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I first featured Rosemary Spiced Mixed Nuts back in 2010. 2010?? Sometimes it still shocks me that I’ve been blogging for over 4 years! Anyway, despite the fact that I made these nuts a long time ago, they’re still a staple at my house. I serve Rosemary Spiced Mixed Nuts each year at my Thanksgiving extravaganza, and I also like to prepare them occasionally as a travel snack. The 2010 nuts are tasty, easy to prepare and completely addicting. So, why would I update the recipe?
To be honest, I’m just switching things up a bit. I love the flavor profile of the original recipe, so I’ve kept most of the flavors in this recipe similar. Brown sugar, rosemary, cayenne pepper and sea salt work harmoniously together with notes of caramel, grassy wood and a faint heat that provides just enough intrigue. I’ve also added some maple syrup for good measure. The notable difference in my 2014 recipe is in the process. Here, I toss a mix of cashews, almonds and walnuts with butter, maple syrup and flavorings, then bake until the nuts become golden, fragrant and slightly sticky. I then sprinkle over additional sea salt and chopped rosemary once the nuts come out of the oven. This process helps to really infuse the nut mix with all those tasty flavors. Continue reading for the recipe.
How do you store roasted nuts?
I find the best way to store roasted nuts is at room temperature in a covered container. This helps keep them crispy.
How long do roasted nuts last?
Roasted mixed nuts will last 2 to 3 weeks, depending on the freshness of the nuts. If you start out with fresh nuts, the roasted nuts will last longer. The fats in the nuts will go rancid over time, and they’ll start to taste bitter. This is how you’ll know it’s time to toss them!
How do you make spices stick to nuts?
You can make spices stick to nuts by tossing the nuts in butter (or oil) and sugar. As the nuts roast, the sugar will melt and turn into a glaze, causing the spices to stick to the nuts. I like to add some spices and seasoning before the nuts go into oven, and then a little bit after to make sure they’re super tasty.
How do you salt roasted nuts?
I like to salt nuts before and after roasting them int he oven. Salting them before will get some of the seasoning into the nuts, and salting them after will make the flavor pop. You can salt nuts with sea salt or kosher salt.
If you’d like to prepare these Rosemary Spiced Mixed Nuts for Thanksgiving, prep them on the Monday before, and store at room temperature in an airtight container.
Rosemary Spiced Mixed Nuts
Ingredients
- 1 pound raw unsalted mixed nuts (I used cashews, walnuts and almonds here)
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (not imitation)
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, divided
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons flaky sea salt or kosher salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, toss mixed nuts with melted butter and maple syrup. Add 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary, dark brown sugar, cayenne pepper and 2 teaspoons flaky sea salt, mixing until the nuts are well coated with the flavorings. Spread nuts out onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until glazed and golden (about 18 – 20 minutes), stirring twice during the cooking process.*
- As soon as the nuts come out of the oven, season with an additional 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, and flaky sea salt to taste (I added an additional 3/4 teaspoon). Serve warm immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
I’m Brandon: food explorer, recipe curator, cocktail shaker, dessert lover. Kitchen Konfidence is how I document my time spent in my favorite space, the kitchen. Did you make a recipe? Tag @brandiego on Instagram so I can see the how it went!
Averie @ Averie Cooks says
I am not kidding….I will PAY you for these! This is my heaven! A little bit of heat, with the maple, the rosemary…TJ’s has some rosemary nuts that I can’t even buy b/c I eat the whole 1 lb bag in like…a day 🙂 And yours look 10000x better! Pinned! WANT!!
Brandon Matzek says
Thanks Averie!!! Yeah it’s much cheaper to make mixed nuts at home.
Jenny (VintageSugarcube) says
Ohhhhhhhh Emmmmm Geeeeee! I think I need to make those for Thanksgiving. You= Da Bomb!
Sippitysup says
High impact snacking. GREG
Heather Mason says
mmmm, those look delish! I love walnuts! Its always nice to have holiday recipes that are not filled with sugar!!
Brandon Matzek says
Thanks Heather! Yes, minimal sugar here.
ATasteOfMadness says
This looks amazing!! I need to try this out!
Lisa @ Whisk & Cleaver says
I still make your recipe from 2010 ALL THE TIME!! I’ll have to give this updated version a shot.
Brandon Matzek says
Yay!!! So glad to hear that Lisa 🙂 Yes, definitely let me know how you like these compared to the original recipe. Both are tasty!
Matea says
Cashews are one of my favorite nuts! And considering I have two huge rosemary plants in my front yard, I think I’m good to go with making this recipe!
Celeste @The Whole Serving says
I will be making! My brother has a backyard full of rosemary bushes and I’ll be clipping to make batches. This will make great hostess or office gifts.
Thanks
Kathleen @ Hint of Joe's says
This is one of my favorite holiday snacks. Adding herbs to spiced nuts is a genius idea.
Lizthechef says
The maple syrup will be a superb touch to a classic recipe I serve all the time. One herb I can always grow is rosemary – I learned the hard way to never water it and basically ignore it.
