Sweet, salty and spicy nuts

This recipe was originally featured in my cookbook, “Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking” published by Murdoch Books in 2023.

Makes approximately 3 cups

Ingredients:

60ml (3 Aussie Tbls.) water
55g sugar
40ml (2 Tbls.)
Approximately 380g mixed nuts (2-3 cups) I use cashews, macadamia, pecan and almonds
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
1/4 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
1 tsp. Smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón de La Vera)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
flaky sea salt, for finishing

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180C conventional, 160C fan-forced.

In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar and olive oil. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

In a mixing bowl, combine the nuts with the sugar-water, fine sea salt, black pepper, paprika and cayenne. Toss until everything is evenly coated and then spread onto a baking paper lined tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the nuts are golden and then remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and allow to cool completely before tossing and breaking apart any nuts that may be stuck together. These store for several days in sealed containers.