Mix Up The Season with PLANTERS®

With the weather getting cooler and the leaves changing color, we all just want to cozy up in the autumn vibes. What are your plans this fall? Whether it’s embarking on a trip to the pumpkin patch, admiring the fall foliage, or sipping hot apple cider, there is no wrong way to celebrate the year’s coziest season.

For us, fall means spending time with family. And, being with family means some good home-cooked food.

Our friends at PLANTERS® agree, which is why we’ve teamed up with them to introduce these comfy, cozy recipes that’ll get your family ooh-ing and aah-ing! With yummy snacks like Brittle Nut Gingersnap Whoopie Pies and Candied Pecan Bacon, we’ve included a handful of delicious flavors to Mix Up The Season! And, if you wanted to get a head start on the holidays, we included recipes like our Holiday Nut Crunch Rocky Road. After all, it’s never too early to celebrate the holidays, right?

With PLANTERS®, it is easier than ever to make nutritious, filling meals with all sorts of nuts. I mean, it’s kind of their thing, right?

Pumpkin Spice Cashew Butter Latte On A Stick

Difficulty: Easy • 8 Servings • Total Time: 2 Hours 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 can 8.5oz Planters Lightly Salted Whole Cashews 
• 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ¼ cup Pumpkin puree 
• 1 cup Mini Marshmallows 
• ½ cup Melted chocolate
• 6 ounces Milk (per serving)
• 1.5 ounce Espresso Shot
• Whipped Cream (optional garnish)

Directions:

1. In a food processor add cashews, pumpkin puree and olive oil. Blend until smooth. (set aside ¼ cup of the cashews for the top of the sticks)
2. Next, pour cashew butter into disposable paper condiment ramekin. 
3. Top the ramekins with mini marshmallows and chopped cashews you had set on the side. Insert a popsicle stick into the center of the ramekin. Freeze cashew butter pops for 2 hours.
4. Take cashew pop out of the freezer and carefully remove the disposable ramekin. Dip the cashew pops into a bowl of melted chocolate and let set in the freezer for 10 minutes.
5. While the pops are setting, heat up milk and make the espresso shot. 
6. Pour hot milk and a shot of espresso into a mug. Take your Cashew Butter Stick and mix it into the milk to create the perfect cashew butter latte. Top the latte with whipped cream, more mini marshmallows and cashews. 
7. Enjoy this cozy cashew latte!

Candied Pecan Bacon

Difficulty: Easy • 12 Servings • Total Time: 1 Hour

Ingredients:

• 1 Pack 16 oz of Black Label Thick Cut Bacon 
• ¾ Cup Sugar
• ¼ Cup Brown Sugar
• ⅓ Cup Water
• 1 Pack 5.5 oz Planters Limited Edition Kettle Cooked Butter Cinnamon Pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degree fahrenheit. Evenly lay bacon onto a greased wired rack on top of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes or until crispy.
2. In a medium sized saucepan add sugars and water. Cook until the consistency turns into a syrup. 
3. Add chopped cinnamon pecans to the syrup. Once combined, turn off the heat and carefully spoon the nut mixture onto each piece of bacon. 
4. Let cool for 5 minutes before enjoying these delicious candied bacon strips!

DIY Chocolate Bars

Difficulty: Easy • 3 Chocolate Bars • Total Time: 35 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 Milk Chocolate Candy Bar

• 2 Tablespoons Planters Lightly Salted Whole Cashews 
• 2 dried apricots chopped 
• 10 raisins
• 10 yellow raisins 
• 1 Tablespoon of dark chocolate nibs  

1 White Chocolate Candy Bar

• ¼ cup Planters Cocoa Almonds
• 3 Dried Oranges 
• ¼ cup Edible Flowers 

1 Dark Chocolate Candy Bar

•  ½ cup Planters Limited Edition Kettle Cooked Butter Cinnamon Pecans 
• 1 ½ Tablespoons pistachios 
• A pinch of raspberry powder

Directions:

1. One at a time set a chocolate with the backside up into a microwave for 10 seconds. 
2. You just want the top of the chocolate bar to soften slightly. 
3. Next, arrange the toppings of your choice on each of the chocolate bars. Once finished let them set in the freezer for about 10 minutes or until the chocolate has completely hardened.
4. Enjoy your very own custom chocolate bars! It’s the perfect holiday gift!

