COCONUT CRUNCH

KAREN'S COCONUT CRUNCH
1 cup finely chopped pecans (about 3 3/4 ounces) *
1 cup sliced almonds (3 ounces) *
18 grams unsweetened coconut (scant 1/2 cup or mounded 1/3 cup)
2 tablespoons Da Vinci sugar free syrup, vanilla or praline flavor
1 egg white
1/4 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
Pinch salt

Toss together the nuts and coconut in a medium bowl. Drizzle in the syrup and toss to coat the nuts. In a small bowl, beat the egg white with the Splenda and salt until soft peaks form. Add the egg whites to the nut mixture and gently toss to coat them well. Spread on a nonstick foil or Silpat lined baking sheet and bake at 350?for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Bake until crisp. Watch closely because they turn dark quickly near the end of the baking time.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups
Can be frozen

* Karen didn't specify if they should be whole nuts or chopped or if they should be raw, toasted or salted. See my comments below.

With granular Splenda:
Per 1/4 Cup: 144 Calories; 14g Fat; 3g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per 1/4 Cup: 142 Calories; 14g Fat; 3g Protein; 3.5g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 1.5g Net Carbs

This is from Karen Rysavy's "Cooking TLC" cookbook but I tweaked her recipe a bit. I wanted to make just half a recipe but I still used a whole egg white. I didn't have any walnuts or macadamia nuts so I used half pecans and half almonds. Karen didn't specify if the nuts should be whole or chopped, etc. so I used what I had on hand. I used praline Da Vinci syrup in mine. The pinch of salt was my idea because most nuts taste better with a bit of salt on them, even the sweet kind. If you use salted whole nuts, omit the extra salt. I recommend using a nonstick lining on your pan. I didn't and I had a hard time scraping the nuts off the foil.

I was expecting these to come out something like the Cocoa Coated Walnuts that I made recently, but these didn't form clusters. They're just lose nuts. I think that next time I will use one or two more egg whites and just whisk them with a fork instead of beating them until soft peaks form and see if they'll form crunchy clusters. This mixture is good in yogurt but I like my old Coconutty Crunch better. Click the photo to see a closeup.

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