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These caramelized, candied walnuts are quite a treat. Toss them into your salad, over popcorn, or straight into your mouth. Crunch. Crunch.
I love this easy method of making the candied nuts where everything goes into the pan at once. Other methods I’ve tried left me with globs of candy on the nuts rather than a more even coating.
It also roasts the nuts at the same time so you don’t have to pre-toast them, then add them back to the pan to be coated, blah, blah. Who needs extra steps?
It seriously takes about 5 minutes on the stove and 5 minutes to cool. The finished product is delicious! My husband was sampling them right out of the pan. P.S. This recipe can easily be doubled.
Ingredients for Candied Walnuts:
1 cup walnut halves/pieces (you can also use this recipe for candied pecans)
1/4 cup white granulated sugar (not coarse sugar)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
How To Make 5 Minute Candied Walnuts:
1. Heat a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat, add 1 cup walnuts, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp butter.
2. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently (with a heat proof non-plastic spatula) so your mixture doesn’t burn (especially towards the end). When the sugar mixture starts melting, stir constantly until all sugar is melted and nuts are coated.
3. Transfer immediately onto a sheet of parchment paper and separate the nuts right away. Using two spatulas will make this task go faster.
You don’t want to give the nuts a chance to turn into a wad of inseparable delicious goodness unless you are the only person who will be enjoying the wad ;). Seriously, move quickly from the time the nuts are coated until they are separated out on the parchment paper.
Once the coating hardens (5-7 minutes), you can transfer them to a bowl and either inhale them right then and there or save ’em for a salad or something.
Enjoy, {crunch} pin it to your “recipes to keep forever” board, {crunch. crunch} and let me know how you liked the candied walnuts! {Crunch. Cruuunch. Crunch}
5 minute Candied Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnut halves/pieces, you can also use this recipe for candied pecans
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar, (not coarse sugar)
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- Heat a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat, add 1 cup walnuts, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp butter.
- Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently so your mixture doesn't burn (especially towards the end). When the sugar mixture starts melting, stir constantly until all sugar is melted and nuts are coated.
- Transfer immediately onto a sheet of parchment paper and separate the nuts right away. Using two spatulas will make this task go faster. You don't want to give the nuts a chance to turn into a wad of inseparable delicious goodness unless you are the only person who will be enjoying the wad ;). Seriously, move quickly from the time the nuts are coated until they are separated out on the parchment paper.
- Once the coating hardens (5-7 minutes), you can transfer them to a bowl and enjoy!
P.S. If you haven’t allready, make sure to try our honey roasted almonds. They are also amazing
Omg, this recipe was unbelievably delicious! I just made it for our summer salad, and its perfect! After they cooled down, I put it in a small zip lock back, and was able to break the ones that were stuck together by gently tapping them on the counter! Great,easy and quick recipe!💕💕💕💕💕
Thank you for sharing, Virginia! I’m glad you loved it!
Hi! Just wondering if anyone has tried this recipe with macadamia nuts?
I’ve tried this recipe with walnuts a number of times now, and I absolutely love it!
Hi Debbie! I have not, but it should be fine to use macadamia nuts in a 1:1 substitution.
I love all different kinds of nuts. Just wondering if I could add pine nuts,almonds and walnuts to equal a cup?
I love to toast pine nuts in butter and sea salt .
I think that is a good idea! Please update us on how it goes, I hope you love it!
Delicious and so easy!! Thank you for sharing 🥰
Holy smokes Natasha!! These couldn’t be faster, easier or tastier! Not to mention addictive. Walnuts aren’t my favorite nut but I think They might be now! Perfect to add into a spring mix salad. I’ve recently read that soaking walnuts can remove some bitterness and make them easier to digest. Have you ever tried that before glazing them? I’m wondering how it would turn out. But these are great! Thanks for the recipe.
I am diabetic. Nuts are my go-to snack. I tried this recipe with Monkfruit Sweetener with Erythritol. Second round was perfect. 1 c walnuts, 2 Tablespoons sweetener, 1/2 Tablespoon butter. They were not sticky and are delicious. Thank you for a way for me to eat candied walnuts.
I just made these and they turned out great! Since my daughter is vegan, I used a high quality vegan butter.
We love this recipe! I actually do a triple batch in a large pan with 1 cup each of walnuts, pecans and almonds and triple the sugar and butter. I gave batches if the in beautiful glass jars as Christmas gifts to friends and family. They all loved them. Just making some today for a hostess gift for some friends having us over for dinner. A nice change from bringing a bottle of wine or flowers!
These are delicious and the way candied walnuts should be. I have tried so many recipes. This is the best. One thing I learned you definitely have to warm your pan before adding the rest of the ingredients. I have a gas stove and cooked the recipe on medium to low. Follow Natasha’s instructions and they will come out perfect.
My sugar didn’t melt…is 1 tablespoon enough butter? I had mounds of sugar clumps. How could I have messed up such an easy recipe?! Help ugh!
Hi Carin! Are you using granulated sugar? If you’re using a larger granule sugar, it will melt more difficult. I would also melt it with the heat lower. Keep an eye on it and stir less frequently to allow it time to melt down. I hope that helps.
i have tried several recipes and they all turn out with lumps of hard sugar and the walnuts barelyl coated.. use the correct sugar and exact ingredients. What, oh what, am I doing wrong? I have just subscribed to recieve your recipes.
Hi Caroline, while I haven’t had that experience I can understand how frustrating that can be. I know you said you used the right sugar, so that’s a great start since granulated sugar is best. Do your best to keep the walnuts moving int he pan so the sugar melts & coats them evenly. Remember low and slow is key, if the heat is too high the sugar will harden to fast and not coat it all. I wish I could be more helpful from a far.
Same issue here, very frustrating. Unsure of cause, my thought is too much butter?? But I used only 1tbsp
I think you just need to keep cooking them. My sugar at first seemed still crystallized for 4-5 min. It just needed another minute or two then it started to melt and caramelize. And coat them nicely. If you keep it over medium heat it will eventually melt then you can coat the nuts.
Thank you! This is a fantastic recipe, easy,quick, and delicious!🥳
These are perfection and have become part of my repertoire. I add them to a roasted beet goat cheese salad with micro greens then mix in a homemade balsamic vinegar vinigraitte.
Everyone raves about it including the youngest grandkids .
Thank you for sharing this Natasha !!
Great recipe! Easy peasy. For extra flavor I added a little cinnamon, sea salt, and cayenne pepper.
That sounds amazing, Manda!
Great recipe! Easy peasy. For extra flavor I added a little sea salt and cayenne pepper.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Manda!
Fantastic
Best easiest way to make toffee walnuts
No mess
Really delicious! Easy to make with a perfect result. Great and extremely accurate instructions. Now I am snacking on amazing candied walnuts. I’ll be making these forever.
Could Monkfruit sweetener be substituted for sugar?
Hi Kim! I haven’t tested an alternative. I don’t know if monk fruit will melt down like sugar.
I tried it and it worked. Less sweetener, less butter, and it does not glob together. I’m so glad it worked!
How do I store them? Room temp? How long do they hold up?
Hi Peggy! They are fine to store at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to a week. Or you can refrigerate/freeze for longer storage. If you refrigerate, the humidity can make them stick together so watch for that.
So deliciously quick added cinnamon to the mix thank you for sharing. 😋
That’s a great idea, Anna!
Easy recipe! Delish! I added a tsp of cayenne and a TBL Spoon of brown sugar to the white sugar. I nice little zip to the mix