These caramelized, candied walnuts are quite a treat. Toss them into your salad, over popcorn, or straight into your mouth. Crunch. Crunch. I love this easy method of making the candied nuts where everything goes into the pan at once. Other methods I’ve tried left me with globs of candy on the nuts rather than a more even coating.
It also roasts the nuts at the same time so you don’t have to pre-toast them, then add them back to the pan to be coated, blah, blah. Who needs extra steps?
It seriously takes about 5 minutes on the stove and 5 minutes to cool. The finished product is delicious! My husband was sampling them right out of the pan. P.S. This recipe can easily be doubled.
You don’t want to give the nuts a chance to turn into a wad of inseparable delicious goodness unless you are the only person who will be enjoying the wad ;). Seriously, move quickly from the time the nuts are coated until they are separated out on the parchment paper.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
PREPARATION:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
To a large non-stick skillet, add the walnuts, granulated sugar, brown sugar, water, and butter. (And cinnamon, if using.)
Place over high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until all moisture has evaporated and the walnuts become glossy and start to clump together. This should take about 5 minutes.
Stir in salt and quickly transfer nuts to prepared baking sheet. Spread out into a single layer and set aside to cool.
Once hard, break apart and enjoy!