Snack Bar

When I was growing up in Delhi, my mother regularly deep-fried cashews for us in a karhai (wok). She would scoop the nuts up from the hot oil with a slotted spoon and leave them to drain on a crisp sheet of brown paper—the same kind she used to cover our schoolbooks. My father ate them with his evening whisky-and-soda and the rest of us nibbled on them with our soft drinks. I have now taken to roasting the cashews instead. Nothing could be easier.

You'll be cackling with delight as you roll bread dough into these shockingly realistic gnarled fingers. Turn them into the centerpiece of a Halloween party.

Better than any store-bought energy bars, these are great for breakfast-on-the-go, brown-bag lunches, and snacks. Make a batch on the weekend to get you through the work week.

Food editor Maggie Ruggiero touts these amber bars as the love child of rice krispie treats and those sesame candies sold at natural foods stores. They're nutty, both crisp and chewy, and just a bit crumbly—the perfect afternoon snack.

This recipe was a winner in the 2001 Plains Peanut Festival Recipe Contest in Plains, Georgia and appears here courtesy of the The Peanut Institute. It was also reprinted in Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. Clark writes: This prizewinning recipe offers a yummy alternative to commercial energy bars. These homemade bars are perfect for when you are hiking or biking, as well as for a satisfying afternoon snack. They are relatively high in fat, but it's healthful fat from peanuts and sunflower seeds. For variety, make this recipe with cashews and cashew butter and add a variety of dried fruits (cranberries, cherries, and dates).

The richness of almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, and pistachios embodies the generosity of the season. A kiss of honey and brown sugar adds a sweet touch.

The coating on these nuts is wonderfully delicate, and the method couldn't be simpler.

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 10 min

These crunchy, sweet-tart chips are addictive — you'll definitely want to make them as a snack. The preparation is particularly easy with a nonstick baking pad. If you decide to use parchment paper instead, be prepared for some chips to stick to it. When they do, return them to the oven for 3 minutes to soften. Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 2 hr

If you ever saw the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy, then you remember what strange things can happen when something from one culture suddenly falls from the sky into another. Popped corn, to us, is the snack of American movie theaters. But give a bag of kernels to a Frenchman...

In the 1600s, "flapjack" referred to a thick pancake that was cooked on a skillet and turned by being tossed (flapped). By the 1930s, it had come to mean a biscuit like this, made from rolled oats, syrup and butter--sort of the granola bars of their day. They're the perfect thing to have with a cup of tea or coffee.

Take these olives along on your next picnic.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.