Candied Nuts

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Recipe from Christy Elias. Made these using walnuts for a Strawberry Spinach Salad for Alyssa's graduation party. Although they were good when I ate them plain, something was a little off for me when combined in the salad. I added the optional cinnamon to the recipe, perhaps that was why??? Please note, I received lots of compliments on this salad so perhaps it was just me??? I want to check the ingredients for some other candied nuts recipes and tweak this before making again. I liked how easy the recipe was so I hope I can figure this out!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 2/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 2 t kosher salt
• generous pinch of cayenne pepper or cinnamon, optional
• 1 lb walnuts or pecan halves
• 1 egg white, room temperature
• 1 T water

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets w/silicone baking liners or parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix the sugars, salt, & cayenne or cinnamon (if using), making sure there are no lumps, and set aside. You can use your fingers to get out the clumps. Beat egg white and water until frothy, but not stiff. Add nuts to egg white wash and stir to coat evenly. Add nuts to bowl with the sugar mixture and toss with your hands until evenly coated. Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on the baking sheets. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and separate nuts as they cool. Some may stick together. When completely cool, pour the nuts into a bowl, breaking up any as needed. The nuts will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for a week, or frozen for up to 6 months.

TIP: I roughly cut my walnuts up into smaller pieces because I wanted to use it in a salad. This worked well, providing a nice size nut that was evenly coated with sweetness for the salad. Also, wait until the nuts have been in the oven for about 20 minutes for the first stirring, otherwise the coating is really liquidy and sticks all over your spatula, making more of a mess.