If you are in need of a great snack or a last minute home-made gift, I have the perfect thing for you. These Spicy Roasted Nuts are addictive and easy to make. You can use whatever type of nut strikes your fancy, they just have to be plain, not salted. This is the third batch we have made in the last 2 days and it was also our third combination. Our first was almonds and peanuts – no hot sauce, they were good but not enough pizzaz. The second was pecans, almonds, peanuts and sunflower seeds and a little hot sauce- they were very good. The third- we were back to just the almonds and peanuts with quite a bit of hot sauce – very very good. It would have been awesome if I had remembered to add in the sunflower seeds – but that will batch #4.
This recipe is adapted from the recipe Butter’s Spicy Nuts, in the new cookbook by Rosie Daykin- Butter Celebrates. Have I told you lately how much I love her cookbooks? Pretty sure I have! But if you need to get one more Christmas gift for a baker in your life – I definitely recommend you pick up a copy. The recipes are great and it is just beautiful and it’s Canadian to boot!
I had packaged up some of the nuts and popped them in with some Christmas gifts for my sisters and their families, so I hope they enjoy them as much as my family has this week. So one more batch of spicy roasted nuts and I think we are ready for the holidays!
- 2 egg whites
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 10 shakes of Franks Red Hot Sauce
- 5 cups of mixed plain nuts (almonds, pecans, peanuts, sunflower seeds)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Line a 11 x 17 baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Let cool.
- Meanwhile, beat egg whites until frothy. Add in the brown sugar, continue beating until stiff peaks form- this will take about 3-5 minutes.
- To the cooled butter, stir in the spices. Fold the butter mixture slowly into the beaten egg whites.
- Then add in the nuts, stirring gently to ensure all are well coated with the egg white mixture.
- Pour the mixture onto the parchment lined pan, spreading evenly into a single layer.
- Sprinkle the 1 tsp of freshly ground sea salt over the surface.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Then using a spatula break up the mixture and then redistribute into an even layer again.
- Bake for a further 15 minutes.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Break up with your hands into small pieces. Store in a glass jar.