Candied walnuts are a great snack to have on hand for parties. They complement wine and cheese very nicely because they have a little bit of sweetness and saltiness.

For this version, I used a lavender-infused maple syrup, butter, and salt. You can use regular maple syrup and it’ll be just as good.

I also used butter for these candied walnuts because fat is flavour! Butter is ideal because it helps stick the maple syrup onto the walnuts, otherwise they may be too watery. Also, who doesn’t love the taste of butter? I chose an organic, European-style butter.

Ingredients

200 grams of walnuts, whole, raw
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
Salt

Preparation

Heat the oven to 300ºF. Lay out the walnuts on a baking sheet.

Bake the walnuts in the oven for approximately 5 minutes—put on a timer because you don’t want to overdo it! Remove when done.

Heat up a frying pan on medium low heat. Make sure it’s not too hot so that when you put the butter in it doesn’t smoke. Once hot, melt the butter.

Toss the nuts into the butter in the frying pan. Pour on maple syrup and stir well, ensuring to cover the walnuts.

Grind some salt on top and mix well. If you used salted butter, you’ll need less salt.

Once coated, and after stirring it in the pan for approximately 2 minutes, remove from heat and let cool on plates or a baking sheet. Spread the nuts apart to ensure they aren’t touching so that they don’t stick together.

Let cool and serve. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.