.

Personally, I hate recipes with twenty ingredients. Not only do you have to gather all those things and put them away, chances are you’ll have to make a trip to the store.

I wanted to find a reliable scone recipe that wasn’t too sweet and sugary and wasn’t too complicated. I went to one of my favorite sources, the people at America’s Test Kitchen. These are the same people from Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazines, and they have a show on PBS, America’s Test Kitchen. If you like cooking and really knowing why recipes work, this is a show to watch.

I adapted their Cream Scone recipe and it worked very well. It has a few steps, but they weren’t hard, and I pictured them below so you could see how easy it really is.

I added dried cranberries and orange zest, but I think you could really stir in any dried fruit or even some chocolate. They would, or course, also be could without any additions and topped with preserves or lemon curd.

The  dough after needing a few times on the counter.

The dough pressed into a round, floured pan.

The dough, turned out of the pan and cut into wedges.

The scones ready to bake.

The scones ready to eat!

Gluten Free Cream Scones

Resist the urge to eat these hot out of the oven; I learned the hard way that the texture really improves as they cool.

• 2 cups of your favorite gluten free flour blend (I used the Brown Rice Flour Blend given below)
• 3/4 tsp xanthan gum, if not in your flour blend
• 3 TB sugar
• 1 TB baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 5 TB butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2-3/4 cup nuts or dried fruit, optional
• 1 tsp citrus zest, optional
• cornstarch for dusting pan

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425.
2. In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined. Scatter the butter over the top and pulse until the mixture resembles a course cornmeal; about 12 pulses.
3. Add any dried fruits or nuts and pulse once to combine.
4. Transfer the dough to a large bowl and stir in cream with a rubber statula until the dough begins to resemble a dough; about 30 seconds.
5. Turn the dough out onto counter, I used a silpat mat, and knead a few times to form a slightly sticky ball..
6. Press the dough into a  8 or 9-inch cake pan that has been liberally dusted with cornstarch. Unmold the dough and cut into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on a cookie sheet, I used a silpat-lined baking pan.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until scones are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes; serve warm or at room temperature.

Brown Rice Flour Blend

• 2 cups Brown rice flour (Authentic Foods Superfine)
• 2/3 cup Potato starch (not potato flour)
• 1/ 3 cup Tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)

1. Place all ingredients in a resealable bag or container; close and shake to combine. You can also try to place in bowl and stir, but I find this make a huge mess.
2. Make sure to shake vigorously before measuring the flour. It seems to really settle and doesn’t measure accurately unless shaken first.

Breads, Breakfast, Gluten Free, Snacks america's test kitchen scones made gluten free, gluten free cream scones, gluten free scones

Muffins are so practical. They are great for a quick breakfast, snack or even dessert. I have tried more than a few gluten free muffin recipes, but the end products have had an off-texture and usually do not rise above the paper liner. However, I have successfully adapted many of our old favorites, producing gluten free versions that are very similar to the originals. If you have a reliable gluten-filled favorite muffin or cupcake recipe, you can probably just make a few minor changes and be enjoying muffins again in no time.

The first thing you need is a good gluten free flour blend, I have a favorite, but use whatever one you like. I try to stay away from the bean based flour blends in general, I find they leave my baked goods tasting like beans. Also, it helps to use a fruit or vegetable based muffin, this adds moisture; think apple, carrot, pumpkin, etc. And lastly, adding yogurt or sour cream helps the texture tremendously; if you don’t eat dairy, try adding some applesauce. I like to add flax meal to make them more nutritious, but this is completely optional.

Here is one of my family’s favorite muffin recipe. I think the kids are particularly fond of this muffin due to the sweet, slightly crunchy topping. For variety, I occasionally add raisins to the batter (we have a tree nut allergy in our house, so we can’t do walnuts, but I think they would be delicious in these).

Gluten Free Apple Muffins

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• dash salt
• 2 cups gluten free flour blend
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tb flax meal, optional
• 1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt (you could also use sour cream)
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 2 cups diced apples
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and/or raisins, optional

Crumb Topping (tasty, but optional)

• 1/4 cup sugar (brown or white will work)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tb gluten free flour blend
• 2 Tb butter, cubed

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with paper liners or coat with cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add eggs, one at a time.
3. In separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with yogurt and applesauce. Mix until incorporated. Fold in apples and nuts or raisins if using.
4. In a small bowl, combine crumb toppings and blend with fork. Mixture will be lumpy.
5. Spoon batter into muffin cups 3/4 full. Lightly sprinkle tops with crumb topping.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until center tests done.

Breakfast, Desserts, Snacks Gluten Free, gluten free apple muffins, gluten free crumb topping, gluten free muffin

I have a food confession. Maybe it’s more of a parenting confession. Since going gluten free, I have been spoiling my kids with “snack food” when we grocery shop. Maybe this is out of guilt, because there are so many foods off limits now, whatever the reason it has to stop. Even if it is organic, gluten free junk food, junk food is still just junk food, and it really doesn’t have a place in our kids’ diets. I like desserts and treats as much as the next person, but I am going to really make an effort to stop buying the kids candy, chips, and other gluten free junk food items.

If you eat gluten free, you know how hard it can be to find healthy snack foods to take in the car or pack in a lunch. I have been trying to find some good recipes, but they seem to all consist of  ingredients we can’t eat or contain copious amounts of corn syrup or marshmallows. I bought Arrowhead Mills puffed corn cereal (these come in bags and are a real bargain for a gf cereal). I am assuming it’s gluten free because it only has one ingredient-puffed corn. And wouldn’t you know on the back of the bag was a recipe for Double Corn Mix. It called for popcorn, puffed corn cereal, dried fruit, oil and honey. I made a few modifications, using butter in place of the oil and adding peanuts; and my 2 year old loved helping me mix the ingredients. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted, a nice combination of salty and sweet, with just enough crunch thrown in. A perfect snack food, and it is semi-healthy to boot.

It is a very simple recipe and could be altered in almost infinite ways. I am thinking coconut and dried tropical fruits would be fantastic, or maybe chocolate chips, cranberries and walnuts, the combinations seem endless. Hope this recipe inspires you to come up with your own version of Double Corn & Fruit Mix.

Double Corn & Fruit Mix

• 3 cups puffed corn cereal
• 2 cups popped popcorn, kernels removed
• 1 cup dried fruit, diced if necessary (I used cranberries, cherries, raisins and chopped prunes)
• 3/4 cup lightly salted peanuts
• 2 Tb butter, melted
• 1/2 cup honey

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In large bowl, combine corns, fruit and peanuts.
3. In separate bowl, combing butter and honey. Pour honey over corn mix and stir to combine.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. Cool completely before eating. Store in airtight container.

Cooking With Kids, Snacks double corn and frut mix, Gluten Free, gluten free snack mix