Simple Candied Walnuts
It doesn’t get much easier than this. Walnuts and sugar. These are great for a snack (in moderation, of course) or for topping a salad. I love crunchy walnuts or pecans on my salads, especially when goat cheese is involved.
I don’t think I got the sugar quite as dark as it should have, but the walnuts still tasted wonderful. I think I’ll be more adventurous next time and try some savory candied walnuts (or almonds or pecans…the possibilities are endless).
- YIELD: 1½ cups
½ cup sugar
1½ cups raw walnut halves
⅛ teaspoon coarse salt
- 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Use middle rack in oven. Lay walnuts out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 5 minutes. Test for doneness. If not quite toasted enough, toast for 1 or 2 more minutes. Be careful not to burn. Remove from oven and let cool in pan on a rack.
- 2
Pour sugar into a medium saucepan with a thick bottom. Have walnuts nearby, ready to quickly add to the pan at the right time. Cook sugar on medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon as soon as the sugar begins to melt. Keep stirring until all the sugar has melted and the color is a medium amber. As soon as sugar is melted and the color is a medium amber, add the walnuts to the pan, quickly stirring and coating each piece with the sugar mixture.
- 3
As soon as the walnuts are coated with the sugar mixture, spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet, lined either with a Silpat non-stick mat, or with wax paper or parchment paper. Use two forks to separate the walnuts from each other, working very quickly. Sprinkle the nuts with the salt. Let cool completely.
I love pesto. But getting masses of basil can be pricey. But cilantro—that’s different. So I pinned this recipe, because I don’t want to lose track of it. Yay!
My almost-three year old loooves pesto – which is awesome because we like it too and it’s a great place to hide leafy greens. 🙂 Kale-walnut is our new favorite – and cheap to make! I like the idea of parsley with walnut … one time, in a mid-summer make-pesto-out-of-everything frenzy I made a pecan-oregano pesto that was actually really good.
Love that this uses cilantro and parsley…and I also LOVE that it doesn’t have any cheese in it. I don’t eat grains or dairy so I love finding recipes on my “regular” food blogs that I can eat without modifying. It makes me feel a little less sad about missing out on two of my favorite food groups! 🙂
I love finding fun new non-basil pestos! The.Boy actually isn’t big on basil pesto, so I can’t wait to try this out on him!