‘Tis the season for all things full of spice and everything nice. That includes these gingerbread spiced nuts. Or at least, it certainly should!
A few weeks ago I found myself unexpectedly in Chicago. While I spent most of the week working, I did manage to squeeze in a little time to play. And to eat – some of the favorites that I find myself craving every so often. The hole left in my heart and my stomach after moving away after ten years in the city.
One day while I was hard at work, Tomato ran out to the annual Christkindlemarkt for some good cheer and mulled wine and came home with a few bags of spiced nuts. Now, we both have a special place for carnival nuts in our hearts (see here for details), so I was all too excited for the treat. AND, because of the holidays, this special nut variety had a holiday twist.
Gingerbread!
While the sorts of nuts traditionally already have cinnamon, these had the extra zest of ginger and cloves and I liked them, very very much. I knew I just had to try my hand to make them at home.
I started with the OG recipe as a base, and added what turned out to be just the right proportion of spices to make them spiced but not TOO spiced.
A note about this: you’ll try these nuts right out of the oven and think they don’t taste gingerbready enough. Trust! Once they cool properly the flavor really starts to come out.
Helped by a sprinkle of salt at the end.
They really are the perfect hostess gift…or to just hoard for yourself. No judgment either way.
Gingerbread Spiced Nuts
Carnival-style nuts with a holiday twist: Gingerbread spiced nuts are slow roasted with hints of cinnamon, cloves and ginger.
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- 2 1/2 cups whole unsalted raw almonds
- 1 1/2 cup raw pecans
- 1 cup raw walnuts
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp salt, plus about 1/2 tsp more for sprinkling at the end
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 300F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Step 2 In a medium bow, combine the sugars, spices and salt. Set aside.
- Step 3 In a medium bowl. beat the egg whites until medium peaks. Fold in the nuts and vanilla and coat well. Add the sugar mixture and make sure all is coated thoroughly.
- Step 4 Divide the mixture evenly on the two cookie sheets, spreading the nuts to one layer. Bake about 45-55 minutes, stirring halfway in between, until the nuts are browned. Remove from oven, give it one more stir, sprinkle remaining salt and top, and let cool until hardened.
- Step 5 Break into pieces, store in an airtight container.
