Homemade holiday gift: Spiced Nuts

disclosure: this post has been brought to you by our sponsor, McCormick. Our Daily Green is thrilled to bring you a gift idea you can make yourself. 

One of the most stressful parts of the holidays is choosing gifts for people. It's so easy to fall into the trap of an impersonal, overpriced, useless gift. Not to mention the embarrassing moment when someone gives you an unexpected gift and you want something to reciprocate. 

One of our solutions is the gift of non-perishable food. Everyone eats, and during the holidays, it's nice to have something fancier than usual. With busy schedules, not everyone has the time to cook so a gift from the kitchen is sure to be a hit. We love making Spiced Nuts and putting them in pretty jar to have a ready to give gift with a personal touch.

Nuts are healthy. A 30-year Harvard study recently concluded that nuts lower the risks of cancer and heart disease: “... people who ate nuts everyday appeared to be protected from cardiovascular disease. There are good things in nuts – healthy fats, omega 3s, fibre, good plant phenols and health-promoting compounds,” said Dr. Rena Mendelson. (Global News, November 21, 2013). Cinnamon has been shown to improve blood sugar control as well as protect against heart disease.

Sounds like a solid reason to "go nuts" this holiday season. Enjoy!

Thanks, McCormick!

Spiced Nuts

Serves: Makes 3 1/3 cups or 18 (3-tablespoon) servings.

(images are from a doubled recipe)

Ingredients

#McCormickBaking

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons McCormick® Cinnamon, Ground
• 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Allspice, Ground
• 1/2 teaspoon Lawry's® Seasoned Salt
• 1 egg white  or *vegan substitute* = 1 Tbsp. plain agar powder dissolved in 1 Tbsp. water, whipped, chilled, and whipped again
• 3 cups nuts, such as almonds, cashews, peanuts and pecans (we used walnuts, pecans and almonds)
• optional: a dash of McCormick® Cayenne Pepper, Ground

Preheat oven to 250°F. 

Beat egg whites until they are frothy, but still liquid. This allows the sugar/spice mixture to stick to the nuts. 

 

Thoroughly mix sugar with spices. 

The optional cayenne pepper addition is my own, it gives the nuts a spicy, sweet, savory zing.  

Toss nuts with frothy egg whites. 

Add sugar spice mixture and stir to coat evenly. 

Spread in a single layer on a lightly greased cookie sheet. 

Bake for 1 hour, at 250°F, stirring once. 

Let cool & break nuts apart. 

ENJOY! 

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