Vanessa says
your recipes are amazing, follow them for a year. we enjoyed only with goodies.
San Diego Interior Designer says
This is just…wow! I love nuts, well except for walnuts. Haha! I don’t really eat walnuts but I might give it a go when I try your recipe. What can I use as a replacement for maple syrup if I don’t have it?
K says
How can u store these for a month
Brandon Matzek says
Hi! I wouldn’t recommend making these 1 month in advance.
Christina @ Christina's Cucina says
I often make candied nuts, but have never made a savory version! Yum, these sound fantastic, especially for the holidays!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Rosemary and maple syrup, now that’s a match made in heaven and these nuts sound divine! Can’t wait to try them!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
Love these! Rosemary is one of my favourite herbs, never thought to add it to nuts!
Christiane ~ Taking On Magazines says
I’m thrilled that you posted an update to the original recipe so we can see the tweaks that you’ve made over the years! The mix looks fantastic.
Steph @ Steph in Thyme says
I love love love rosemary. Trader Joe’s has a rosemary tree you can buy that looks like a Christmas Tree! I could cozy up to that with a bowl of these nuts. Mmm.
Kelly Moore says
OMG! I was the hit at Thanksgiving! I tripled the recipe, served it with honeycomb,brie, goat cheese, blue cheese and crusty french bread. SOOOOO good! I am making them right now for a friend’s party this weekend….TY!!!!
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Brandon Matzek says
So glad you liked the recipe Kelly!! Love the honeycomb and cheese pairings 🙂
Vicky @ Avocdo Pesto says
Love the idea of adding rosemary flavor to mixed nuts! A perfect fall and winter themed snack.
Cecilia Mims says
This recipe looks fabulous. I want to try it for Christmas gifts. Just wondering if you’ve ever tried adding pumpkin seeds or sesame sticks?
Brandon Matzek says
Thanks Cecilia! This past Thanksgiving, I did a mix of pecans, walnuts, almonds, cashews and pumpkin seeds, and it was fantastic. Not sure about sesame sticks however.
Kim says
These are amaze balls! I made them as the pre-dinner snack for Thanksgiving, and am now making them to use as hostess gifts for holiday parties. Only problem is that they are so addictive I can’t have them in the house; have literally made myself ill eating too many of them. That’s why my motto with these is “Make and TAKE.”
Brandon Matzek says
Yay!!!! So glad you love the recipe :). Thanks for sharing Kim.
Sally says
Hi Brandon, do you recommend raw mixed nuts? or preroasted?
Brandon Matzek says
Raw.
Cheryl Koval says
I believe raw would be the way to go. This recipe did not call out raw, only unsalted. So I used roasted unsalted mix. Really overdone. :(. Ruined my nuts. Also I had pistachios in the mix. Did not work out well.
Brandon says
Thanks for the note Cheryl. I’ve updated the recipe to specify raw nuts. So sorry you had a bad experience! I have tried this with raw pistachios in the mix and they turned out well for me.
Angela McMillan says
These were wonderful. Super easy and fancy! I made them in the morning, they were best warm straight out of the oven, but still tasted wonderful that evening and also the next day. I used pistachios, pecans, almonds and cashews. Great combo!
Brandon Matzek says
Thanks for sharing Angela!! So glad you liked the recipe.
MarilyntheBee says
These nuts are phenomenal! I added a tad more cayenne pepper since my husband and I love spicy food. I’ll be making more to gift to friends and family.
Brandon Matzek says
Thanks for sharing Marilyn!! So glad you like the recipe 🙂
Theresa says
Why did you change the cooking time from 10min to 16-20min? I’m pretty sure I need to throw away $15 in but now! The only reason why I looked at your old recipe is to see if I did something wrong. I cook all the time and my oven does not run hot. You might want to consider adjusting this recipe cook time.
Brandon Matzek says
Hi Theresa, I increased the cooking time to give the sugar/maple syrup time to melt and glaze the nuts. In my previous iteration, the nuts are just toasting in the oven and then they get tossed in the spice/herb mix afterwards. So sorry this didn’t work out of you. I’ve made this recipe in 2 different ovens and the temp/timing always work out for me. When first making any new nut recipe, I like to watch them like a hawk just to make sure I don’t burn them. Then once, I’ve got a solid idea on timing, I can set and forget with future batches.
Kathleen Henderson says
I made these tasty treats for Thanksgiving appetizers. They were a hit! Even with my mom who claimed on first taste they were “too salty and a little too spicy.” Guess who’s now asking that I make them again just for her? You guessed it — my mom!! 🙂 For an extra kick I served these puppies along side dark chocolate covered cranberries. OMG!! What a combination!! The spicy salty with the bitter sweet dark chocolate cranberries were PHENOMENAL!!
Brandon Matzek says
Awesome!!! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂 Love the sound of dark chocolate-covered cranberries! Did you make them or buy them?
Kylee says
I made these for Thanksgiving and they were amazing! I want to make them again but forgot to buy fresh Rosemary at the store. Can I use dried? If so, how much?