This year I joined in on Food52’s Holiday Gift Swap. It was simple, all I had to do was  make a donation to their designated charity and promise to send a food-centric gift by Dec. 10th.  A couple of days later, I received my “Secret Santa” swapee’s name and address.  My swappee lives in Colorado, I already had a list of go to items I wanted to send her like Jule’s granola and my cousin’s spiced pecans.

My box of goodies came from Catherine of Salt Lake City.  Like a kid in a candy store, I quickly tore the box open and discovered a treasure trove of gifts, sweet and salty chocolate sprinkles, popcorn seasoning, salad toppings, a too cute kitchen towel and a delicious cereal mix- Ashure Cereal that I started munching on immediately.  Luckily, Cathy included the recipe by Saimin Nosrat in the NY Times. It starts with a base of puffed wheat, nuts, and sesame seeds.  Then spiced with cinnamon, cardamon and mahaleb, (a middle eastern spice from cherry seeds, think bitter almond) and finally toasted in the oven with brown sugar, honey and oil.  It is addictively delicious.

After scarffing down the bag, I knew I had to make my own batch.

This is where the search begins…

I head to my favorite market, International Food Bazaar.  I unwittingly thought that the spices would be the hardest to find. Surprisingly not true.  Most of the ingredients and spices can also be found online.

With Mahaleb in hand, I head to my neighborhood grocery for the puffed wheat cereal…

4 STORES later, I walk out empty-handed and dejected.  Not a bag or box of puffed wheat to be found.  Apparently it is really hard to find puffed cereals without sugar added.  Who would have “thunk” it?

I took to the internet, and found Vitacost, a supplement/health food site where I not only find Puffed Wheat, but Puffed Kamut (an ancient grain), Puffed Corn and Puffed Rice. You can find Puffed Rice by Quaker Oats in the supermarket, a great alternative for a gluten free version. I like Puffed Kamut. I would definitely cut a bit of the cereal and add more nuts and Mahaleb.  Watch carefully when baking as it browns fairly quickly.  I love it over yogurt and fresh fruit or straight out of hand.

So be forewarned, the most difficult ingredient to find will be the cereal.  But it will be well worth it, Ashure Cereal is absolutely delicious.

Here, for you to drool over, my Food 52 holiday swap gift  from Cathy!

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Ashure Cereal

Course Snack

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Keyword cereal

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

30 minutes minutes

Servings 10 servings

Author Adapted from NYT

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup /85 grams neutral-tasting oil such as canola
• 6 tablespoons /110 grams honey
• 1⁄2 cup /110 grams dark brown sugar packed
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground mahaleb increase to 3/4 -1
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 10 cups /160 grams puffed wheat sub Puffed Kamut or Rice
• 3/4 Scant cup /85 grams halved pecans increase to 1 cup
• 1⁄3 cup /50 grams pumpkin seeds
• 3 tablespoons /30 grams sesame seeds
• 1⁄2 cup /85 grams almonds very roughly chopped, or left whole with skin

Instructions

Step 1

• Adjust oven racks to lower-middle and upper-middle positions. Heat to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

Step 2

• Combine oil, honey and sugar in a medium saucepan, and set over medium-high heat. Whisk well, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.

Step 3

• In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, and mix well. Once the honey mixture comes to a boil, carefully pour it over the dry ingredients. Working quickly, use a large silicone spatula to stir, turning the contents of the bowl over until everything is coated evenly with the syrup. Transfer mixture to baking sheets, and use spatula to flatten out cereal into an even layer.

Step 4

• Place baking sheets on prepared oven racks, and bake for 10 minutes.
• Carefully remove 1 tray at a time, and use spatula to stir cereal around. Rotate trays 180 degrees, and switch oven positions to ensure even baking. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes longer, until golden brown and well caramelized. Remove from oven, and allow to cool entirely on the trays before breaking cereal into large clusters.

Step 5

• Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Happy holidays and happy baking!