FAMILY FAVORITES / Candied Nuts

You can make delicious candied nuts right in your own kitchen! Quickly make any salad extra-special with a handful of homemade candied nuts. These are also really good over yogurt w/ some fresh fruit or sprinkled on your oatmeal for breakfast. A little cellophane bag of these tied off with a pretty ribbon makes a great hostess gift. take a bowl of your candied nuts to book club for a guilt-free gluten-free sweet treat. Your kids will gobble up a handful of these almonds; they’re another great way to sneak in some protein for a sweet and satisfying snack.

Make a few batches of candied nuts all at one time. use almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews, or a mix of all your favorites. They store well in air-tight containers. hint: be sure they are totally cooled and have had a chance to sit and dry for at least a couple of hours before storing them in the airtight containers!

There are many different ways of making candied nuts. You’ll find oodles of recipes for candied nuts on the internet. Try some with hot savory spices for even more nutty fun. Here are a couple of my favorites to get you started:

Using raw unsalted nuts: melt a little butter (3-4 T), some brown or white sugar (1/4 cup or a bit less), and a dash of salt on the stove top in a large pan. Stir until the sugar is well-dissolved.

Stir in 3-4 cups of your favorite nuts. once the nuts are well-coated with the butter/sugar mixture, transfer them to a 9×13 glass baking dish. Bake at low temps (250/275 degrees) for a couple of hours, or until they reach desired crispiness, stirring every 1/2 hour.

Transfer to waxed paper as soon as you take them out of the oven so they can cool and dry well. Water + sugar + raw pecans: warm up 2-3 cups of water in a pan on the stove.

Once warm, add 3-4 cups of raw pecans. Keep the pan on the burner, but turn off the heat. Let sit for a couple of minutes until nuts have had a chance to “soak up” a bit of water. drain the water.

Now, stir in about 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a dash of salt. stir gently until the nuts are well-coated with the sugar. Transfer nuts to a 9×13 glass baking dish. bake at low temps (250/275) for a couple of hours, or until they reach desired crispiness, stirring every 1/2 hour. Transfer to waxed paper to cool.

Here’s a fancier recipe using molasses!
Place 2 c. water and 2 c. sugar into a saucepan and bring to a boil on the stove. add 4 c. pecans and return to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer two minutes. drain well. Discard the syrup.

Place the pecans onto a baking sheet and into a 325F oven. Every two minutes, stir the nuts around to assure even cooking. When the nuts begin to slightly brown, remove from the oven and place into a large bowl with 2 tsp. molasses.

Stir and shake the bowl until the nuts are evenly coated with the molasses. place the nuts back onto the baking sheet and return to the oven. bake several minutes until evenly browned. remove from the oven and dump the nuts into the bowl to cool.

Here's a sugar-free option (honey roasted almonds)
Spread 2 c. raw almonds in a 9×13 glass baking dish. place dish in cold oven on middle rack. Turn oven on to 350F and roast 12-20 min., stirring occasionally, until well roasted. Over medium heat in a medium saucepan, heat 1/4 c. honey and 2 T. butter to boiling. Reduce heat to medium low, simmer 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pull almonds out of oven and drizzle honey syrup evenly over almonds. stir well. Return to oven for more cooking, about 2-3 min. Remove from oven and using a slotted spoon, transfer almonds to waxed paper to cool. Optional sugar-addition: sprinkle w/ raw turbinado sugar for a crunchy outer layer.

Yum! delicious, simple and to top it all off, your home will smell soooooooooo good for hours while (and after) these nuts are baking!