Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Nuts about These


A friend gave me this recipe. She made them to top a salad, then brought out the rest after dinner and we couldn't stop eating them. Sweet, but not too sweet, with a hint of heat and a bit of spice. They are addicting.

Mine look a little gloppy in this picture. I'm trying to use up stuff from the freezer and didn't take time to thaw these pecans before adding them to the egg white mixture. Result - frozen egg whites stuck to the nuts, which didn't want to stick to the sugar. But they tasted fine.

I made a double batch and served them with drinks before dinner last weekend. They disappeared in a hurry. I'm saving the other batch as a snack for unpacking - we'll have a crowd helping out - yippee!


Candied Nuts

½ cup white sugar
2 ½ T brown sugar
½ - 1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of cayenne
1 large egg white (at room temperature if you remember)

Heat oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy, whisk in 1 T water until combined. Add 4-5 cups of nuts – walnuts, pecans or almonds. Stir to coast. Sprinkle on the sugar mixture and stir.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the nuts in a single layer on the sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, stir and continue baking until the nuts smell roasted, about another 15 minutes.

Let the nuts cool on the pan, then separate them. When completely cool transfer them to an airtight container. They’ll keep for two weeks. Or freeze them.

3 comments:

the hickles said...

Mmm, sounds amazing! I make candied almonds for salads, but this sounds SO yummy just for eating as a snack!

Vee said...

Yes, this is our family recipe, too, minus the heat. Wonder what would happen if I popped some in? I might get clobbered.

kitty@ Kitty's Kozy Kitchen said...

These sound wonderful! I have a recipe with sugar, some orange juice, cinnamon, cayenne, but no egg white, just butter. They’re good, too. I need to try yours!