Looking for a sweet afternoon snack? Learn how to make tea-infused caramel that you can use to coat all your favorite nuts and seeds! A handful of nuts contains a perfect balance of fats, proteins, carbs, and fiber making it the perfect afternoon pick-me-up.

But, let's face it day after day throwing back a cups worth could get a little boring. Plus, I know I always crave something a little sweet after lunch. This recipe satisfies your sweet tooth while still getting all those nutty benefits. Use a mix of whatever nuts or seeds you'd like but I'll leave my suggestions in the recipe ingredients. Make a batch on Monday and enjoy it throughout the week!

Throwing this recipe over the top is the delicious White Toasted Coconut caramel. This tea blend is a coconut lover's dream. It's light and creamy and just a bit sweet! It's also low in caffeine so I don't have to worry about enjoying a mug too late in the day. Using it to make caramel is just too good, I have a hard time saying no to coconut caramel combinations. This is the first time I used an infused water to make my own caramel sauce and I was so happy with the results.

Tips from the Chef

Before we get into the recipe let's start with some basic tips on cooking sugar.

First off, watch out- this stuff is HOT! Always use caution when caramelizing sugar. If it gets on your skin it will quickly burn you and it can be sticky and hard to wipe off quickly. It's best to not let kids help with recipes involving homemade caramel. There are different ways to cook sugar but we will be using a wet method. This method does leave some room for error, but with these tips, you'll master it in no time.

1. Always use a clean pot! Clean it once, and then go back and clean it twice. While making caramel we want to avoid sugar crystallization. Foreign objects in your sugar or left behind on your pot might cause your sugar to convert itself back into crystal form and there is no way to fix it once it does.

2. Don't stir! Cooking sugar using the wet method needs to be left alone. Stirring can also cause crystallization. But keep a close eye on it! Sugar goes from perfect to burnt in just a few seconds.

3. Keep a pastry brush in a cup of warm water close by. If you see any clumps of sugar jump up and crystalize on the side of your pot you can use the pastry brush over the sugar to wash it back down to continue cooking before it crystalized the whole pot
Caramel Nut Clusters with White Toasted Coconut Tea

The Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup water
1/4 cup loose White Toasted Coconut tea
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons butter, or dairy-free butter
1 1/2 cups assorted nuts or seeds (I used almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pistachios)
3/4 cup coconut chips

Directions

1. Optional: Toast nuts and coconut on a dry sheet pan in the oven at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. Start the caramel only after they're toasted.

2. Prepare a sheet tray with parchment paper and set aside

3. Warm the water up to 180 degrees and steep your tea for 3 minutes. Strain well and then pour into a pot.

4. Add all of the sugar and cream of tartar into your water and stir gently until all the sugar is hydrated. Make sure the sides of your pot are clean of sugar granules by using a wet pastry brush

5. Turn the heat to medium and let the sugar cook until it reaches a warm amber color. This will take about 5 minutes but keep a close eye on your pot. Sugar can change stages and burn very quickly! Also, continuously check to make sure sugar crystals aren't jumping up on the walls of your pot during the cooking process. If it does, again, clean it off with your pastry brush

6. Once the amber color is achieved remove from heat and add your butter all at once and stir continuously with a long rubber spatula. Once the butter is added the caramel will bubble up and nearly triple in size. Be careful but keep stirring.

7. After the caramel has settled back down, add your toasted nuts and coconut in and stir.

8. Then, quickly spoon small piles of the caramel-coated nuts onto the prepared parchment-lined tray. The caramel will start to harden pretty quickly so work fast

9. Let cool, and enjoy! Store in an airtight container.