Texan BBQ Candied Nuts

5 from 7 votes

Recipe video above. These Texan BBQ flavoured candied nuts are my current nibbling obsession. Savoury enough for pre-dinner drinks. Just sweet enough to be an after dinner treat! You could even package them up and gift - assuming they don't mysteriously "disappear" beforehand....

Use any nuts you want. Similar size nuts are ideal, though when I'm feeling lazy I just grab a bag of mixed nuts. Just make sure they're unsalted.

Prep Time5

Cook Time25

Cooling30

Total Time1

Course: Appetiser, nibbly things, Party Food, Snacks, Sweets

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: bar snacks, candied nuts, party nuts, roasted nuts, sweet and spicy nuts

Servings: - 12 as nibbles with drinks

Calories: 359cal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

Nuts (Note 1):

1 1/2 cups pecans
1 1/2 cups almonds , raw unsalted (or toasted)
1 cup cashews , raw, unsalted (toasted ok too)
1 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, increase by 50% for flakes)

Texan spiced candy coating (Note 2):

25g / 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar (Note 3)
2 tbsp water
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chipotle (slightly spicy, can sub with 3/4 tsp extra smoked paprika)
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper , optional (for more spicy!)

Optional

Sea salt flakes , for extra salt to taste

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Abbreviated recipe:

Simmer candied coating 2 min, toss with nuts, bake 20 min at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan), tossing halfway. Break up while warm, fully cool. Attack!

Full recipe:

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Line a large tray with foil then baking paper (parchment).
Nuts - Put the nuts in a bowl.
Candied coating - Put the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once mostly melted, add all the remaining candied coating ingredients. Stir, then once it comes to a simmer, reduce stove to medium low so it's simmering gently for 2 minutes, stirring regularly so it doesn’t catch.
Toss - Pour over the nuts, toss well - take about 30 seconds, use a rubber spatula. It should be quite thick and coat the nuts well, no runny caramel pooling at bottom of bowl.
Bake - Spread on tray, bake for 20 minutes, tossing well at the halfway mark, until the nuts are deep golden. There should be hardly any candy coating liquid left on the tray.
Break up - Cool undisturbed on the tray for 10 minutes then break it up while still warm (separates better). Then leave to fully cool on the tray - the candy coating will fully harden (about 30 minutes). (Note 4 if nut surface is not shiny smooth)
Uses - Serve in bowls for snacking (brilliant bar snack), fill jars for gifting, add to platters, chop and sprinkle on salads. Adding a sprinkle of sea salt is a nice finishing touch.

Notes

1. Nuts - I use this selection for colour, texture contrast and flavour. Ravings in post.

Feel free to use any nuts you want, 4 cups in total, though try to stick to nuts around the same size so they roast around the same time. Always use unsalted. For most nuts, it's ok to use roasted or raw but it's safer to go with raw (generally speaking, larger nuts should be fine whether raw or roasted). For smaller nuts (eg pistachios), shorten the roasting time - start checking early.

2. Spices subs:

Garlic and onion powder can be substituted with more of either.
Chipotle powder is a spicy and beautifully smoky, sub with more smoked paprika + 1/4 tsp cayenne (skip cayenne for no spicy)
Cumin and coriander - if missing one, leave it out. If missing both, you won't get Texan Cowboy vibes.
Smoked paprika - it's paprika, but smoky. :) Not spicy. Substitute with regular paprika (aka sweet paprika) or spicy paprika if you dare.

3. White sugar for crispy, not-sticky coating. Honey and maple have lovely flavours, but are sticky. Brown sugar adds a bit of lovely caramely flavour but is not as crisp as white sugar (faintly sticky).

4. Grainy coating - If yours ends up with a slightly grainy coating on some nuts, that's no problem. It just means your toffee went a little further on the stove. It's similar to the texture of candied nuts made using egg whites and is actually considered to be a good thing because it stays crispier for longer and less susceptible to becoming sticky due to humidity!

Store in airtight containers for 2 weeks in a cool, dry place. If it's hot and humid, they will get sticky. Easy to resurrect with a quick oven blast for 5 minutes, same temp.

Nutrition per serving assuming 10 servings.

Nutrition