~ Super easy spiced nuts with a hint of warm fall spices and honey are great paired with your favorite brew, or even wine. ~
Well, hello there!
Beautiful Christmas cookie recipes are popping up everywhere on the web. Have you started the holiday cookie baking yet? I have, and it’s been so much fun. Next week, I’ll be sharing my favorite cookies of the season here on the blog. So make sure to stop by next week to check it out.
Now, I want to share with you my latest obsession: salty mixed nuts! They are quite addicting when paired with cold beer, or even wine. They are crunchy, salty, slightly spicy and with a hint of honey and cinnamon in the back. I know, lots of flavors going on here, but trust me they are so good. The most important requirement is fresh nuts! This is so important, because nuts turn rancid so quickly, especially walnuts and pecans. The quality of nuts directly affects the final result. No one wants to bite into bitter, sour nut.
My main goal was to produce crunchy, salty, slightly spicy nuts to serve at the parties with beer and wine. What I didn’t want was sticky, messy and gummy nuts. Grr, those are awful, right?
Here is what I did, and why.
- Toasting the nuts brings out aroma and intensifies their flavor.
- A little bit of honey and butter with water creates just the right amount of glaze to get the spices stick to the nuts.
- Then short baking dries the nuts, creating nice and crunchy salty snacks.
Even though we put some sugar and honey, these spiced nuts are not sweet at all. You’ll get just a hint of honey in the background, that’s all. I put ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and it was not very spicy. If you like more kick, feel free to add a little more than that.
It doesn’t require much time to make these mixed nuts. Hope you give this recipe a try.
Enjoy!
Easy Spiced Nuts
Ingredients
- 3 cups mixed nuts I used 1 cup (150gr almonds, 1 cup (100gr) pecans, and 1 cup (100gr) walnuts)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground clove
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper depending how spicy you want
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- Toast the nuts on the frying pan over medium high heat until fragrant, for 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Be careful not to burn them. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In large saucepan, combine water, honey and butter. Turn the heat to medium high and cook the mixture until butter is melted. Add the toasted nuts and cook until the most of the liquid is evaporated, stirring constantly, about 1-2 minutes. Nuts should be coated evenly. Remove from heat and add mixed spices. Mix well. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Store in airtight container for up to a week.
Nutrition
This recipe is so easy and they turned out awesome! The flavor is great! I will definitely be adding this one to my holiday traditions! I just used a tin of mixed nuts and that worked great! Thank you for this recipe!!!
Lori
Saskatchewan, Canada
Lori, I’m so glad to hear you made these spiced nuts and love it. 🙂 Thanks for your feedback.
Hello Shinee,
I love honey flavored nuts..not easy to get Planter’s peanuts where I live so I have wanted to check out such a recipe for the longest time.
it is interesting that you are roasting them twice. Once on the stove and once in the oven..I wouldn’t have thought of that!
thanks for sharing! I am going to try this for sure.
Hi, Pragari! I’m glad you found what you’re looking for here. The second roast is mostly to dry the nuts a bit for nice crunch. Let me know if you try the recipe. 🙂