I love when you order a cocktail somewhere and they give you a little bowl of nuts or chips to snack on. I’m surprised more hip cocktail bars haven’t embraced this tradition. If I ever had a bar I’d try and come up with some creative cocktail hour snacks like the ones I’ve posted here. Flavored popcorn is easy, cheap, and great with a drink. Another favorite of mine is sweet, spiced nuts. This recipe is particularly fitting in autumn and around the holidays. Despite what seemed to me like a lot of cayenne powder, they aren’t terribly spicy; it’s just enough to give them a bit of warmth.
You can go with any nuts you like for this recipe; I used peanuts, walnuts, and pecans. I definitely recommend including pecans, because they taste amazing with this glaze. Whisk the spices with the egg white in a bowl until everything is well combined. Then stir in the nuts and turn them well to coat.
Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, being careful to separate them as best you can. If they’re touching while they bake, they’ll be stuck together when they come out. You’ll end up with a bit of liquidy glaze at the end that you can brush or pour over the nuts or discard.
Bake the nuts at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes and let cool. Then enjoy these perfect holiday munchies.
Spiced Nuts
1 1/2 cups mixed nuts (I used walnuts, pecans, and peanuts)
1 large egg white
2 tbsp. white sugar
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. cumin
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except nuts in a bowl and whisk until well mixed. Stir in nuts and coat thoroughly. Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Do your best to separate them so that they aren’t touching one another (an admittedly sticky job). Bake for 15 minutes.
Recipe adapted from the spiced nuts in this recipe at Love & Olive Oil.