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These candied spiced nuts taste like those delicious roasted nuts you get at the mall during the holiday season! Your whole house will smell like delicious, sweet roasted nuts. Perfect for gifting during the holidays!
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Nothing screams the holiday season to me quite like walking into the mall and getting assaulted with the smell of the spiced nuts roasting away.
Those things are hard to pass by, but gosh, they are pricey!
It’s so simple to make them at home, and people go crazy about it if you make them before having guests over. Your house smells amazing and everyone gets so excited to start munching!
Ingredient Notes:
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Mixed Nuts – You can use any variety of nuts that you like, or even just one if you have a favorite like pecans. We like a good mix though! Pecans, peanuts, cashews… they’re all perfect for roasting! We use lightly salted nuts.
Egg Whites – You’ll mix these up with some water and use it to coat the nuts. This is what helps keep all the sugar and spice in place while the nuts roast!
Sugar – You’ll need white sugar and brown sugar.
Cinnamon – A couple teaspoons to mix with the sugar will add loads of flavor and will have your house smelling so good!
Kosher Salt – This helps balance out some of the cinnamon sweet flavor, and the kosher salt adds a nice texture. If you’re using salted nuts and are worried it will be too salty, you can skip this.
Cayenne Pepper – You can omit this if you don’t want any spice, but we really like how it balances the flavors. A good substitute would be smoked paprika or chili powder.
What We Love About This Recipe:
- The smell! Seriously, roasted candied nuts smell amazing and irresistible. Your whole house will smell like Christmas!
- Just about everyone loves these so they are perfect for holiday parties, gatherings, or gifts!
How to Make Candied Nuts:
Eggs: Begin by separating the egg whites from the egg yolk and adding the whites to a small bowl with the water. Whisk together until it is frothy. The egg/water mix will help to coat the sugar and spice on the nuts.
Mix: In a larger mixing bowl add the nuts of your choice (I prefer to buy a package of mixed nuts for lots of variety, but you can choose your favorite!) and then add the sugars and spices and stir to evenly distribute the mix. Next pour in the egg/water mixture and stir again until the nuts are well coated in the sugar and spices.
Bake: Spread the mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to break them up a bit. These roasted candied nuts are amazing straight out of the oven!
Helpful Tip!
Make it Low Carb!
Use your favorite low carb sweetener in place of the sugar for a low carb snack that’s perfect for the holidays! We use and love Lakanto sweeteners.
FAQs:
This candied nuts recipe calls for a mix of spices, including cayenne.
You can swap the cayenne for paprika (we like the smoked variety) to keep these 100% mild, but we absolutely love the tiny bit of spice you get from the cayenne.
It pairs so perfectly with the sweet cinnamon goodness of the nuts.
You can keep the roasted candied nuts in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 weeks!
More holiday favorites!
- Microwave Peanut Butter Fudge
- Christmas Popcorn
- Soft Ginger Cookies
- Air Fryer Christmas Tree Cookies
- Christmas Crack
- Oreo Fudge
- Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
- Christmas Rice Krispies Treats
Sugar and Spice Candied Nuts
Ingredients
- 2 pounds nuts any variety
- 2 large egg whites room temperature
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper see note
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
- Add nuts to large bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites and water until frothy. Pour over nuts and stir to coat all the nuts.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the sugars, salt, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon. Pour over nuts and stir to coat.
- Spread nuts in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes stirring every 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and separate nuts if they are stuck together.
- Store in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Recipe lightly adapted from Elizabeth Karmel of Hill Country.
This post was originally published in 2009. It was updated with new photos and a video. Original photo below.
Annie says
I am soooo happy to see this post.We go to US may be once in 4yrs and our main attraction of walking in Manhatten is to eat these peanuts that the cart fellows sell and we are so smitten with it and now boy!! am I gald that i can make this at home in India in Mumbai oh yes I am!! Bless u for sharing!!
Thanks a million and God Bless!!
Alison says
YUM. My mom and I made these, they are delicious and a great gift! Thank you for all the great recipes! You are awesome.