These easy and addictive mixed candied nuts make a fantastic holiday snack and/or seasonal gift that your friends and family will love!
Table of Contents
Easy Candied Nuts Recipe
We love to gift candied nuts during the holiday season. They make a great neighbor gift and have that perfect festive flavor. Some other favorite gifts from the kitchen are my homemade soft caramels and homemade toffee.
This recipe for mixed candied nuts makes the house smell like cinnamon French toast, it’s so mouthwatering and simple. Easy candied nuts recipe are perfect to add to your holiday baking this year!
Recipe Ingredients
This candied nut recipe is top of the line and perfect for snacking, sharing at game night, or gifting to friends and family during the holidays.
Find the printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Mixed nuts: At your local grocery store find a bag of mixed nuts in the baking or snack aisle. Pick which nuts you are hoping for and roasted or anything special about the bag. I usually get the bag with cashews, almonds, walnuts, and pecans.
- Sugar: Adds sweetness over top the caramelized nuts.
- Cinnamon: This gives these mixed nuts the savory and sweet with a hint of warm spice on them.
- Fine sea salt: Gives the candied mixed nuts the texture but also blends the flavors together.
- Egg whites: Whisk the egg whites until they are a nice foam texture.
- Water: Brings in moisture and helps give the nuts a soft, squishy inside when biting down.
- Vanilla extract: Always a plus when added into a recipe. This will help bring flavor and blend flavors together.
Variations
Feel free to use any type of nuts you’d like, such as pecans, almonds, peanuts, walnuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, etc. Pumpkin seeds would taste great as well.
You can also add in more spices and play around with the flavor. A dash of nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice or even cayenne pepper would taste delicious!
How to Make Candied Nuts
These are simple to make and ready to bake in 5 minutes, so you will have no problem throwing this recipe together. Learn how to candy nuts with the simple steps below.
- Whisk. In a bowl, whisk together egg whites, vanilla and water until foamy.
- Mix together spices. Mix together sugar, spices and salt in a medium bowl.
- Coat the nuts. Whisk together egg whites, vanilla and water until foamy, then add in nuts and toss to coat completely. Once well coated, sprinkle the sugar mixture on top and stir to combine.
- Bake in oven. Pour nuts onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake at 325°F for about 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Remove pan from oven and let cool completely.
Perfect Holiday Gift
What I love most about this Christmas nut mix is that it adds a gorgeous touch to any holiday spread and make fantastic gifts. Put these in a mason jar, seal them up with a lid, tie a ribbon around the jar, and you have easy Christmas gifts that everyone will love and devour!
Recipe FAQs
They are not the same! They sound similar but glaze nuts use ingredients like brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter whereas candied nuts use sugar and egg whites.
If you have sticky candied nuts, you will want to be sure to let them cool completely before storing them or bunching them together. If they have sat out for longer than usual you can place them back in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes and see if that helps harden them more.
Yes, this does work well too! Lay the mixed nuts flat in the air fryer bucket. Cook at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes then stir together. Cook another 5 to 10 minutes. Shake them if needed halfway through.
The best thing about these mixed sweet nuts is that they last for quite awhile! If stored in an airtight container at room temperature, they will keep for about 2 to 3 weeks. They’re perfect to make ahead for gifting due to their longer shelf life. So easy and delicious!
All ovens run a little differently when it comes to temperature! If your oven runs hot, take the nuts out earlier. Keep an eye on them as they get done quickly.
Ways to Use Candied Nuts
There are SO many ways to enjoy these candied nuts. Below are a few of our favorites:
- For snacking
- Package up as a holiday gift
- Add to a charcuterie board or Christmas dessert board
- Use as a salad topping (they taste great on this pear salad or spinach berry salad)
- Add as a sundae or banana split topping
- To add some crunch to your favorite trail mix
- Enjoy as cold cereal with milk
- Mix with stovetop popcorn for a sweet and salty snack
5 star review
“I made these for our holiday party and everyone loved them. Making them again when we host Christmas.”
-Jessica
Are you looking for more snack recipes!? Try this marshmallow caramel popcorn, Christmas chex mix, or this Christmas charcuterie board at your next party or game night.
More Holiday Treats
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Mixed Candied Nuts
Equipment
- Cookie Sheet
Ingredients
- 1 pound mixed nuts , lightly salted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt , more to taste
- 2 egg whites
- 1 Tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare ingredients and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add sugar, cinnamon and sea salt and stir to combine.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg whites, vanilla and water until it becomes foamy.
- Add in the mixed nuts and toss to combine, making sure to evenly coat all of the nuts. Top the nuts with the sugar mixture, stirring evenly to coat.
- Add nuts to prepared baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 10 minutes. Stir nuts mixture and bake for another 10 minutes. Stir nuts mixture again and bake for another 10 minutes. Stir nuts once more and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Remove nuts from oven and allow to cool completely. Once cooled, store in a covered container.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Candy + Fudge, Christmas, Desserts, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is also the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook. Here you will find easy family-friendly recipes for every occasion.
Just about finished in oven now, they smell and look amazing! Had a wee taste of runaway nuts when restirring Yum!
For those using diff measurements, I used 1kg nuts to the egg white/sugar mix as I was conscious of the amount of sugar (The conversion calculator showed 500gm = 1lb) still great coverage, just not dripping in the sugar mix. Thx for sharing this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the mixed candied nuts! Thanks for the tips :)
I added chocolate chips, chopped cranberries and popcorn. It makes a great gift idea and of course a great snack!
Sounds delicious! Thanks for your review :)
Now I know when I make these next time, double the recipe! They go so fast!
They do go fast!
How delicious are these?? I made them and brought them to all the kids’ teachers as a cute little Christmas gift. They are a big hit!!
Ah that’s so sweet of you! I bet they loved them!
We always enjoy having mixed candied nuts every time we watch movies! They’re amazing and so yummy. Our go-to snack recipe. We’ll surely let our friends taste these. So excited about their reaction! Highly recommended!
Such a fun movie night treat!
These were a total hit for our party. We subbed half the cinnamon for some fresh nutmeg and used a 2.5 lb. Costco unsalted mixed nuts container and simply doubled the ingredients in this recipe. Thank you so much!!
I bet that tasted delicious with fresh nutmeg! Glad they were a hit!
I made these for our holiday party and everyone loved them. Making them again when we host Christmas.
These nuts are scrumptious! They will make great holiday party appetizers and awesome gifts too!
Yum!! I love these so much!
I just made these, and they are delicious! I used a mix of raw pecans, cashews, almonds, and Brazil nuts. Thanks for a terrific recipe.
Sounds delicious! Thanks for your comment Melissa!
Happy to say I just stopped counting calories ! Thank you so much for sharing (never thought I will be grateful for that :-)) !