Cinnamon Candied Almonds or Pecans or Walnuts

Cinnamon spiced, sweet and crunchy candied almonds, pecans, or walnuts- an irresistible combination for snacking year round. This simple recipe makes a delicious well received gift for any occasion.

It is reminiscent of the yummy smells and flavors of your favorite county fair. This super simple last minute gift idea will taste like you spent hours in the kitchen, but take you less than 20 minutes from start to finish to prepare.

How to Make Cinnamon Candied Almonds or Pecans or Walnuts

In a medium size saucepan mix cinnamon and sugar until blended.

Add water, stirring well. If you’ve combine your cinnamon & sugar you won’t have to worry about blobs of cinnamon. If you didn’t stir your cinnamon and sugar, you’ll spend the next 5 or so minutes trying to blend the cinnamon blobs.

Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Then add two cups of nuts (any variety you prefer). Continue boiling, stirring constantly, over med heat until nearly ALL of the water evaporates.

(This is different for everyone, for me it took about 5 minutes. However, I store nuts in the freezer so they were literally ice cold when I added them to the pan). Some folks report taking up to 12 minutes for this step.

The cooking method and time are the same regardless of what type of nut you choose to use.

Pour onto a cooking sheet covered in parchment or wax paper. I prefer parchment paper because it’s easier to reuse for multiple batches of nuts.

You’ll need to work quickly! Separate the nuts from each other using a fork, so they will be equally sugared and not in a blob.

Once you’ve separated the majority of the nuts, let them cool completely before packaging them.

I like the nuts to be candied with coating, less sugared in appearance. If you prefer the sugared texture, stir more frequently.

Cinnamon Candied Almonds or Pecans or Walnuts Recipe

You’ll Need:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
2 cups Almonds or Pecans or Walnuts

1. In a medium size saucepan mix cinnamon and sugar until blended.
2. Add water, stirring well. Bring to a boil over medium heat, add nuts (any variety you prefer).
3. Continue boiling, stirring constantly, over med heat until nearly ALL of the water evaporates, about 5-10 minutes.
4. Pour onto a cooking sheet covered in parchment, wax paper, or a Silpat. Working quickly, separate the nuts from each other using a fork, so they will be equally sugared. Otherwise, they’ll harden into a blob!

Here’s a batch of sugared pecans, the hubby’s favorite!

Candied Nuts Tips, Tricks & Notes:

These can be given as gifts in jars, simply attach a pretty ribbon and handmade tag to the jar. They can also be given as cone gifts. Place one cup of candied nuts in the corner of a Ziploc bag, tie with ribbon and trim the bag with scissors.

Using pinking shears to trim the bag will give the top a nice edging.

Places to Get Nuts Cheaper:

• Sam’s Club– has 3 lb bags of Almonds for around ten dollars.
• Costco -frequently has bulk packages of nuts inexpensively
• Trader Joes– reportedly has bulk nuts less expensively
• Aldi – frequently has containers of cashews and walnuts for about half the price of Walmart

If you know of a great place to a deal on nuts, please add it in the comments section below!

Troubleshooting Issues

1 If you fail to cook until the liquid evaporates, you will get a “pooling” of sugar when your pour out the nuts.
2 Not cooking it long enough will make the nuts look glossy rather than sugared. I actually do this on purpose sometimes as I like the look and texture!

They’ll still taste fine, it just changes the presentation of the gift.

Cinnamon Candied Nuts Labels

To make the labels, I used large 2″x 4″ shipping labels and created two per label. Once they’re printed, just cut them in half and adhere them to the baggies.

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