Candy Cap Candied Nuts

Sweet, salty, crunchy, maple toasty, spicy disappearing acts. Prepare these with Wild Pecans or Wild Black Walnuts for more intensity of flavor.

Makes 3 cups of candied nuts

• 3 cups of pecans or Wild Pecans, walnuts, Wild Black Walnuts, or combination of nuts
• 1 egg white
• ¼ cup Wine Forest Candy Cap Sugar
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla
• scant 1/16th teaspoon (pinch) of cayenne pepper
• more scant (smaller pinch) cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 275°F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray the parchment paper with a fine mist of vegetable oil.
3. Combine the brown sugar, Candy Cap Sugar, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and sea salt in a bowl.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg white until stiff. Add the vanilla and dried ingredients and fold them into the egg whites. Fold in the pecans, coating them.
5. Turn the coated nuts out onto the oiled parchment paper, spreading them out. Bake until browned, approximately 20 - 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool until the nuts stick together and the coating is solid enough to hold together. Lift the crunchy nuts off the paper in chunks.
6. Store in an airtight container.

Tips and Techniques

The coating is very sticky, so be sure to lightly coat that parchment paper. This is such a quick and easy recipe, so see how much spicy heat you like and adjust the cayenne pepper to your liking the next time. Chop up the nuts for an easy topping for ice cream or baked fruit.

Substitutions and Variations

This recipe works well with all nuts.