Some things will always mean holidays to me. Whether it’s because of a flavor or a smell, my mind goes right to celebrating the holidays when I encounter them. Spiced nuts are one of those for me. I love the way they smell when they’re roasting in the oven. I love the warm ginger and cinnamon flavors. Plus they’re great to give as food gifts or put out as an easy appetizer for Christmas or New Year’s celebrations.
Costco has a great in house line of products called Kirkland Signature. I used their avocado oil and Himalayan sea salt to make this amazing steakhouse style steak. My friend Chelsea told me she loved their mixed nuts so when I went to make my Spiced Mixed Nut food gifts this year, I grabbed a container.
This is such a simple recipe of dumping the nuts and spices in the bowl and stirring. Caitlin (and Sheriff Callie!) helped me. I heated the sugar and poured it in but she did much of it herself.
The Kirkland Signature nuts have whole nuts and not bits and pieces. Quality almonds, cashews, peanuts, Brazil nuts, and more take on the flavor of the holidays with ginger, sesame, and brown sugar. Even better the whole recipe takes less than half an hour!
Holiday Spiced Mixed Nuts
Ingredients
- 3 cups Kirkland Fancy Mixed Nuts
- 1 small spice jar candied ginger chopped about ¾ cup
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit..
- In a large mixing bowl combine the nuts, candied ginger, cayenne pepper, pepper, cinnamon, and sesame seeds.
- Add the brown sugar and water to a small saucepan and heat over medium-high.
- Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until sugar is completely dissolved.
- Pour sugar syrup over nut mixture and stir to thoroughly coat nuts.
- Arrange nuts on a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake until nuts are golden for around 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Let cool completely and break apart any large clusters.
I was able to find the candied ginger in the spice aisle at my local grocery store. Most of the other ingredients you probably have on hand and the Kirkland Signature nut container it should make enough for all of your holiday food gifting and entertaining. An important note about this recipe is that be sure and watch the nuts closely in the oven. I adapted it from this one from Martha Stewart and cooked it to the timed instructions but found my nuts were done a few minutes sooner because I smelled them and they would have burned if I left them in the whole recommended time.
I put some of the Holiday Spiced Nuts in little Mason Jars and tied them with a peppermint colored ribbon and gave them to teachers and friends. A delicious, easy, and cost effective food gift!
