If nuts can be an addition, then this spicy roasted nuts are my festive addiction! These are sweet, salty and spicy and you get a punch from the various spices as you eat them, it’s a true journey of flavours!

I like snacking on nuts! Almond and walnuts are my favourite ones and I always have them in my cupboard; they are rich in calcium and are packed with good fats, unlike some other nuts. I also use seed a lot, I toss them in salads, my breakfast bircher and use them when making bread at the weekend.

During the Holiday season, I like snacking on spiced nuts but the store made ones tend to be either too sweet or have seeds and nuts that I don’t like so always end up being somehow disappointing. This year, however, I decided to take things in hand and make my own spiced nuts. I did a fair bit of research and came up with a recipe that has a nice and well rounded mix of spicy, sweet and salty.

I eat them as a snack or serve them with cocktails, or mocktails in my case, before dinner during the festive season.

Ingredients

This recipe makes 3 and 1/4 cups of nuts, it takes about 5 minutes to prep and 25 minutes to cook.

• 1 cup Pecan halves (unsalted)
• 1 cup Cashews (unsalted)
• 1 cup Whole almonds (unsalted)
• 1/4 cup Pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon vegetable unsalted butter or olive oil
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (ground)
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin (ground)
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (reduce or omit if sensitive to spice)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes (I use Maldon salt)

Method

1. Mix the spices in a small bowl and the nuts in a separate bowl.

2. Melt the butter in a small pot. Reduce the heat to minimum, stir in the maple syrup and spices and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.

The heat will slightly cook the spices so to enhance their flavour.

3. Add the nuts to the butter mixture and stir until all they are nicely coated.

The melted butter and maple syrup will seem not sufficient for the amount of nuts and seed, but it is. Just keep stirring until everything is nicely coated.

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4. Spread the nuts mixture over a baking tray, lined with parchment paper, and sprinkle with sea salt flakes.

5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150C Fan for approximately 25 minutes until they look nicely golden brown and there is no maple syrup on the baking tray.

I usually stir the nuts after the first 10 minutes of baking and I keep stirring them every 5 minutes after then. This is to ensure they are evenly coated and roasted.

6. When nicely roasted, take them out of the oven, give it a final stir and let them cool completely before serving them with your favourite drink.

Notes

You can replace the nuts and seeds mix with your favourite combo, however I would recommend keeping to the proportions provided in the recipe.

These nuts keep for a couple of months in an air tight container, although I fell they will be gone well before then!

Enjoy making it and let me know if you have any comments or questions!

If you want to make this recipe and share it on your social media please tag me using @prepandproperrecipes and the tag #prepandproperrecipes