Today, I’m going to show you how to make the best spiced candied nuts you’ve ever had.
Since you’re making them at home as opposed to buying them at the mall, you can choose the type of nut to use, how much sugar, and how much spice as well. Completely customizable spiced candied nuts to eat out of hand, chop and add to pancakes or waffles, or top a sundae.
You might also like my pumpkin spice caramel corn recipe. And for ease of browsing, you can find all my candy recipes in one place. Thanks for visiting! Now let’s get to it.
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Watch my candied nuts web story here.
Absolutely delicious! I used less spice, as I didn’t want a distinct cinnamon-y taste in this dish, but this recipe is so versatile the flavor is easily adjusted. And, it’s terrific for our lactose intolerant friends, as many nut recipes use butter. Yay, Jenni!
Reader Ruth
Spiced Candied Nuts, At a Glance
✅Skill Level: Beginner
✅Skills: Cooking nuts in sugar, Controlling crystallization
✅Type: Stovetop Candy
✅Number of Ingredients: 6
✅Prep Time: 5 minutes
✅Cook Time: 15 minutes
✅Yield: 3 cups or about 12 servings
Jump Straight to the Recipe
Why You Have to Make These Nuts!
Candied nuts are the best.
Many recipes have you add egg white, sugar, and spices and then bake the nuts.
I have made them that way, and they are tasty, but to really get that stirred-in-a-big-pot-like-at-the-mall flavor and aroma, you have to make them in a pan on the stove top.
So that’s what I’m going to show you how to do.
They cook up sandy and crunchy on the outside with a mellow, nutty creamy-crunchiness on the inside (depending on what nuts you use).
I make mine with some sweet baking spice along with a little bit of spiciness, but since you’re making them, you can leave out the spicy spice. Or add extra if that’s your thing.
Here are more reasons to make them:
- short ingredient list
- ready in about 10 minutes
- makes about 3 cups of candied nuts, so you can snack on them and use them in recipes
Why This Recipe Works
In most candy-making, we try really hard to control the recrystallization of the sugar. Not making candy on humid days, washing down the sides of the pan with water, not stirring until a certain temperature, etc.
To make candied nuts, we want to encourage the sugar to recrystallize.
We want sugar crystals coating the outsides of all the nuts, so in order to make that happen, we do the opposite of what we normally do when working with sugar.
- Rainy day? Make these!
- We stir and stir the whole time.
- After the sugar caramelizes, we add in a bit more sugar. This introduces seed crystals into the mix and encourages the rest of the sugar to go back to its crystal form.
The result?
Sandy, cinnamony, spicy, candied nuts, just like at the mall. And we made them all by ourselves!
If these little guys sound great to you, I have a favor to ask:
When you do make this recipe, it will help me and other readers if you:
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Thank you so much!😘
How to Candied Nuts
I promise these candied nuts are very easy to make, but if you are concerned about working with boiling sugar, see the “Pro Tip Short Cut” section below or the “Notes” section of the recipe card for an easier method. If you’re ready to go ahead and make them, head on down to the recipe now.
Here’s what you’ll need, along with recommendations for substitutions
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pecans: Use your favorite nut, but start with raw. Don’t use roasted peanuts, for example, because they’ll be overcooked at the end. Other good choices are almonds, walnuts, and raw cashews
- Sugar: I use roughly half a cup for 2 cups of nuts, but you can reduce that amount or increase it by 2 Tablespoons either way
- Salt: Use 1/4 teaspoon at least. If you want your nuts to be sweet and decidedly salty, use up to 1 teaspoon. I use 1/2 teaspoon and like that level of saltiness
- Hot Spanish Smoked Paprika: Other good choices are cayenne or ground chipotle pepper. You could even use freshly ground black pepper if you’d like. Increase or decrease the amount according to how spicy you want them to be
- Cinnamon: I actually used apple pie spice in my most recent batch, and that worked out well. You can also use pumpkin spice or any combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and/or cardamom. It’s up to you
- Water: I add a touch of water to help dissolve the sugar at the beginning of cooking. It’s not strictly necessary, but it does help keep your sugar from burning in spots before all of it has melted
Procedure
Making these nuts is pretty straightforward.
- Put all your ingredients in the pan except for a tablespoon of sugar
- Cook, stirring constantly, over medium to medium-high heat. The sugar will melt, come to a boil, and eventually caramelize.
- As soon as you start to smell caramelized sugar, stir in the last of the sugar thoroughly. Your nuts will go from shiny to dull and sandy with sugar crystals.
- Cook another minute or two, stirring constantly, and then turn them out on a Silpat-lined baking sheet to cool completely.
An Alternate Method of Making Candied Nuts
To avoid working with boiling sugar, combine nuts with salt, spices, and enough simple syrup (1:1 syrup of water and sugar) to get the nuts wet.
Spread out on a baking sheet and bake at 325F until the nuts are crisp and dry.
Stir them every 5 minutes or so so they crisp up evenly.
Once cool, test them. If they’re still a little bit soft, pop them back in the oven for 2-3 more minutes and test again.
Equipment You May Need
You’ll need a good, heavy pan to cook these in. I prefer a saucier since the rounded sides make it easier to stir. I have this OXO saucier and I absolutely love it.
Make sure you’re using a wooden or high-heat resistant silicone spatula to stir. Nobody wants melted rubber in their candied nuts. (Or a burnt hand from using a metal spoon).
We used these Vollrath spatulas at the restaurant, and I can highly recommend them.
And it’s always nice to have half-sheet pans and Silpat to fit for cooling the pecans on (or for any number of other kitchen jobs like making granola or homemade brownie brittle.
