Crunchy + sweet + spicy + salty. That’s what you’ll get with this 5-minute recipe!
These quick honey candied nuts are all over my blog.
You can find them on Hot and Cold Power Salad,
Roasted Radicchio and Butternut Squash Salad,
and Spicy Kale Caesar with Chicken and Candied Pepitas for a few examples.
Why do they keep popping up? Cause they’re SO EASY and they add a PUNCH of flavor to any dish. Seriously, add them to any salad, you’ll be addicted. Oooh, they’d also be good on Butternut Squash Soup with Apple and Carrot now that I think outside of the salad box. (<– Oh my gosh, yaaaay!! I can’t believe it’s about that time of year to make this soup again. It’s seriously one of my favorite recipes on the site.)
Candied nuts are delicious! But traditionally, making them usually involves long bake times with multiple stirring sessions and a few more dishes. That’s okay when you’ve got the time. When you don’t, this recipe is yo’ friend.
Using this method, you can candy just about any nut you like. I most often make candied walnuts and pepitas as you can see, but you can also use almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, pecans, peanuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, or whatever other nut I forgot!
Once I made these for a kale salad with a bit of an Asian theme going on: the salad was cucumber, green onion, dino kale, and sesame ginger dressing. Soooo, when I made the nuts I added some dried ground ginger. Amazing. Feel free to add things like ginger, or dried rosemary, or whatever will compliment your dish.
Use the nuts to top salads, soups, ice cream, yogurt, pasta, you name it!
There’s a VIDEO! Wanna how to make these nuts??? Then skip ahead to 1:47 in the video below. (You can also see I burned the nuts at 0:12 if you need a laugh.)
I love seeing what you make! What kind of nuts will you candy? What will you put ’em on? When you post your photos, be sure and tag me (@ShawLeesha on Instagram and @LaughterandLemonadeFoodBlog on Facebook) so I can see your beautiful, yummy creations!!!
- cooking spray
- Use ¼ cup raw nuts for small nuts (like pepitas, pistachios, pine nuts, sliced or slivered almonds, pecan pieces, walnut pieces, or peanuts) or ⅓ cup raw nuts for larger nuts (like whole pecans, walnuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, or almonds)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- Spray a small dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Add nuts to a small skillet over medium heat. Stir occasionally until slightly browned. Add honey, cayenne, and salt. Once honey starts to bubble, stir for about 15-30 seconds.
- Transfer to greased dish, spreading them evenly to cool. Then break 'em apart a bit and enjoy!
I’m about to make these a second time for a salad topping! Love the sweet/spicy/salty combo!
Yesssss, you’re getting addicted too to that sweet/spicy/salty crunch… I love it!!