I cannot express how much I adore candied walnuts. I love them especially with blue cheese. I love them in salads, on ice cream, or even on their own! Little did I know they were so easy to make! I find pre-made candied walnuts are really expensive to buy, plus they have alot of extra ingredients like preservatives etc. Who needs them anyway? I think I may have had half of the recipe from Smitten Kitchen as they were cooling so note to self, maybe double the recipe.
I especially like the sweet and spicy aspect of these walnuts. You can even add fresh herbs like rosemary if you want to kick them up a notch. I looked through a couple of recipes and this one struck my fancy because it had minimal ingredients and was super easy to make. Did I mention they were absolutely delicious? Because they were! I will be using these walnuts later on in the week to make a delicious salad so stay tuned for the recipe!
Sweet & Spicy Candied Walnuts
Ingredients:1/3 cup dark-brown sugar
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt (I might up this by a 1/2 tsp. next time for more of a sweet/salty balance)
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pound walnut or pecan halves or whole peeled hazelnuts
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tablespoon water
Directions:Preheat oven to 300 F. Mix sugars, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon, making sure there are no lumps; set aside. Beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff. Add walnuts, and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture, and toss until evenly coated. Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven, and separate nuts as they cool. When completely cool, pour the nuts into a bowl, breaking up any that stick together.
