Sweet and Savory Spiced Nuts - Cooks Illustrated

Published November 1, 1999.

We discovered how to get maximum flavor with minimum mess.

The Problem

Most spiced nuts are made with a heavily sugared syrup that causes the nuts to clump awkwardly and that leaves your hands in a sticky mess.

The Goal

At holiday parties, even so-so spiced nuts usually disappear faster than the host can replenish the bowl. We wanted to develop a recipe that was both tasty and neat.

The Solution

We eliminated two popular methods--boiling the nuts in syrup and tossing them in butter--straight off. The former made the nuts sticky, and the latter dulled their flavor. A third method, coating the nuts with an egg white mixture, pretty much overwhelmed them with a candylike coating. What finally worked was a light glaze made from very small amounts of liquid, sugar, and butter, which left the nuts just tacky enough to pick up a coating of dry spices.

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