Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Roasted Nuts
You will LOVE these rosemary roasted nuts, they’re perfect for Christmas gifts, Thanksgiving and other holidays. Vegan, gluten-free and naturally sweetened recipe.
Food gifts > other gifts.
I’ve got a rule when it comes to general gifting: it needs to either be edible, drinkable, homemade or a book. (Because I will never, ever stop loving the feel of books.) I first shared these nuts with you last year and decided to reshare them again today because they are just so darn good.
These nuts are so incredibly delicious and only require a handful of ingredients to make. The recipe is also easily doubled (or tripled), which makes gift giving that much simpler. Make up a batch, divide into pretty jars and serve.
Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Roasted Nuts
I like the combo of sweet and spicy, so I’m using a heavy hand of cayenne and cumin for these. Don’t worry, they aren’t too spicy- the maple and brown sugar balance the heat nicely. For freshness and more flavor, I add in chopped rosemary which gives these a distinctive Christmas feeling.
While they would be hard to mess up, a few tips. Make sure your brown sugar doesn’t have any lumps in it before adding to the nuts. Once the coconut oil mixture is added, any brown sugar lumps will harden into balls.
You’ll want to chop the rosemary finely before adding. I remove the leaves from the hard stem, stack as neatly as I can and then chop.
Place the glazed nuts in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet before baking and cooling. If you don’t want nut clusters, make sure the nuts don’t touch on the baking sheet. If they are stacked on top of one another, they will form into granola-like nut clusters.
You can use any variety of nuts, though make sure they are raw and not already roasted. I find the best prices on raw nuts at Trader Joe’s or in the bulk-bin of my local grocery store.
Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Roasted Nuts
Equipment
- Small Saucepan
Ingredients
- 3 cups raw mixed nuts, I used a mixture of pecans, cashews and walnuts
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped rosemary
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne, can use more for added heat
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Toss the nuts with sugar, cumin, cayenne and 1 teaspoon of the salt.
- Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan and add the rosemary and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the maple syrup.
- Add the nut mixture and toss to combine. Taste, adding more salt if needed. I usually add 1 1/2 teaspoons.
- Place in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, toss and place back in the oven for 2 more minutes until golden and toasted (watch to make sure they don’t burn)
- Remove from oven and let cool, then transfer to a container and enjoy!