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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
Sorry, but I made these twice, and both times, the sugar refused to stick to the nuts, So I ended up with slightly sweet toasted walnuts, and globs of sugar. I stirred almost constantly both times, and I got the same result. Any suggestions?
Is so hard to say without being there. Is there anything you changed from the original recipe? Did you add the sugar and butter at the same time? Did you maybe have the heat too high? Were you using a non-stick pan?
I have never reviewed any recipe before but I absolutely love this one! It is so easy to make and my entire family loved it, which never happens! I tried this with both sugar and splenda, both turned out great😀
Kristi, thank you for such a wonderful review, I’m very happy to hear that everyone love it :D.
These are fabulous. I made them this morning and had to make a 2nd batch they are so good. I’ll probably wind up just eating most of them by the handful with the remainder over our salads.
I’m so happy you enjoyed them! They are a nice little treat 🙂
how should I store these….after they are made….in the fridge covered?
At room temp is fine. You can put them in tupperware or a ziploc bag once they are at room temp. I’m not sure if they would turn a little moist in the fridge which is not ideal for the candy coating.
i used your wonderful recipe but sub’d Splenda for the sugar & they turned out perfectly!!! Thank you ☺️
Marla, thank you for the great review :).
Have you tried letting the sugar/butter mixture melt first and then add the walnuts? I tried the recipe above and I couldn’t get half of the mixture to stick to the nuts. My only thought was to melt the sugar first next time, but perhaps that would make the problem worse? Thanks!
If you mean that the already melted sugar mixture wouldn’t stick, it’s possible that it may have gotten too hot? I’m not sure what else it could be since I haven’t come across that problem. Sorry I can’t be more helpful. Did you use the same kind of sugar?
I’m a student and I found these in the back of the cupboard. I thought I’d have to make caramel but I only have non-stick pans. So this recipe was a godsend and i like that they aren’t as hard as caramel but still deliciously crunchy. Thank you, I was starving.
I’m so happy you liked them :-). It’s hard being a student but before you know it, you’ll be moving on to the next season of life. 🙂
I just made these and loved them!I did have to add extra butter and a drop of water to help the sugar melt though. Sprinkled them on my pumpkin, bacon and feta salad and it was fantastic.
Nanini, thank you for the great review, I’m so happy that you loved the recipe :).
Wow!
Awesome recipe!
I’m a beginner in cooking, and this was so easy to make, yet so good!
My whole family absolutely loved it!
My sister and I kept sneaking into the kitchen to eat them 🙂
That’s so great! Thanks for the awesome review!
Made these tonight and, although I was a bit skeptical at first, it worked like a charm. Just when you think the sugar is not going to melt any further suddenly it does and the walnuts get nicely coated. It’s really important to stir the entire time! Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you for the great review April and you are welcome :).
Great recipe! I’ve seen other recipes that involved boiling water and sugar, but this is so much simpler! I am making honey walnut shrimp tonight and will be garnishing with these! Thanks!
You are welcome Allison :). I hope that you will find many new favorites on the site.
Literally just made great recipe! Sprinkled some sea salt at the end! Recipes goes fast so be prepared! Definitely will be making these again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for sharing your tip about the sea salt.
Thanks for the recipe, I’ve made it several times with pecans and they always turn out great! Just wondering if you’ve ever tried brown sugar instead of white sugar? There’s a restaurant that I like with candied pecans that are just a bit crispier than these and I’d really like to harden them a bit more!
Mmmm candied pecans. Yum!!! I haven’t tried brown sugar but if you do give it a whirl, do let me know how it works out. I wonder also if maybe they have a baked version?
Just made the candied walnuts. It’s hard to keep my hands off them! Delicious! Thanks for the great recipe. I made mine to go with a Spring mix of greens and some extra spinach, chicken breast, sliced strawberries, crisp bacon for a little extra crunch, and a strawberry vinaigrette to top it all off! Yum!
The salad you describe sounds amazing, especially with the nuts over the top. You’re making me so hungry!
Yummy! I just made these with mixed nuts (cashews, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts and brazils) and they are so delicious! Stephanie x
www.thestylememo.com
I love the idea of using mixed nuts! Thanks for sharing 🙂
You are my hero!! Making a birthday cake for a friend today and had to do make an old carrot cake recipe rom my mom have something extra! I used them as a dcorative garnish, and to keep up my strength (nibble, nibble, nibble, YUM!). I dusted the warm walnuts with a cinnamon dredger and that works out too?
I love that you dusted with cinnamon. Yum!!
I just made the candied walnuts for a strawberry salad and they are delicious! So glad I doubled the recipe. Thank you. LOVE easy!
Thank you for the great review Karen and you are welcome :).
Should you use salted or unsalted butter?
I always use unsalted butter in my cooking, but honestly it’s such a small amount that it could be either salted or unsalted. Great question! I’ll update the recipe to be more specific. Thank you! 🙂
Medium heat, stirred for 15 to 20 minutes all the while adding a bit more butter and slowly turning heat down. Sugar never melted. I shouldn’t have tried a double batch the first time around. What a waste.
You may not have had enough skillet space to melt the sugar. I used my largest non-stick skillet for a single portion.
Just made these and they came out perfectly.
Bonny, thank you for the great review, enjoy :).