Sriracha Spiced Nuts and Bolts
These are not your Grandma’s Nuts & Bolts
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OK, it’s time to bring out all of the favorite family recipes. The ones that call for cups of butter, sugar, oil, nuts, cream cheese, heavy cream. You know the ones I’m talking about.
Over the years I have modified some of those recipes to reduce the artery-clogging ingredients and substitute with lighter, but still delicious versions.
I don’t eliminate all of the fat, as we well know fat = flavor.
You can use plain greek yogurt in place of mayo and sour cream, Neufchatel in place of cream cheese. There are a variety of flours to make holiday foods gluten-free.
A favorite snack in my family was my Grandmother’s Nuts and Bolts. It was buttery and salty and addictive. She made it more than once during the holidays. And we ate it as fast as she could make it.
Recently, because I have fallen in love with Sriracha, I decided to spice up her version of Nuts and Bolts. I reduced the butter and upped the spices. It’s what I like to call…
Not Your Grandma’s Nuts & Bolts
Here is the recipe I use for my favorite version:
Not Your Grandma’s Nuts & Bolts
Ingredients
- 3 cups Cheerios (in the yellow box)
- 3 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 2 cups Mixed nuts
- 2 cups Pretzel sticks
- 2 cups Cheez-it or goldfish crackers
- 6 Tbsp Butter
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 Tbsp Sriracha sauce
- 1 tsp Adobo
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
Instructions
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In a large pan, melt butter and add all spices.
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Add snack ingredients to melted butter mixture and mix well.
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Spread in a single layer on a large baking dish.
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Bake at 250° for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. Let cool and store in an airtight container.
I would say it would stay fresh for about 2 weeks, but since it usually doesn’t last longer than 5 days at my house I really can’t say with any certainty. Might as well eat it up.
I love the versatility of this recipe. The quantity of dry snack/cereal ingredients to butter should remain fairly constant but this snack is wide open to different nuts, crackers, cereals (except Fruit Loops and Cap’n Crunch). In the past I have used dry-roasted peanuts, Hot and Spicy Cheez-its, cheddar cheese Goldfish, bagel chips, Mickey pretzels…you see where I’m going with this. It’s a fun one to play around with.
Give it as a gift or take it to the office parties, it is a spicy alternative to the cheese and cracker plate (although I love those, too). While I don’t consider Sriracha especially hot, you may have to adjust the heat if you have folks who cannot tolerate spicy foods. You might reduce the Sriracha and increase the Worcestershire to scale back the spiciness to suit people who prefer a tamer version. I seriously prefer not to do that.
It’s time to make something sweet now to counter the spicy I have eaten today. Let me know if you like my version of Sriracha Nuts & Bolts.
