I’m an inveterate snacker. So much so, in fact, that the first thing I do when I arrive anywhere is to seek out a little something to nibble on. I love the snacks that start a meal – the nuts and crisps and dips – and the squares of chocolate or brittle that end it. I love sweet snacks to go with my mid-morning coffee and savoury snacks that pair so well with an evening drink. Like a kid, I love the crunch, I love eating with my hands, and I love coming back for more. So, today, three snacks to reach for at various points throughout your day.
Cashew, coconut and lime leaf brittle
This works both as a snack by itself or crumbled into all sorts of salads. Once made, it will keep well in an airtight container for up to a week.
Prep 10 min
Cook 30 min+
Serves 4
200g cashew nuts, roughly bashed and broken with a rolling pin
50g desiccated coconut
70ml maple syrup
10g makrut lime leaves, stems and ribs removed, leaves very finely chopped
Salt
Heat the oven to 160C (140C fan)/310F/gas 2½ and line a large oven tray with baking paper. Put all the ingredients in a medium bowl with an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, mix to combine, then tip half the mix on to one side of the lined tray and the other half on the other side.
Spread out each half into a rough rectangle and press down evenly with your hands. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until deeply golden, then remove and set aside to cool completely. Once cool, break into whatever sized shards you like.
Za’atar and gruyère sticks
These savoury snacks, a Middle Eastern take on Romanian cheese sticks, or saratele, make the perfect nibble to go with an aperitif. Such a short list of ingredients featuring two types of salt might look a bit much, but the flaked salt adds a lot in terms of texture. Once baked, these will keep in an airtight container for up to two days.
Prep 10 min
Rest 30 min
Cook 13 min
Serves 4
125g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
3 tbsp za’atar
80g gruyère, finely grated
Table salt and pepper
90g fridge-cold unsalted butter, cut into 1½cm cubes
1 egg, lightly beaten
Flaked sea salt
Put the the flour in the bowl of a food processor with half the za’atar, 70g cheese, half a teaspoon of table salt and a good grind of black pepper, and pulse to combine. Add the butter and blitz until the mixture comes together into a soft, pliable dough.
Shape the dough into a rough rectangle and put between two sheets of greaseproof paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a larger rectangle of about 18cm x 14cm x 1cm thick. Slide the dough, still between the paper, on to a large baking tray, peel off the top sheet (save this to use again later) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Remove the tray from the fridge, slide off the baking paper with the dough on it and, working quickly, use a large knife or pastry cutter to cut it into roughly 7cm x 1½cm sticks. Re-roll any off-cuts and repeat until all the dough is cut into sticks.
Lay the reserved sheet of baking paper on the tray and transfer the dough sticks on to it, keeping them 2cm apart. Brush the tops with the beaten egg, then sprinkle over the remaining 10g cheese and an eighth of a teaspoon of flaked sea salt.
Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the tray once halfway, until the sticks are golden and cooked through. As soon as they come out of the oven, sprinkle over the remaining tablespoon and a half of za’atar, then set aside to cool before serving.
Berry leather with sumac sugar
This is a useful recipe for when you have a glut of fruit, or when those random bits of frozen fruit at the back of the freezer need using up. You can make it with just about any fruit you have to hand – just adjust the sugar level according to your desired sweetness. Once made, these keep well in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Prep 10 min
Cook 5 hr 10 min
Makes 16
750g mixed frozen berries, defrosted and sieved
3 tbsp maple syrup
Salt
½ tbsp sumac
½ tsp caster sugar
16 x 7cm-long pieces of butcher’s string
Put the sieved berries in a food processor and blitz smooth. Set a sieve over a large saucepan, pour in the blitzed fruit and pass it through the sieve, using a spatula to help scrape the mixture until only the seeds remain in the sieve.
Put the pan on a high heat and cook the strained berries, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, until the puree thickens enough that a clear patch remains at the bottom of the pan when a spoon is scraped through it – the more moisture you remove at this step, the less your drying time will be. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the maple syrup and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt.
Heat the oven to very low – 80C (60C fan)/175F. Line a shallow 22cm x 30cm baking tray with greaseproof paper or a silicone mat. Pour the mixture into the tray and, using a spatula, spread it out evenly to cover. Bake in the low oven for five hours, until the sides of the leather start peeling away easily from the paper and the surface is sticky, but not so much that it comes away on your finger. Remove from the oven and leave to cool; while it’s still warm, trim the sides, if need be, to create a neat, symmetrical rectangle.
Using scissors or a very sharp knife, cut the cooled leather in half lengthways, and then cut each half widthways into eight pieces, so you have 16 equal rectangular strips. Cut a sheet of greaseproof paper into 16 strips the same size as the strips of fruit leather.
In a small bowl, rub together the sumac and sugar. Sprinkle the fruit leather with some of the sumac sugar, place on a strip of the paper and roll up tightly into a coil. Tie the rolled-up fruit leather with a piece of the string, to secure, and repeat with the remaining leather, paper strips and string.
