A few days ago, Hayley of The Tiny Twig posted over at The Creative Mama about sprucing up your salad. Hayley’s salad looked so good that I craved salad, and made one every day last week. I think that salad is one of those things that taste so much better when someone else makes it for you. My mom was just here, and I bugged her to make me a salad every single day. She really makes the best salad in the world, her dressing is always perfect. Even better, Clay has been asking for “tyrannosaurus salad” (he is into dinosaurs right now) every night for dinner. The thing that I think makes a salad good is a variety of flavors and textures. Nuts really add sweetness and crunch, and also a nice little hit of protein.
Hayley shared this slow cooker nut recipe, and I immediately had to make it. I love this method, she is so brilliant to make these in a slow cooker. Seriously, why have I never thought of this before? You can also make different variations. Add some heat with cayenne, or cumin. This recipe makes a lot, so I gave some to my friend Heather. She texted me about 10 minutes later asking for the recipe. I think that is a sign that it is a good recipe. These are really delicious just as a snack too.
I am sharing a recipe over at the 30 Days 30 Ways with Mac and Cheese website. My Dressed Up Penne and Blue Cheese is one of the best mac and cheese recipes that I have ever made. Inspired from Lorraine Paschal, the method of slowly adding the milk to the roux, makes the creamiest sauce ever. Go check it out.
1 pound walnuts (or any kind that you like)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sea salt (I love to use fleur de sel)
Put all of the ingredients into the slow cooker.
Mix it together.
Cook on Low for 1.5 hours. Stir every once and awhile.
After an hour and a half, the sugar will have melted, and the nuts will be coated.
Spread the nuts out onto a parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet. Taste them and see if they need more salt. I like mine salty. Let the nuts cool.
You can store the nuts in an air tight container for about 2 weeks.
Ingredients
- 1 pound walnuts (or any kind that you like)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (I love to use fleur de sel)
Instructions
- Put all of the ingredients into the slow cooker.
- Mix it together.
- Cook on Low for 1.5 hours. Stir every once and awhile.
- After an hour and a half, the sugar will have melted, and the nuts will be coated.
- Spread the nuts out onto a parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet. Taste them and see if they need more salt. I like mine salty. Let the nuts cool.
- You can store the nuts in an air tight container for about 2 weeks.
I am Bree. I love to cook. Even more than I love to take pictures.
i wonder if almonds would work out the same way? sounds delicious.
natalie recently posted..lately.
Absolutely! Any nut will work. Pecans would be great too.
Oh my goodness YUM! Seriously Bree these walnuts look really good!
Melissa Vanni recently posted..Chicken & Ramen Soup
they are really good!
totally worth dusting off my slow cooker for!
And your photos…are so tack sharp, clear, vibrant, I could just reach into my screen. Gorgeous!
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga recently posted..Gloomy Day
Yes! Totally. I use my slow cooker all the time anymore, it should come off the shelf. Thank you for the love about my pictures. Some days are better than others, that is for sure!
These sound like the perfect addition to a salad. I loooove sweet and spicy nuts! Question: why did you slow cook these and not bake, or pan fry them in the same sauce? What does slow cooking do to the nuts that makes them better??
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar recently posted..Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake
For starters, it is less mess. Baking would work, but I tend to burn them. I just really liked how easy this method was, the coating was really even on all of the nuts, and I think that the slow cooking brought out more flavor from the spices.
Mmm, delicious. When I went to New York for New Years, they had Nuts 4 Nuts cars and they sold honey roasted peanuts/almonds/cashews/COCONUT! and they were delicious. This is how I found out I really love sweet nuts. And these ones look so good, I want to make it so I can munch on them
Becca recently posted..Cake Slice Bakers – January 2012: Chocolate Almond Cake
Yum! That sounds good. Coconut on nuts? Need to try that STAT.
[...] air tight container for about 2 weeks.Google Recipe View Microformatting by ZipList Recipe Plugin1.4http://bakedbree.com/slow-cooker-sweet-and-spicy-nuts [...]
I just made these-and have overdosed on them already!! What a fantastic, easy recipe. I did add a little more salt which probably wasn’t necessary but I love salt!!
Followed the recipe exactly and it made a lot. I think you could use any nut you like or have on hand-or why not do a mixed nut? I will be serving these on salads at http://sweetsixteencafe.com Thanks for the recipe-and using a slow cooker was a great idea.
Me too, I go heavy on the salt. You can use any kind of nut that you like, the possibilities are endless.
I just found your blog, and I’m loving the recipes I see. Can’t wait to try these sweet & spicy nuts. I’ve got walnuts and pecans in my freezer right now, so I think I’ll try both!
Welcome Tammy! I am so glad that you found me.
I love that these are made in the slow cooker. And now I’m craving a salad!!
Deborah recently posted..Coconut Ginger Muffins
It blew me away, why didn’t I think think of this ages ago?
This looks like a great idea! Would be trying it out soon. Thanks for sharing!
Shumaila recently posted..The Follow Up to The Most Dangerous Chocolate Cake
You are welcome Shumaila!
I LOVE making cayenne walnuts, but I’ve only ever baked them. Sounds like a fun recipe to try!
It was so easy, and less messy.
I NEVER thought of using a slow cooker for making sweet/salty nuts. What a great idea!
Me neither! Hayley is so smart.
[...] carrots green onions cucumbers tomatoes avocado feta cheddar cheese blue cheese sunflower seeds Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Nuts dried [...]
These are WONDERFUL!!! I just finished making all of my holiday goodies and I had multiple bags of opened nuts left over. I decided to mix them all up and make this recipe using walnuts, pecans and almonds. Sinfully good and easy! I loved them so much, I put the nuts inside 4 oz mason jars tied with a pretty ribbon and added them to my Christmas treats I was delivering to friends and family.
My only suggestion is that if you make a batch using only almonds, you may want to add more than the pound of almonds that the recipe calls for. I ended up having quite a bit of extra syrupy goodness in the crock pot and the almonds themselves were very heavily coated. Not that this is a bad thing at all, but the coating didn’t quite dry as much and I felt like the coating left in the crock pot was a complete waste of something that tastes like heaven. I would almost add 1.25 – 1.5 pounds of almonds, I had that much extra coating. (I’m thinking the extra resulted from almonds being heavier, smaller and having no nooks n crannies like walnuts and pecans had for all of that yumminess to stick to?)
Many thanks for this recipe Bree!!! I will be making it often.
That is really good to know, thanks! I made this tonight as a matter of fact, a really spicy one, and it was great on our cheese plate.