Honey Roasted Nuts

It is another miserable rainy and cold day here in Atlanta. Nothing to do but cook something. It's the season for parties and snacks and other treats. One of my favorite things is nuts of all kinds and I especially like honey roasted nuts(plain or spicy) and they are very nice for the festive season. Here is the basic method for putting a little honey glaze on nuts. You can leave off the spice and do them plain or add the spice of your choice.

Honey Roasted Nuts (with or without spices)

Ingredients

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup honey
1 pound unsalted roasted mixed nuts (about 4 cups)
You can use mixed nuts or all one nut like pecans, walnuts or almonds but I like mixtures. A really nice mix is 1 cup whole cashews, 1 cup whole almonds, 1 cup whole pecan halves, 1 cup hazelnuts but mix whatever you like...I avoid using peanuts but you can if you want.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Lightly spray the pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the sugar with the salt and set aside for later. In another large bowl mix the honey( with the spices if using). Add the nuts and stir to coat. You can heat the honey in the microwave for 20 - 30 seconds to make it a little easier to mix. When all the nuts are nicely coated spread them in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake for 10 -15 minutes. (If you are using raw nuts then another 10 - 15 minutes might be needed to completely roast the nuts. I normally just used roasted but unsalted nuts.) Remove from the oven and let the nuts cool slightly and then toss them with the sugar-salt mixture to coat. Discard the parchment and spread the nuts out on the baking sheet to finish cooling. Once cool you they are ready but you can store them in a tightly sealed container for a week at least.

If you want to make a spicy nut mixture then add 3/4 tsp of cayenne pepper to the honey. Other options would be 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp ground cumin or even a tsp of smoked paprika. Whatever you like but cayenne is usually my go to for spicy nuts.

If you want to make these nuts extra crunchy then use a coarse sugar like turbinado (like Sugar in the Raw) and kosher salt.