My Family #GoNutsForNuts when I dish up the Cocoa Almond Caramel Pie during the holiday Season #recipe

Oh it’s this time of the year and the advent season is very near. Growing up in Germany, advent season was always a special one and nuts always were a special part of our Christmas season. We had nuts and fruit every year on our living room table as décor and snacks to nibble on. St. Nikolaus always brought nuts along with fruit gifts in his stockings, too. I love nuts and can’t imagine an advent and Christmas season without nuts.

Nuts are a big part not only of my Christmas tradition but also of my life and I love to include them in cooking and baking and each year I make a traditional Christmas recipe that my family always enjoyed as long as I can remember. It is simple but OHHH so yummy and now I decided my famous nut pie would be perfect to share with all of you, too. While shopping at Walmart the other day for some of our Thanksgiving feast ingredients I found a few Planter’s holiday items and even a sign for a downloadable app and that reminded me it’s time to pick up all my items for the nut pie.

You can use many different nuts, but this year I found a new product the Planter’s Cocoa Almonds and I just knew they would be perfect for my nut pie. The app was quickly loaded on my phone, too and I couldn’t believe all the fun recipes and ideas they had to offer along with selfie feature with Mr. Peanut himself, super cool! You can download blippar for free on your apple, android, blackberry or windows device. It will be a lot of fun, I guarantee it! It’s simple to use as well. Just point the phone towards Mr. Peanut on your product and the fun begins!

I know you are dying to see the recipe of my famous nut pie, so without further delay, here it is. It’s so simple and takes hardly any time at all. The longest is waiting for the sugar to turn into caramel, don’t give up, it may take a good 15 minutes or even 20, and will go through different color and texture stages before it turns into caramel, but it is super easy and after you made it you will say “Wow, why haven’t I made caramel before”.

Now wasn’t that super easy? My kids loved it and even one of my Son’s friends couldn’t wait till it was completely cooled and she asked to try it and said “Wow, I have never tasted anything like it… this is amazing!”. I just smiled and said “Well, that’s German baking at its best, glad you like it, eat up there is more”.

I bet if you are looking for something to bring for a Christmas party this holiday season that is both simple and will impress, this will be a hit with everyone. We traditionally use apricot jam or jelly on the crust but we all know traditions are meant to be broken and new ones to be started so why not experiment and try your own flavors like maybe raspberry or oranges? I bet you could add a little of your very own twist to this and if you aren’t crazy about almonds, Planter’s has many different nuts in their assortment that would be wonderful in this pie, too.

If you need more inspiration, check out the Cooking Up Good website. They have recipes, sweepstakes, loyalty programs, coupons and more! What’s not to love? If you’re looking for a new dinner idea or a chance to win some awesome prizes, be sure to check it out!

There you have one of our many Christmas traditions this time of the year, be sure to come back often for many more. From my family to yours, happy Holidays. #CollectiveBias

Do you include nuts in your Christmas celebrations with your family? Would love to hear your favorite recipe idea or story.