Gwen Berry
For several years, my sister, Leslie Clark, has been delighting the members of our family each Christmas (and some birthdays) with gifts of these fabulous treats. They’re so good that either you can’t stop eating them and they’re gone in no time, or you hoard them and dole them out to make them last as long as possible. They’d be a hit at parties, too.
Leslie’s Cinnamon Spice Nuts
Note: these bake a long time at a low temperature and have to be stirred during baking. They’re good to make on a day you’re within reach of the kitchen anyway.
1 lb. shelled raw nuts, any combination (about 4 cups)
1 egg white (I’ve made these without the egg white and it doesn’t make much difference)
½ c. maple syrup
¼ c. coconut sugar or brown sugar
¾ t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
1/8 t. ground cloves
• Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
• Cover a rimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment that sticks out a couple of inches on every side.
• In a small saucepan, stir together syrup, sugar, salt and spices. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Letting the mixture boil briefly will result in a shinier glaze on the nuts, but don’t lose track and let it turn into candy (I say from experience!). Set aside to cool slightly.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg white until foamy. Add the nut meats and toss until coated with egg white.
• Pour the cooled syrup mixture over the nuts and toss to coat.
• Spread the coated nuts in a single layer on the parchment-covered baking sheet. Pour any extra glaze over them.
• Bake 60-90 minutes, removing nuts from oven every 15-20 minutes. Lift each corner of the parchment to make a heap of nuts in the middle of the pan, stir and spread again into a single layer. Nuts are done when they have dried enough not to be sticky.
• Remove nuts from oven and dump onto a second sheet of parchment. (Very carefully fold the original parchment sheet with the dried glaze on the inside to dispose of it. Otherwise the glaze will shatter, fly everywhere and make your kitchen sticky.)
• Break up clusters of nuts. Allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.