Before you turn your nose up to a Grape Nuts dessert, hear me out. This candy, a twist on the classic Greek sesame seed treat, is a sweet, sophisticated confection jazzed up with orange zest and cinnamon. Our 4 ingredient Grape Nuts Pasteli Bars is an easy and ideal vegetarian dessert. Not only is the flavor spot on, the blend of chewy honey (or maple syrup for non-honey-eaters) and crunchy Grape Nuts is oh-so satisfying. I promise, this candy-like treat bears no resemblance to a sad bowl of cereal longing for flavor.
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Ingredients & Substitutions
This will be a quick overview since there are only 4 ingredients (you probably figured that out by the clever recipe name). Of course, with so few ingredients, the quality of each is key.
- Grape Nuts - yep, the cereal. The crunchy nuggets, not the flakes. Fun fact, Grape Nuts have been around since 1897! True story.
- Honey or maple syrup - I prefer honey, however, for those who don't eat honey, maple syrup works too. Either is necessary for to add chew and sweetness, as well as to hold everything together. Make sure you use good stuff since the flavor is prominent.
- Orange zest - Adds another depth of flavor
- Cinnamon - Just a touch to add some warmth
Recipe Questions & Intentions
Like most of you, I've got friends and family in my sphere with different dietary needs. I created these for a few folks that stick to a vegetarian diet.
Yes! Getting the sweetener to a specific temperature (about 245° F) ensures the Pasteli reach the soft ball stage which keeps the bars chewy and not hard like brittle.
A thermometer is definitely helpful. My favorite is the Thermapen. If you don't have a thermometer, you can drop a tiny amount of the hot sweetener into a cold glass of water. If it forms a small, soft ball (thus the name, soft ball stage) it's ready to go. If you get the sweetener too hot, not to worry. You'll still have a great dessert but it will be more like a hard brittle than a chewy Pasteli.
Indeed! In my opinion, these candies are better with local, small batch honeys, as opposed to mass produced honey that have additives. Same goes true for maple syrup.
No, the world will implode into a massive black hole disrupting the space/time continuum forever. Okay, that's not gonna happen. Grape Nuts is kinda the point to this dessert and there isn't another cereal out there, that I'm aware of, with that signature texture and crunch. If you try these with Rice Krispies, let me know how it turns out...assuming you haven't reversed the effects of gravity and sent the earth off its axis.
Storage and Presentation
As long as your kitchen isn't too hot, the Pasteli will be fine kept in an air-tight container on the counter. For a firmer treat, you can keep them in the fridge. They will keep for about a week.
For a lovely (albeit time consuming) presentation, individually wrap each candy in it's own wrapper and fill up a candy dish. To wrap individually, cut a parchment paper rectangle three times the size of your treat (cut one and use as a template to make many at once). Center the Pasteli on one long end of the paper, right at the edge, and roll up like a burrito. Then, hold each end between your thumb and forefinger and twist in opposite directions. Viola.
Equipment
- Kitchen scale: This isn't a recipe that will be a total fail if you don't weigh ingredients, but it does make life a little more predictable.
- Silicone mat: Parchment paper will do the trick to, but a silicone mat is a bit easier to work with.
- Small saucepan: a heavy bottomed pot works best so your sweetener doesn't burn.
- Citrus zester: my hands-down favorite tool for zesting is this microplane. No kitchen should be without.
- Cooking thermometer: Hands-down Thermapen is the best; the waterproof feature is my favorite.
Cooking Tip: Heat your sweetener low and slow so you don't overshoot your 245° target.
PrintGrape Nuts Pasteli
- Total Time: 25 minutes + cooling
- Yield: 24 candies 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Grape Nuts Pasteli, a sweet, sophisticated confection, has only 4 ingredients and is a breeze to make. This might be a vegetarian dessert but even omnivores will enjoy.
Ingredients
- 195 grams (1 ½ cups) Grape Nuts cereal (crunchy nuggets, not flakes)
- 200 grams (½ cup) honey or maple syrup
- 1 ½ teaspoons orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Place large rectangle of parchment paper or silicon mat on cutting board (pro tip: weigh down a corner so it doesn't blow away)
- Pour Grape Nuts into large bowl. Set aside
- In small, heavy bottomed pot, heat honey or maple syrup slowly over medium low heat until it reaches 245° F
- Once temperature has been reached remove from heat and stir in orange zest and cinnamon
- Pour mixture over Grape Nuts and stir until well combined
- Spread mixture onto prepared parchment; top with another layer of parchment paper and flatten with a rolling pin or your oven-mitted hand (careful of the heat!) to about ¼ inch; remove top layer of parchment paper
- Let cool for 15 minutes; gently turn Grape Nuts over onto cutting board; remove remaining parchment paper (pro tip: do not wait longer than 15 minutes for this step or you will have a frustratingly difficult time removing the paper)
- Cut into 1"x2" rectangles
- Wrap individually (see note above) or store between layers of parchment.
Notes
- Seriously, if you used parchment paper, don't wait longer than 15 minutes to remove the bottom layer. You will be a sad camper.
- The temperature of the sweeter is key to achieving the chewy texture of these confections. If they temp gets hotter than 245°, you will have a hard brittle-like candy. Still good, but not what we were intending.
- Nutrition information below is provided as a courtesy only and is estimated with honey by Nutrifox.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes + cooling
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Candy Making
- Cuisine: Greek
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 candies
- Calories: 110
- Sugar: 15.1 g
- Sodium: 76.2 mg
- Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.9 g
- Protein: 1.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Michaela Freed says
Hurray, this is just the right information that I needed. You make me want to learn more! Stop by my page QN7 about Domains.
Nancy says
I first created these as a birthday treat for my stepdad who is an "esselstyn" vegan. They were a huge hit and are now on regular rotation.