Spiced nuts make a great snack to accompany a cocktail, mix-in for a salad, or as the topping on a brie cheese wheel. Generally spiced nuts are something that you see on fall or winter menus, but they will work equally as well on your spring table. The trick is to change the flavor combination to complement light, bright, and refreshing flavors of Spring. Using Lemon Sugar as her inspiration, Sally was able to create a Lemon Spiced Walnut that is perfect for the warm Spring weather and the flavors that come with it!
Lemon Spiced Walnuts
8 ounces walnut halves
1/2 cup Lemon Sugar**
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 large egg white
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
6 to 8 drops Orange bitters (we used Regans)
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl, add the Lemon Sugar, salt, cloves and cayenne. Stir until the mixture is well blended. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, add the egg white. Beat with egg white with a fork until it is frothy. Add the vinegar and orange bitters. Stir until blended into the egg white.
3. Add the walnuts to the egg white mixture. Toss the nuts until they are completely coated with egg white mixture. Add 1/3 of the sugar mixture to the nut mixture. Stir the nuts to coat with the sugar. Add the second 1/3 of the sugar mixture to the walnuts and stir to coat the nuts with sugar. Add the last 1/3 of the nuts and stir the nuts to coat them with the sugar.
4. Pour the nut mixture onto a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Spread the nuts out in an even layer. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring and spreading the walnuts out half way through the cooking time. Remove the nuts from the oven. Let cool. Break up any nuts that are stuck together. Serve or store nuts in an airtight container.
Recipe © Sally James Mathis
Photography ©Taylor Mathis
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