Candied Nuts

My latest crush are these delicious candied nuts.   When my children were young, there was a place in the mall that sold candied almonds in a paper  cone.  Oh, what a yummy treat.  I'll bet they had them in your mall, too.

My first attempt at these (long ago) did not turn out because I made them with powdered sugar.  I have no idea why, I must have been distracted...   This tried and true recipe is from Smitten Kitchen.

Sugar and Spice Candied Nuts

1/3 cup dark-brown sugar
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pound walnut or pecan halves or whole peeled hazelnuts
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tablespoon water
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix sugars, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon, making sure there are no lumps; set aside. Beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff. Add walnuts, and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture, and toss until evenly coated. Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven, and separate nuts as they cool. When completely cool, pour the nuts into a bowl, breaking up any that stick together.

You can use any nuts you like.  I used almonds because of the memories-- I'd like to try sugared pecans next.

I didn't pull out a mixer for the egg white, just used my hand whisk.  I know this doesn't sound like much liquid, but it was plenty for a pound of nuts.

Even though put a good shake of cayenne pepper in my mix, I did not feel any of the heat.  If you know you like heat, I'd measure 1/8 of a teas. and work my way up.

I'll warn you that they're supremely addictive.  I'd put them in gift containers right away, or you'll have to make a second batch to replace the ones you've eaten!