These sweet and slightly spicy nuts are one of my favorite snacks. They have a perfectly balanced flavor and a satisfying crunch.
The recipe takes just an hour from start to finish. It makes the perfect gift to give anytime of the year but especially during the holiday season. Wrapping them up in a cellophane bag with a red ribbon makes a sweet gift everyone will appreciate.
Raw almonds and cashews are fairly easy to find. Here on Maui they are sold at Whole Foods and Target.
The seasoning for the nuts are cayenne pepper, cinnamon, ground chile powder and kosher salt. Look for pure mild chile powder that doesn’t contain any additional ingredients that are commonly found in chili powder blends. Check the ingredients label before buying a jar.
The sugar and spices are mixed together before adding to the nuts.
This recipe does not contain any oil or butter. The egg white binds the spices and sugar together with the nuts and crisps up giving the baked and cooled nuts a glorious crunch.
Use disposable gloves to really get in there to coat the nuts with the egg white and sugar and spice mix. Keep mixing and it will all come together.
Once the nuts are coated with the egg white and spice mixture, spread them out evenly on a large sheet pan and pop them in the oven. They may look unremarkable at this point, but once they are finished baking and emerge from the oven, you’ll see a pan of spectacular mouth watering nuts.
Let the baked nuts cool for just a few minutes, then use a metal spatula to loosen them from the pan. Warning! If you leave them to cool for more than a few minutes they will be very difficult to loosen as the sugar and spice mixture hardens quickly.
Once they are cool enough to handle, break up any chunks of nuts so you end up with individual pieces.
These mouth watering sweet and spicy nuts are irresistible.
Sugar & Spice Nuts
5 cups
servingsThese sweet and spicy nuts are scrumptious!
Adapted from Food & Wine
Ingredients
3/4 c (150g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (2 teaspoons Morton kosher salt)
1 tablespoon pure ground mild chile powder (without added ingredients)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper (2 teaspoons for spicier version)
1 large egg white
2 cups (255g, 9 oz) raw whole cashews
2 cups (255g, 9 oz) raw whole almonds
Vegetable spray or parchment paper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- For easy cleanup, cover a half sheet pan (13×17) with heavy duty foil. Place parchment paper on top of foil. Alternatively, coat a rimmed pan with nonstick spray (more cleanup required!)
- In a small bowl, whisk the sugar with the salt, chile powder, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Add cashews, almonds, and spiced sugar and toss with your hands (use disposable gloves) until all of the nuts are evenly coated.
- Transfer the nuts to the prepared baking pan and spread out in one layer. Bake for 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes, until browned. Allow nuts to cool on the pan for 2 minutes but not much longer as they will be very difficult to loosen if left to cool longer. Using a spatula, loosen nuts from the pan. If using parchment paper, lift one corner up at a time and scrape nuts loose with a spatula. Once nuts are fairly cool (about 3 minutes more) break up any clusters so you have individual pieces. The nuts will continue to crisp up while cooling. Store in an airtight container. I keep mine in the refrigerator for optimum freshness.
Notes
- Store cooled nuts in an airtight container. I keep mine in the refrigerator for optimum freshness. They will keep well for at least 2 weeks in the refrigerator retaining their crispy texture.