Holiday Nut Crunch Rocky Road 

Difficulty: Easy • 12 Servings • Total Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:  

• 3 cups Holiday Nut Crunch 
• 3 cup semisweet chocolate chips 
• 4 cups pink mini marshmallows

Directions:

1. In a crockpot set on high add semisweet chocolate chips and melt completely.
2. Mix Holiday Nut Crunch into the melted chocolate and then turn off the heat.
3. Let chocolate cool for about 2-3 minutes, then fold in the mini marshmallows. Try not to over mix so the mini marshmallows stay whole. 
4. Pour chocolate onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and let chill in the freezer for about 20 minutes or until completely solid. 
5. Cut the fudge into bars and enjoy this deliciously festive treat!

Brittle Nut Gingersnap Whoopie Pies

Difficulty: Medium • 12 Servings • Total Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour 
• 2 Teaspoons ground ginger 
• 1 Teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 Teaspoons cinnamon 
• ½ Teaspoon clove
• ¼ Teaspoon Salt 
• 1 Teaspoons Baking Soda 
• ½ Teaspoon Baking powder
• ⅓ cup Molasses 
• ⅔ Cup Sugar 
• ½ cup Vegetable oil 
• 1 egg

Filling and Toppings

• 2 cups Planters Brittle Nut Medley (chopped)
• 8 ounces Cream Cheese 
• 1 stick or ½ cup Unsalted Butter 
• 4 cupsPowdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract 

Directions:

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside. 
2. In a separate bowl whisk together all of your wet ingredients. (sugar is included) A mess free alternative to mix the wet ingredients is to add them into a mason jar and shake until combined!
3. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to mix together. Mix until dry ingredients are no longer visible. Plastic wrap bowl and let chill in fridge for about 1 ½ hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Take the chilled dough out of the fridge and use a medium sized ice cream scoop to create 24 small balls. 
5. Set the dough balls about 1 ½ inches apart on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
6. While whoopie pies are cooling, prepare the cream cheese frosting! In a medium sized mixing bowl add room temperature cream cheese and butter. Using a hand mixer cream together until smooth. With the mixer on its lowest setting slowly add the powder sugar and the vanilla extract. 
7. Fill the frosting into a piping bag fit with a star tip. Starting from the center create a spiral with the frosting on one of the whoopie pies. Sandwich the frosting together using another whoopie pie. 
8. Roll the frosting filled sandwich into chopped Planters Brittle Nut Medley.
9. These whoopie pies are going to be the star of the show at your next gathering! Enoy!

Dipped Mixed Nut Cookie Reindeer

Difficulty: Medium • 15 Servings • Total Time: 40 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour 
• 7 ounces of marzipan
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar 
• 1 egg white 

Toppings

• 1 cup Planters Deluxe Salted Mixed Nuts (chopped)
• 1 egg white 
• ½ cup melted milk chocolate 
• 30 candy eyes 
• 15 medium sized red sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. 
2. In a food processor add all dough ingredients. Mix until a dough forms and pulls from the sides slightly.
3. Using a medium sized ice cream scoop make 15 dough balls. Roll each dough ball into a log and brush with egg white. Then roll the logs in chopped Planters Deluxe Salted Mixed Nuts. Take the ends of each log and carefully push them together to create a “U” shape.
4. Set each “U” shaped cookie onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake for 15 minutes.
5. Once baked and cooled, dip the ends of each cookie into melted chocolate. Using the melted chocolate as a glue, dip each candy eye and red sprinkle into the chocolate. Place them onto the almond cookie to resemble a reindeer face. Let set in the fridge for 10 minutes.
6. Enjoy these festive Planters dipped mixed nut reindeer cookies!