Sweet And Not So Spicy Nuts

Tonight I am writing to you from Pismo Beach, California. What a spectacularly beautiful place. My husband and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary and also a big birthday for him—last of the 70’s!

We’re going to explore the coast, eat gorgeous seafood, I will drink local wine and we will love every moment of our days here together.

This Bishop’s Peak Chardonnay from San Luis Obispo was pretty good for a start.

BACK TO THE NUTS…

You can make these nuts as spicy as you like, but I was making them for a crowd and not sure of the heat tolerance on palates. I made a huge batch as I was also making for gifts, but you could easily cut this recipe in half. These nuts were gorgeous…period. And they look very pretty in gift jars.

They also freeze well, so if making a big batch, just pop them in the freezer until ready to give as gifts or serve.

A little sweet from the honey, a little spicy from the chili spices and a bit wonderful from butter. I love heat, but would not change a thing here as they were just perfect for pairing with nice cheeses, wines and other hors ‘doeuvres.

Mix all the spices together. This makes about 3/4 cup of ground spices. That sounds like a lot but really makes these nuts special. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan. Add honey. Heat until just bubbling. Remove from the heat. Place all the nuts in a large bowl.

Add the mixed spices to the nuts and mix them up completely. Mix the spiced nuts into the melted butter/honey and stir to coat all nuts evenly. It will look like more spice mixture than you need, but that is what makes these nuts so good —they get heavily coated with the spice mixture as they bake in the honey and butter and spices and that is what makes them so yummy.

Lay them out on a sheet pan…

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. You want to cook these spicy nuts at low heat . And this is what they look like when they’ve come out of their slow bake.

Finish the nuts with flaky salt like Maldon or Fleur de sol.

I hope you love these nuts as much as me and my friends did!!

More from Pismo next week…

UNTIL THEN, KEEP ON COOKING AND LOVING

IN YOUR OWN  KITCHENS!

Print Pin

Spicy Sweet Mixed Nuts

Ingredients

• 4 cups Walnut halves
• 4 cups Macadamia nuts
• 4 cups Pecans
• 8 Tbsp. Butter, melted That's 1 stick.
• 8 Tbsp. Honey
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. Curry, mild
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. Cumin
• 4 tsp. Ancho Chili
• 4 tsp. New Mexica Chili
• 1 tsp. Chili de Arbol This Chili is hot so use more if you like super spicy.
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 4 tsp. Cinnamon I think this is what made this mix so special!

Instructions

• Mix all the spices together in a small bowl. This makes about 3/4 cup of spices.
• Heat oven to 275 degrees.
• Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. You may need two pans depending on their size as you want the nuts to lay flat in a single layer.
• Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add honey. Heat until just bubbling. Remove from the heat.
• Place all of the nuts in a large bowl. Add the mixed spices to the nuts and mix thoroughly until evenly coated.
• Mix the spiced nuts into the melted butter/honey and stir to coat all nuts evenly. It will look like more spice than you need, but that it what makes these nuts so good and goopy with spice. They get heavily coated with the spice as they bake in the butter and honey.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes or until nuts get nice and toasty. Take out of the oven.
• Finish with flaky salt like Maldon or Fleur de Sol.