Nuts for nuts!!! spicy ones

Something a little different today, i am going to give up one of my favorite recipes.... This recipe is for rosemary and black pepper nuts!!! These nuts are coated in sugar and have a crunchy texture, i also have other recipes using corn syrup. Corn syrup makes the outside coating more of a caramel then a hard sugar.

I hope you enjoy!!!

Rosemary and Black Pepper Candied Walnuts

These are a fabulous munchies item. They complement any cocktail hour and look great on fruit and cheese platters. This recipe calls for black pepper and rosemary, I wanted something a little different. In the past this recipe has had multiple reincarnations with items such as cayenne pepper, cinnamon, 5 spice powder, ginger, orange zest, and garlic chips. I have used a variety of nuts as well - the sky is the limit! You can go sweet or savory, spicy or tart…its up to you.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Sugar – 1 cup

Raw walnuts – 1 ½ cup

Kosher salt – 2 teaspoons

Rosemary sprigs – 3

Black pepper – ½ teaspoon

Lay the walnuts on a sheet pan. Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes. They should be well toasted and aromatic. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Heat a sauce pan on a medium flame. Remove the needle-like leaves from the rosemary and chop them, discarding the stems. Put the chopped leaves in the pan and sauté for 1 minute. Reduce the heat, adding the sugar and pepper. Cook the sugar until it turns a light amber color stirring rapidly to avoid burning. Quickly stir in the walnuts, then remove the nuts from the pan and lay out on a sheet pan lined with parchment. Sprinkle the salt over them, let cool and serve. You can store these nuts, sealed tightly, for a week or so. I like them warm, right off the stove.