Candied Nuts

A neighbor of mine made me a jar of candied nuts this year for Christmas..They look like they will be quite tasty...I tried one but since my taste buds are all screwed up from this cold...alas I'm not sure how good they are.. Though I'm sure their wonderful! The cute little mason jar paired with plaid material and raffia bow really made the gift...sooo cute. It got me thinking of making candied nuts for people next year for Christmas.. I really struggle with getting all the baked goods, fudge, cookies, cakes etc.. done and fresh before the holidays. There is just so much to do.. I enjoy baking but when it becomes a endurance raise to finish..it becomes less than fun...It becomes work...Baked goods don't stay prime fresh for long, but nuts I could make weeks in advance, jar them up, and at Christmas they'd still be delightful. I need to find a way to still do handcrafted yummy things without the mad rush 2 days before Christmas....Homemade is awesome, but sometimes it hard to pencil it all in, during the few days before Christmas?? It's a thought? I found a couple different recipes on the net, I'm going to try them both to see which makes a better nut...smile

Directions: 1/2 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 2 cups almonds.

1. Combine the water, sugar, and cinnamon in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil; add the almonds. Cook and stir the mixture until the liquid evaporates and leaves a syrup-like coating on the almonds. Pour the almonds onto a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Separate almonds using forks. Allow to cool about 15 minutes.

The Next Recipe.....First, you’ll beat two egg whites and 2 tablespoons of water to a frothy, fluffy, cloud-like consistency with very stiff peaks. It took me about 4 minutes, beaten on medium-high, to get the egg whites and water to that point. You want this mixture to be as voluminous as possible because the sugar will weigh it down. Next, add the sugar. Two cups of the sweet stuff. You’re making candied nuts, not diet food.Finally, mix in cinnamon and salt. I adore cinnamon in my recipes and, more often than not, have quite the heavy hand when pouring it. Cut down to 2 teaspoons at the minimum if you aren’t a cinnamon lover like I am. The salt in this mixture cuts down on the sweetness and each bite is partly salty/partly sweet/partly spiced. A plethora of pleasant taste profiles on your itty bitty tastebuds.

Once the sugar coating is ready, toss in the nuts and mix everything up well to cover every last morsel. Trust me, you want every inch of the nuts coated with a heavy blanket of the cinnamon/sugar/egg-whites, so make sure you do a job here.

Line a baking sheet with heavy duty parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. You’ll be thankful you did – I certainly don’t want burnt cinnamon sugar glaze stuck to my baking sheet. Spread the coated nuts over the lined sheet and bake for 45 minutes at 300F, stirring every 15 minutes to avoid burning. Warning: you’ll be so mesmerized by the glorious scent of the candied nuts roasting away in the kitchen, that you may just forget about anything else important in life. Like laundry in the dryer or a voicemail from your boss… just be aware of that in advance. (oops)

As the nuts cool, you’ll find little crunchy sugared coating bits that didn’t quite make it onto the nuts scattered around. Those may just be my favorite little bites. I could eat a bowl of just the crispy sugar coating! Package them up in little treat bags for your friends or set them out at a holiday get-together, perhaps along with some sprinkle-loaded chocolate covered pretzels?