I don’t really know why I started thinking about spiced nuts this weekend. Must be something about the sun being lower in the sky, and the cooler weather settling in…and the smell of anything roasting, whether its chiles or chicken or nuts, just feels like fall. I didn’t think there was anything that could make pecans and almonds taste even better, until now.
These are perfect for football games, holiday parties or little holiday gifts. The how-to is pretty straight-forward stuff – mix together the sugar and spices, lightly beat an egg white, mix together, bake for 30 minutes. My only changes to Smitten Kitchen’s Sugar and Spice Candied Nuts recipe were to add a 1/2 t. of sweet paprika and to give the nuts an extra couple of pinches of cayenne as they came out of the oven for extra kick. It’s all to taste. I mixed in a handful of unsugared pecans to avoid total overload.