My rosemary maple spiced nuts are the most additive bar snack recipe I have, especially when I make them with extra pecans. They were a staple on the bar menu at Lucia's Restaurant in Minneapolis. Walking past a sheet tray of the nuts cooling down it was impossible not to sneak some. Salty and sweet, with just the right amount of heat, a few handfuls were lunch for more than one hungry line cook during the three decades the restaurant was open.
No matter where or when I make them, people ask for more, and comment on how good they are. Sometimes I make them with pecans, sometimes with a mix of many nuts. If food cost was high they'd be 25% peanuts, maybe some cheap pumpkinseeds. They're easy to make at home.
The secret is the flavor: a perfect balance of salty, sweet, aromatic and spicy. Think of it as something you can make your own as I've done here with maple, rosemary and cayenne.
Important notes
- It's important to only use unsalted nuts for this recipe. If you use salted nuts they will be too salty.
- If you use roasted mixed nuts they'll burn, since the nuts will have been cooked twice.
- Only fresh rosemary should be used. Dried rosemary will get stuck in your teeth.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper to make clean up easy.
- The nuts must be hot and fresh from the oven before you toss them with the caramel or they won't be coated correctly.
- For the glaze to work correctly you need the nuts to be as large and whole as possible. The nooks and crannies of walnuts and pecans specifically are irresistable coated in the maple glaze.
Other uses
- Oven roasted nuts make a great holiday gift.
- Great tossed in a salad for crunch sweetness.
- Sold as a stand-alone, mini appetizer, with their salt helping to encourage alcohol sales.
- Great additions to combination plates, like cheese plates and charcuterie platters.
And, of course, these things come with me in the car as energy food for when I'm outside on the hunt. Even though they're a little sweet, they're nothing compared to the bags of junk food sold as trail mix with all the chocolate and sugary dried fruit, although you will want a water bottle around.
Tossing the nuts with some maple sugar after roasting helps to layer the flavor, but it's only a suggestion.
Adjusting flavors
It's ok to experiment with different sweeteners and spices, with the exception of the rosemary. Don't adjust the sugar or butter much either. Too much butter will make greasy nuts. Too much sugar makes a dessert candy.
The most basic method I've made uses only maple, cayenne, butter, rosemary and sea salt, and it's terrific. Substituting a seasoning that has cayenne in it, like berbere spice is good too.
Or, play with spices and make your own, smoked paprika mixed 50/50 with cayenne would be good or add use a hot curry powder. Cut the recipe in half if you want to experiment.
Using Maple vs Brown Sugar
This isn't as complicated as it sounds, but technique is important. Part of what makes these so good is the even, crisp coating of sugar. Basically you make a caramel out of melted butter and brown sugar, the consistency of which needs to be smooth and emulsified to coat the nuts.
Using the maple cuts processed sugar out of the original recipe I modified these from and deepens the flavor. Maple is an invert sugar, which means it makes good caramel and isn't prone to crystallization.
The trade-off is that the water in the maple needs to be cooked off and evaporated for the nuts to have the perfect texture when they're cooled and ready to eat.
The perfect nut blend
I vary the blend of nuts here and there, but know that every nut you add will add a different character to the finished product.
- The craggy folds of walnuts and pecans get beautifully crisp.
- Hazelnuts develop a concentrated flavor.
- almonds give a good backbone (I used to have one guest who would make me pick out just almonds for her).
- If I'm feeling rich, I may add some black walnuts or butternuts.
Related Posts
Spicy Candied Maple Pecans
Equipment
- 1 Large baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- 1 3-4 quart metal mixing bowl
- Pot holders
Ingredients
- 16 oz whole pecan halves, raw (roughly 4 cups) or a blend of equal parts almonds, cashews, walnuts and pecans or hazelnuts
- ½ generous teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ tablespoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup maple syrup or 4 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 tablespoon water
- 1 Tablespoon chopped rosemary
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 F. Spread the nuts out on a sheet tray and toast for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, simmer the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan on medium heat, whisking together until the maple and butter are melted and amalgamous, Simmer gently for 3-4 minutes.
- The syrup should be slightly thickened. If you scale the recipe, you have to account for excess water from additional maple syrup by cooking it longer.
- Remove the very hot nuts from the oven. Carefully and thoroughly toss the nuts with the syrup mixture. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment in a single layer.
- Return the nuts to the oven and cook 25-30 minutes more, stirring once or twice to ensure even cooking, until the nuts are nicely toasted and smell wonderful.
- Cool the nuts, then keep at room temperature in a sealed container-a glass jar looks nice.
Sheila
Made it for holiday gifts. Delicious. They even pair well on honey yogurt.
Alan Bergo
Thanks Sheila, glad they worked for you. I made a big batch for the holidays, mostly for myself.
Cynthia Gray
I love these and used to make a version of them out of an old Joy of Cooking but I like your using maple syrup instead of corn syrup. What do you think about adding some fresh chopped rosemary at the end? The cooking seems to diminish the green look and the bright taste. Anyway, I did that and liked the effect.
Alan Bergo
Hi Cynthia. Rosemary is added at the beginning as it infuses into the butter and sugar which helps it coat the nuts. Adding it at the end is unnecessary imo and would make it easy to add too much Rosemary, it also won’t cling to the nuts as well as it hasn’t been simmered in the butter/sugar/maple mixture.
Lori Kimberly
Talked with you yesterday at the forest fair. What a great event!
Bought your calendar.
It’s awesome! Lots of factoids and tidbits without a lot of print.
Learned more new things and you reference recipes for me to look up!
A little bit of everything
Thanks Alan
Stacy
Just made these to share at a Christmas cookie swap tomorrow. They are truly addicting!
Alan Bergo
Thanks Stacy! I thought sharing them would be perfect for the holidays.
Julie Johnston
Wondering if one could use chestnuts?
Alan Bergo
Hi Julie! Sorry I was busy yesterday, but I hope you got the message I gave to your daughter. Chestnuts are very different from other nuts and wouldn't toast the same way as they require longer cooking. That said, there's a marvelous French chestnut preserve called marrons glace you could look up. It's a labor of love but one of my favorite things around the holidays.