When you want a sweet, crunchy, satisfying treat, but want to keep it light and nutrient rich, I have the recipe for you. For years this has been a go-to snack once the weather starts to cool and it makes an appearance on sweet or savory boards at holiday gatherings, too. With these maple roasted nuts with chia seeds you get a punch of flavor, the perfect amount of sweetness, and a satisfying crunch. Plus, this recipe delivers fiber and essential omega-3 fatty acids that help support healthy inflammatory responses for your active body.
Health Benefits of Nuts and Seeds
Both nuts and seeds are known for providing “healthy fats”, gut supportive fiber and a variety of vitamins and minerals. While some nuts provide a protein boost to recipes and snacks, such as pistachios and peanuts, pecans and walnuts are lower protein nuts. When it comes to healthy fats, both pecans and walnuts offer mono-unsaturated fats that are associated with better inflammatory responses. Walnuts though are the only nut that is an excellent source of omega-3 ALA with 2.5 grams in a one ounce serving.
The addition of chia seeds adds a fun crunch, but also provides another sprinkle of ALA along with fiber. When eaten in higher amounts, such as adding a tablespoon to oatmeal, chia seeds offer additional protein to meals as well as calcium, magnesium and other minerals.
While yes, sugar is sugar for the average American, athletes and highly active adults need more carbohydrate to power exercising muscles and active brains. So, with more wiggle room for sweets, the added nutrition from non-refined sources such as pure maple and raw honey can add up. Maple syrup provides small amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and over 25 antioxidant compounds.
Anti-inflammatory snacks for athletes
Keeping inflammation at bay is crucial to athletes who are constantly beating their bodies down and active adults who have a million things on their to-do list. Eating more healthy fats is an important component of injury prevention, recovery, and even cognition.
So many snacks for athletes and active individuals are focused solely on protein. While protein is an important nutrient I talk about often, we can’t let our protein goals result in lack of intake of other important foods like produce, nuts and seeds.
So, make a triple batch of these maple roasted nuts with chia seeds to have on hand to add to your breakfast bowl or pancakes, pack as a snack for work, or use as a salad topper. Have a holiday event coming up? Pack into an aesthetic storage container and deliver as a gift to the host.
Maple Roasted Nuts with Chia Seeds
When you need a sweet, crunchy, satisfying snack with added nutrition, these maple roasted nuts with chia seeds are it!
- 1 cup raw pecans
- 1 cup raw walnut halves
- 3 tbsp 100% pure maple syrup
- ½ tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp chia seeds heaping
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
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Set oven to 275º F and add nuts to a medium mixing bowl.
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Pour maple syrup and vanilla to nuts and stir to coat.
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Sprinkle over chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt. Stir again to incorporate.
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Spray a baking sheet lightly with cooking spray before spreading the nut mixture out evenly. Pour any excess liquid from the bowl over the nuts.
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Bake for 20 minutes, removing to stir halfway through. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving or storing.
