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Over the past several weeks, I have been testing out various different recipes for Thanksgiving. Having already spent a good amount of time on side dish and dessert selections, I decided I needed to give my appetizer course a little more love. In this recipe for Rosemary Spiced Mixed Nuts, a blend of pecans, almonds and walnuts are toasted until golden and fragrant, then tossed in a sweet-savory blend of rosemary, cayenne pepper, sugar and salt. These mixed nuts will be a perfect Thanksgiving appetizer, complimenting a full lineup of seasonal cocktail selections. Do you like to serve appetizers at Thanksgiving dinner? If so, please share.
Rosemary Spiced Mixed Nuts
Adapted from the New York Times.
Ingredients
- ⅓ pound pecans
- ⅓ pound almonds
- ⅓ pound walnuts
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, toss pecans, almonds and walnuts with melted butter. Spread nuts out onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden and very fragrant (about 10 minutes). The nuts can burn very easily, so be sure to stir several times during the cooking process.
- In a another large bowl, combine rosemary, dark brown sugar, cayenne pepper and sea salt. Add the toasted nuts and toss to coat.
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Walnut Lovers says
This looks outstanding. We will certainly being trying this easy and yummy snack. Thanks for sharing.
Kocinera says
These look gorgeous! I love how easy it would be to thrown them together beforehand, since the less I have to make on the actual day, the better. 😀
Chris Louie says
I love the idea of adding rosemary. I am going to try these and serve with cocktails!
Kristi Rimkus says
Don’t you think making your own fresh mixed nuts beats the salty canned versions any day? Terrific recipe, perfect for the holidays!
Lindsey @ Gingerbread Bagels says
I love spiced nuts and I adore rosemary! Those nuts looks absolutely delicious and your photos are just gorgeous. I’m definitely going to be trying out your recipe, thanks so much! 🙂
Have a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!
Lisa { AuthenticSuburbanGourmet } says
Yummy! Ina Garden has a similiar recipe for cashews that I make consistently. Love the idea of using the mixed nuts for this recipe. Happy Thanksgiving!!
Shari Wakefield says
We went out to dinner to the Aubergine (http://www.auberginerestaurant.com.au/) last night for dinner and they served some excellent spiced nuts and olives as an appetizer! So now that I have a recipe, I’ll have to try making these for my next dinner party.
Laura says
Love the idea of these, am definitely going to try.
Brandon Matzek says
@Kristi Agreed. I would choose these over canned nuts any day!
Emma says
I was on the lookout for a spiced nuts recipe for christmas – thanks for this! Love the flavours.
Jason Phelps says
I am just starting to roast nuts at home and this recipe intrigues me. How hot/spicy does it end up being?
Jason
Rachel says
Oh my- this looks fantastic! Great job, I’m definitely making these!
Brandon Matzek says
@Jason Phelps Hi Jason, I have a fairly high heat tolerance, so I didn’t find these nuts to be overly spicy. They have a good balance of sweet, spicy, salty and herby.
Lynette says
Made these over the holiday to take to a party. So easy to make and so yummy! I really love them!
Lisa @ Whisk & Cleaver says
An oldie but a goodie! I love spiced nuts – I have a similar recipe but LOVE the addition of brown sugar to yours. Pinning this one for cocktail hour!
Brandon Matzek says
Thanks Lisa! These nuts are super taste – the sugar adds definitely adds an interesting dimension. I make them every year for Thanksgiving!
Whitney says
I made these for Christmas, and the flavor combination was perfect. Thank you for the lovely recipe. I had a small amount of walnuts and a large amount of almonds to use. I blanched half of the almonds which gave the mix a nice color.
Whitney says
P.S. I used the updated recipe (with the maple syrup)
kat says
I’m a big fan of seasoned/spiced nut recipes, but I found these to be bland AND burnt. Cook time listed is twice as long as the 2010 recipe.
Brandon Matzek says
Oh no!! So sorry these didn’t work out for you. Cook time is longer than the 2010 recipe, because here, the nuts get glazed with the brown sugar and maple syrup – need a little extra time for that to happen. Did you use the exact ingredients on the list? Seasoning can be fixed by adding salt to taste, and perhaps your oven runs hot (or mine runs cool?). Just keep an eye on them next time and pull them out earlier if needed.