Pretty, healthy snacks with interesting and complex flavors can be hard to come by.  But look no further!

On a recent visit to my parents’ and sisters’ home, I was poking around in the pantry for inspiration.  My mother is recovering from major surgery and a lengthy hospital stay and I was there, in part, to prepare some meals.  I discovered some dates and pecans and, while I didn’t cook with them, I was reminded of a favorite treat my late paternal grandmother used to make at Christmastime: pitted dates stuffed with pecan halves and rolled in powdered sugar.  So pleasantly sweet, slightly sticky, creamy-chewy and crunchy—the best of all worlds!

Back home in my own pantry were some dried pitted prunes and smoked almonds.  Perfect substitutes.  And while I also had some powdered sugar, I wanted a more savory note.  So, steps away on the counter was my always-full canister of nutritional yeast.  And there was the final ingredient!

Here is all you do for tasty little morsels that are just as appropriate for after school snacks as they are for a formal party or a gift from your kitchen:

Dried pitted plums (you may substitute dates or dried apricots)

Whole smoked almonds (feel free to substitute roasted almonds, pecan halves, etc.)

Nutritional yeast flakes

Place nutritional yeast in a shallow bowl.  Insert a smoked almond into each pitted plum and roll in nutritional yeast.  Alternatively, you can lay the almonds on the pitted plums and fold the plums around the almonds, pressing firmly to adhere like a little taco.  Repeat as desired.  Serve immediately or cover tightly until serving time.  For more formal presentations or to give as gifts, I like to serve the Pigs in Plums in miniature muffin liners or candy papers on a tray, as in the photo.