For almost every holiday for as long as I can remember, my Aunt Connie brings the most amazing sweet, spicy, delicious mixed nuts to munch on as an appetizer. These things are addictive, and the sweet, salty, and spicy flavor combination is out of this world. Zach and I are having some friends over tonight, and I adapted her recipe to serve these as a snack before dinner (chili and cornbread… yum!)
Of course, all of this is contingent on me not eating the entire batch before our company arrives. Well… whatever happens, happens. I cannot guarantee anything.
Nuts are a filling, healthy food. In addition to being a great snack to serve to company, these would be excellent to take to work. They are far more interesting in taste than boring plain ol’ nuts, and have no refined sugar or oil or any icky ingredients packaged flavored nuts have!
Just toast 4 cups of nuts (I used almonds and cashews. If you have the option, get raw nuts. Since you will be roasting in the oven, pre-roasted nuts may turn out a bit dry.) in the oven for ten minutes on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Meanwhile, heat up a combination of maple syrup, honey, olive oil, crushed red pepper, and salt on the stovetop, in a saucepan large enough to hold all the nuts.
When the nuts are done toasting, mix with the other ingredients in the saucepan, and transfer back to the baking sheet. Back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes, allow to cool, and you’re done! Easiest thing ever.
The one tricky thing about these: they are sticky. While they are cooling, stir them around every once in a while so they don’t meld together, then transfer to an airtight container until you are ready to serve. Before serving, break them up a bit by shaking the container or with a wooden spoon so you don’t serve your guests a lump o’ nuts (albeit a tasty lump o’ nuts).
These will keep in an airtight container for about a week.
Wish me luck on resisting the temptation to keep eating these. Maybe I should try just a few more to make sure they are still delicious…
Yup, they are.
Hope you enjoy! :-)
Sweet and Spicy Roasted Nuts
Ingredients
- 4 cups nuts any combination of almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, etc.*
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spread nuts evenly on the prepared baking sheet and roast in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat remaining ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan (big enough to hold all of the nuts) over low heat and simmer until nuts are done toasting.
- Add toasted nuts to saucepan and stir to coat.
- Put the nuts back on the the prepared baking sheet and spread out in an even layer.
- Roast in the oven for another 7 minutes.
- Remove and allow to cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally so the nuts don't clump together.
- Once cool, place in a bowl to serve or an airtight container until you are ready to serve.
Notes
- These will keep for about a week in an airtight container.
- If you have the option, get raw nuts. Since you are roasting in the oven anyway, they will be less dried out if you start with raw ones.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Patricia
Well I wouldn’t try to mix that up in the sauce pan on the stove again. Mine turned into one big gob that wouldn’t come off the spoon very easily. The pan was a bit of a challenge to clean as well.
For my second attempt, after the 5 minutes in the oven, I stirred the nuts in a bowl with the olive oil, turned them back out onto the parchment paper, dabbed off the extra oil with some paper towel, then sprinkled the brown sugar, salt, and spice around on the nuts and stirred and turned them over with a big spoon multiple times (right on the parchment). Then I finished the bake time (5 more minutes), cooled them and put them in an air tight container in the freezer. I think the second batch is better. Very little, if any, brown sugar or seasoning stayed on the nuts in the first batch.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Cleaning sticky sweet stuff off of pots and pans can be frustrating, I agree! I always have luck with a good soak in hot water, which kind of melts the sugars again and makes it easier to clean. Thanks for this feedback, I’ll give this recipe a try myself soon and see what I can do to edit the instructions to ensure a more consistent and better outcome.
Patricia Punzel
I think you’ll like the way they turn out with the second method, and also, it’s a much easier cleanup. Thank you for responding– not really used to seeing that these days 🙂
Elizabeth Lindemann
Of course! I’ll report back when I’ve tried it out and let you know how it goes :-)
Benjamin
I was invited to a Thanksgiving pot luck and didn’t want to bring yet another bean casserole or sweet potato / marshmallow dish. And since people tend to bring enough to feed an army, I wanted to go with something small, simple, and different. This fit the bill.
The recipe worked as advertised. I was concerned that the nuts would come out like brittle, but they separated perfectly. It wasn’t as spicy as I expected, but since the crushed red pepper expired a couple of years ago, I suspect they lost their power.
People at the party ate it up and there were none left for me to take home. I’ll be making a second batch, with fresh peppers this time.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it- I’d be interested to know how it comes out with fresh peppers! Love that idea!