If you want a half-sheet pan with a rippled surface, I have this one and use it frequently.
Tips for Success
Cook the nuts in a pan with a silver or white interior rather than in non-stick or cast iron. You’ll be able to see more easily when the sugar caramelizes.
Stir the nuts continuously to make sure that the sugar cooks and then recrystallizes evenly so that a)the sugar doesn’t burn, and b)all the nuts are coated with lovely, sandy sugar crystals.
Serving Suggestions
There are many ways to enjoy your magical cinnamon glazed nuts, friends.
Of course, you can eat them as is. Or mix chopped candied nuts into your caramel corn.
Top ice cream with them, bake them into muffins (try these cinnamon chip muffins. They’d be perfect in them)
Make my buttermilk pecan ice cream and add these guys, either whole or very coarsely chopped.
Add fairly finely chopped ones to pancakes for one, to these pumpkin pecan pancakes, or to your pecan waffle batter.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
Wherever regular nuts can go, candied nuts can go. And go more deliciously!
Cinnamon Glazed Nuts Q & A
Until you eat them all. I kid! They should stay fresh for a couple of weeks in a sealed container at room temperature. Again, if they get a bit soft for any reason, a low oven is your friend.
Either you didn’t cook them to a high enough temperature (on the stovetop) or long enough (if using the oven method). Either way, crisp them up in a low oven for a few minutes. Once cool, taste one and make sure they are nice and crunchy.
Yes, they can. Seal them tightly and freeze for several months. Allow them to come to room temperature before opening the container. If they have gotten soft at all, re-crisp for a few minutes in a 325F oven.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.
For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.
I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.
This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
Love Candied Nuts? Please Rate and Review!
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You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.
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Thank you so much for taking the time!
Spiced Candied Nuts
Ingredients
- 2 cups pecans walnuts, almonds, etc
- 4 oz a slightly generous 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 oz water 1/4 cup (just enough to evenly moisten the sugar)
- 2 teaspoons apple pie spice or cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon Spanish hot smoked paprika
- 1 Tablespoon additional sugar
Instructions
- Put sugar, water, salt, spices, and nuts into a medium saucepan.
- Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heat-safe spatula, until the sugar melts and then starts to caramelize, about 10 minutes.
- Once you smell caramel, add the extra Tablespoon of sugar and stir thoroughly into the nuts, making sure they’re all coated.
- The nuts will go from shiny to sandy and dull looking.
- Once all the nuts are sandy with sugar crystals, pour out onto a Silpat-lined half sheet pan to cool completely. (Or eat warm).
- Eat out of hand, or chop them and use them in your favorite recipes: pancakes, waffles, muffins, cakes, as an ice cream topping or mix-in, etc.
- Enjoy!
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
An Easier Alternative
- Combine about 1/2 cup simple syrup along with spices and salt and toss nuts in this mixture.
- Spread onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet and bake at 325 until crisp and dry, stirring every 5 minutes.
- Nuts will be done in about 15-20 minutes, depending on what type of nut you used and how much simple syrup you used.
- If they aren’t crisp once cool, bake an additional 2-3 minutes to dry them out completely.
- Cool and store.
Storing
Store nuts in a sealed container for up to a week.Nutrition
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And there you have it: spiced candied nuts for munching or for using as garnish.
I hope you enjoy them. Thanks for spending some time with me today.
Take care, y’all.
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Oh my I need to get these out of my sight! It took two tries to reach pecan perfection but it was my error. I jumped the gun the first time. Still very delicious, but not that sugary spicy crunch. The second time was perfect! So much better results than other candied nuts I have made! Thank you, Jenni, for another winning recipe!
I am thrilled you are enjoying them, Jane! And thank you so much for leaving a review–it helps out a lot!
Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes.
My pleasure, Annette! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours as well. 🙂
I’m excited to make these for a family gathering I’m going to this weekend! Do you know if you can use coconut sugar in place of cane sugar? I have a lot on hand, and don’t use much sugar in my day-to-day life, so I’d love to use it up.
Hey, Jenny! I do t think coconut sugar will caramelize and recrystallize like sucrose. I think you’ll end up with a burned mess. Use the alternate method with egg white or lightly whipped aquafaba if they need to be vegan. I think I put that alternate method in the notes section. If not, just mix the sugar, salt, and seasonings together with the egg whites/aquafaba, pour over the nuts (which you have put on a sheet pan) and toss evenly to coat and bake at about 300F until dry and crisp, stirring them every 15 minutes or so. Enjoy!
Thank you! I will use regular sugar. Thanks for helping me avoid a kitchen disaster!
I am here for you!
I love the way you mentioned I must have the mindset opposite of the way we ordinarily heat our sugar. Ending up with crystalized end product. However, you advocate portioning our ingredients by weight, being the most accurate, but you don’t give the ingredient weights in the recipe (you use the scoop and dump method. Is it possible to add the weights of the ingredients in you write up? That would make it so much easier to upsize/downsize the recipe. Thank you ever so much.
Hi, Jim,
Pecans weigh roughly 4 oz/cup. So 8 oz by weight to 4 oz of sugar is an easy ratio to remember. The rest of the ingredients are really to taste: how much cinnamon and salt, etc, is really up to you. Enjoy, and just remember the ratio of 2:1 by weight, nuts to sugar, and you’re good to go.
Absolutely delicious! I used less spice, as I didn’t want a distinct cinnamon-y taste in this dish, but this recipe is so versatile the flavor is easily adjusted. And, it’s terrific for our lactose intolerant friends, as many nut recipes use butter. Yay, Jenni!