My Homestead Life may earn a commission for purchases made after clicking links on this page. Learn More see Privacy Policy.
You can hardly walk into a store this time of year without smelling that sweet aroma of candied nuts. The good news is, you can make candied nuts with just three ingredients and they won’t cost you a fortune! Psssssst…… This recipe is Gluten-Free to boot!
Candied Nuts With Just 3 Ingredients!
Nuts and a nutcracker have always been a staple at my family’s house. The Nutcracker is one of my nostalgic memories from my grandparent’s home.
As a holiday tradition, we would sit by the fire with a nutcracker in hand and a bowl of mixed nuts nearby. I’m sure we ate more than we saved, but we always enjoyed doing it.
It’s funny how the simple things in life bring the most joy, even if it is just cracking nuts by the fire.
We carry on the tradition of having nuts available at holidays and family gatherings in hopes to provide these same memories for our children.
Harvesting Walnuts
We’ve never had the opportunity to pick fresh walnuts, but we have picked pecans, hazelnuts, hickory nuts, and acorns. We desire to grow an abundance of nut trees on our land in the future.
Our friends at Common Sense Home are blessed by neighbors that have walnut trees who are willing to share their bounty with them.
Harvesting walnuts is a part of our fall routine most years. We don’t have walnut trees yet, but our neighbors have black walnuts and English walnuts. I normally use the black walnuts for their hulls to make black walnut tincture, and use the English walnuts for their nut meats.
If you have access to walnut trees and want to learn about harvesting and storing them, Click here to read more.
Nutritional Value of Nuts
Nuts are more than just a fun finger-food, they are also very healthy for you and help to reduce certain health issues.
Making candied nuts and including them in your diet, still offers you some health benefits and tastes great!
From the Mayo Clinic, eating nuts is good for your heart and helps lower bad cholesterol.
Outside of being a quick and yummy snack, nuts are a great source of protein and contain
- Unsaturated fats
- Omega-3 fatty acids
- Fiber
- Vitamin E
- Plant sterols
- L-arginine
* Nuts are high in calories so consume in small quantities when eating for health
Candied Walnut Recipe
I used walnuts for this candied nut recipe.
If you like experimenting in the kitchen you can make candied nuts using any edible nuts, or a combination, such as peanuts, almonds, and walnuts.
In addition to using a variety of nuts, try some of the add-in suggestions I mention below to experiment with different flavors.
They are the perfect snack and easy to make.
Candied Walnut Ingredients
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 pound walnut halves
For a unique flavor, try our herb-infused honey recipe
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the honey and brown sugar in a bowl.
- Place walnuts and one cup of water in a microwave-safe bowl and ‘steam’ them for 50-60 seconds. Drain.
- Toss nuts with the honey-brown sugar mixture and stir with a wooden spoon.
- Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray, line with wax paper or parchment paper. I used a Silpat silicone liner.
- Spread candied nuts on the baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Stir and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes or until caramelized.
- Remove immediately and pour onto another sprayed or lined surface.
- Let cool completely until room temperature.
Enjoy as a snack or place on top of a salad, over muffins before baking them, or as an ice cream topping – let your imagination guide the yumminess!
Walnut Butter
We enjoy going out to eat once in a while. Our favorite places to dine always serve homemade bread and flavored butter.
You can use this recipe for candied walnuts with our homemade walnut butter recipe for an amazing spread for your homemade bread or biscuits.
Add-Ins
You can change the flavor or spice things up with your candied nuts by adding other ingredients. Try one or all of these different flavor suggestions.
- Cayenne Pepper
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla Extract
- Nutmeg
- Rosemary
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Maple Syrup
- Salt
- Cocoa Powder
- Coconut Flakes
- Pumpkin Spice
- Sesame Seeds
When using the add-in suggestions, try adding 1/4 teaspoon at a time until you get the desired flavor.
Nut Flour
As I mentioned above, more people are turning to nuts to avoid gluten. Nut flours are a great substitution for those that are gluten sensitive, but still want to enjoy bread products.
You can make your own nut flours and it is crazy easy to do. Enjoy this recipe from The Healthy Maven, How to Make Homemade Nut Flours.
Gluten-Free Recipes
If you are among the growing number of people that are avoiding gluten, you will enjoy the rest of our gluten-free recipes.
I promise they are all amazing and family-approved, even by those that can still indulge in gluten.
