These nuts could bankrupt me…
These are sweet & spicy walnuts. I make them at least once a week and they serve as both a snack and a salad topping. The boyfriend frequently asks me to make them for him to eat on a salad (note: his salad consists solely of lettuce and these walnuts). More often than not, he won’t ever get around to eating them with lettuce…instead he’ll eat them straight out of the Tupperware container. We don’t keep a lot of pre-packaged store bought snack food around the house so I guess I can’t fault him for it.
The boyfriend loves walnuts. Other nuts are okay but the walnut is his clear favorite. When we first started dating, we lived in apartments across the hall from each other. I learned of his love of walnuts pretty early in our relationship and I quickly learned that I would have to hide the walnuts in my pantry from him. If he knew I had them and/or he could find them, he would eat them. All of them. If I hadn’t learn to hide them, I probably would have spent $30 a month on walnuts.
Now we live together and share the cost of walnuts (and other groceries). I no longer hide the walnuts from him…I simply diligently buy more whenever we run low. He’s worth the extra expense.
The recipe below is a general idea of how to make these. Tweak the recipe to your own personal tastes. More spice, less sugar. Or vice versa. Or add entirely different spices to the bag. Heck, you could even (gasp!) use another nut instead of the walnuts. Do what you want with these…they’ll probably be delicious.
Sweet & Spicy Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups walnuts (halves or pieces or both)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Paul Prudhomme’s Blackened Redfish Magic (or another blackening spice mix)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet or baking pan with aluminum foil.
2. Add walnuts and all other ingredients to a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Seal the bag and shake everything together until thoroughly mixed. This should only take a minute or two.
3. Dump seasoned walnuts onto foil-lined baking sheet, spread them out and bake for approximately 5-7 minutes. The walnuts should be lightly browned.
4. Cool on baking sheet and store in airtight container. If you want them to last more than a day or two, keep them well hidden from the walnut crazed member of your household.
Sunday, 16. November 2008 23:35
I can see why these get eaten up so quickly
Monday, 17. November 2008 4:37
Nuts are my favourite -even if I am allergic to them! I still gobble them up! Then deal with the allergy later!
Monday, 17. November 2008 14:24
Do these travel well? They would be a great addition to my homemade Christmas food packages.
Monday, 17. November 2008 22:32
ElleBee – I’m pretty sure these would travel very well…just bag them up and they should be ready to go.
Hmmm…this might be a good idea for me as well!
Tuesday, 18. November 2008 16:26
Hi Melissa – I’m not familiar with ‘blackening spice’ – what is it? What I’ve looked up is that it’s a Cajun spice for fish?
Does it add a lot to the taste?
Thanks!
Tuesday, 18. November 2008 21:44
Kitty-
Yes, blackening spice is a Cajun spice for fish (and meats)…you should be able to find some type of it at any normal grocery store. It does add a lot of flavor to any dish you use it in. Look here for info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackened_fish
Wednesday, 19. November 2008 22:38
Only 1 1/2T sugar? I must try these, what a great recipe. Would almonds or pecans work as well?
Wednesday, 19. November 2008 22:42
Nick-
Yep, only 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar…but if you want them a little sweeter, add a little more. I like mine only slightly sweet.
Pecans would work great…but the almonds might not work as well because I don’t think the spices would stick as well as they do to the walnuts.
Wednesday, 14. January 2009 13:22
Loved the walnuts, thank you.
Sunday, 19. April 2009 1:41
I tried it out already, just with a few changes. Can’t eat pepper, my skin gets pimples.
So I left the blackening spice and the black pepper away, added for the heat lots of ginger, then lemon grass powder and some allspice and paprika powder.
m.m.m.
But next time I try a bit less garlic and instead of sugar honey.
Tuesday, 23. June 2009 14:03
Wow, that looks absolutely delicious! You did a great job presenting the pictures too, I will definitely have to try this recipe when I have some time this weekend