Easy Spiced Nuts

~ 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!

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Easy Spiced Nuts

Super easy spiced nuts with a hint of warm fall spices and honey are great paired with your favorite brew, or even wine.

Ingredients:

1. • 3 cups mixed nuts (I used 1 cup (150gr) almonds, 1 cup (100gr) pecans, and 1 cup (100gr) walnuts)
2. • 1tablespoon sugar
3. • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
4. • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
5. • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
6. • 1/8 teaspoon ground clove
7. • ¼- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending how spicy you want)
8. • 3 tablespoons water
9. • 1 tablespoon honey
10. • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions:

1. 1. 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.
   2. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
   3. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
   4. 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.

All images and text ©Shinee D. for Sweet & Savory

All photographs and content on Sweet & Savory by Shinee is copyright protected, unless otherwise noted. Please do not use any of my photos without my authorization. If you would like to share my recipe, you may re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the full directions. Thank you for your cooperation!