Homemade Candied Nuts | www.oliviascuisine.com

It’s Fall! OMG, I can’t believe it! My favorite season is here and now it’s time to eat all sorts of delicious things, to decorate my whole apartment for Halloween, to celebrate Thanksgiving, to dress nicely (hats, gloves, scarves!) and to be surrounded by movie material NYC Fall scenery!! I couldn’t be happier!
 
One of the things that says “Fall in NYC” to me is the smell of those candied nuts sold by street vendors. It’s almost impossible not to stop and buy a bag of those warm, sweet, delicious nuts that are incredibly addicting. I must confess I’m the type of person that will hide in the bathroom to eat them by myself just so I don’t have to share with anyone. Just kidding… (maybe…)
 
I know that the candied nuts are available in NYC all year long but somehow during the Fall you can smell them when you approach the vendors, making them even more enticing. Maybe I don’t smell them during the Summer because of all those nasty NYC Summer smells (= pee smell)?

Homemade Candied Nuts | www.oliviascuisine.com

Anyway… I decided to recreate them at home and they turned out fabulous! Even better than the ones on the street. And it’s so easy to make!!! Only 3 ingredients: water, sugar and your favorite type of nuts! It couldn’t get any easier than that!!!
 
The only downside of making these at home is that you won’t be able to wait for them to cool and will end up burning your tongue. (That may or may not have happened with me…)

Homemade Candied Nuts | www.oliviascuisine.com

They can also be a great Holiday gift to friends and family. Just put them in a cute tin or bag, decorate with a ribbon and voilà! Every year I tell myself I’m going to bake something to give as holiday gifts to save some money, but I always get overwhelmed and end up running to the store at the last minute and spending way more than I intended to! Maybe this year I’ll get myself to do it! I just have to make sure I don’t end up opening all the gifts and eating the nuts myself! Can you tell I’m obsessed with them?
 
For this batch I used walnuts, almonds and macadamias. I love the combination of textures and flavors. However, macadamias are a little pricey so I don’t use them often. You can also use cashews, peanuts, pecans… I haven’t tried pistachios though, so if you do, let me know what you think! :) You can also customize them by adding cinnamon (I add cinnamon to mine!), vanilla extract, maple syrup… You could also substitute the granulated sugar for brown sugar if you’d prefer!
 
So now let me go eat my candied nuts while watching Breaking Bad. (Me and Tim just recently decided to watch this show and now we are obsessed! He might say I’m the obsessed one… lol! 2 episodes per night…sometimes 3 or 4 if I can convince him!) :-P

Homemade Candied Nuts | www.oliviascuisine.com

Homemade Candied Nuts | www.oliviascuisine.com

Homemade Candied Nuts

Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp water
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
  • 1 1/2 cups raw nuts (I used 1/2 cup walnuts, 1/2 cup macadamias and 1/2 cup almonds)

Instructions

  • In a medium saucepan, over medium/low heat, add the water and sugar and stir until the sugar has melted.
  • Add the nuts and keep stirring vigorously, until the water evaporates.
  • Transfer the nuts to a baking sheet or plate and spread them in one layer.
  • Wait for the candied nuts to cool/dry and serve while still warm or keep them in an airtight jar!
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