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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 MakeΒ 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, Β {crunch}Β pin it to your “recipes to keep forever” board, {crunch. crunch}Β and let me know how you liked the candied walnuts! {Crunch. Cruuunch. Crunch}Β
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 ourΒ honey roasted almonds. They are also amazing
This recipe works fine! I would however, suggest melting the butter in the pan first and mixing the sugar with the nuts on the way in the pan. It makes the process go smoother.
Great tip Steve! Thank you π
Have just made them and they’re amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Happy Christmas!
My pleasure Angie! So glad you love them π Merry Christmas!
Can you use raw almonds?
Rae, I would toast almonds first. Have you tried this almond recipe? It is our favorite.
Made these today for a holiday snack.This was quick and super easy.Taste GREAT!
WOW! Talk about delicious! π These are out of this world! Already a family favorite!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful review! Merry Christmas Amanda π
This is so easy and good .Thank you I think I’ll make some for Christmas presents I used a little sea salt when I put them on the tray delicious.
I am so glad you like them Tami! Thanks for sharing!
Followed your instructions n just lightly folded ing. Together. Came out wonderful! Thank u!!!
I am so glad you liked them Jen!
This recipe is not that great…I tried the recipe according to instructions…there is not enough butter to melt the sugar and it definitely takes longer than 5 minutes
Hi Sharon, could it be that you are using more nuts than what is called for in the recipe, or maybe using a different sized pan?
OMG!!! This is so fantastic!! Made a batch yesterday,gone!! Just made a double batch this morning.
I buy nuts in bulk so I have walnuts and pecans!! Might try mixing the two but this is sooo good and EASY!!!
Glad you love it just as much as I do Gayle! Thank you for your review!
Thanks, this is a great recipe, simple and fast. Walnuts were delicious.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it.
I want to give these as Christmas presents. Will they stay fresh for a week if I store them in air-tight containers?
Laura, yes, they will easily last a week in air-tight container.
Thanks so much for the recipe! I was wondering, what is the best way to store the nuts and how long will they last?
It is best to store the nuts in a cool dry environment. I keep them in Tupperware in my pantry and they last about a week. Do not refrigerate or they can become sticky from the moisture in the refrigerator. It also is not ideal to keep them in a humid environment
Think I could use coconut sugar and coconut oil in place of the white sugar and butter?
Hi Lindsay, I really haven’t tried those substitutions to say if it would work. If you experiment, please let me know how it goes! π
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe! I had delicious perfectly toasted and candied walnuts in exactly 5 minutes with no mess and very little cleanup. Nothing burned or stuck together. I dusted them lightly with some sea salt and they were a fabulous addition to my salad. Cheers.
I love your idea of dusting with sea salt. Sweet, salty, savory, yum!!!
Can you use castor sugar for this recipe?
Hi Lynn, I haven’t tried this with castor sugar but I do think it would work, just keep an eye on it since it will probably melt faster, being finer granules of sugar.
These were fabulous and so easy to do. I was about to give up after trying two other recipes which failed. Then I found yours. You saved the day. Made eight batches of walnuts and pecans. Thanks so much for sharing.
That’s awesome!! I’m so happy to hear that π
OMG these are amazing! I added a pinch of Himalayan sea salt with the sugar, as other reviewers suggested. After I spread these out on parchment paper, I tried to quickly wash my pan to prevent the syrup from sticking, and took just a second too long and my nuts were stinking together, so I moved them back on to my stove top because my oven was on 350 degrees baking cookies, and voila, they slowly warmed back up so I could seperate them properly. So glad I stumbled upon your website; I can’t wait to try your other delicious sounding recipes! Thanks so much for the recipe!!!
Jess, welcome to our site and thank you for the wonderful review! π
Great, easy recipe! Made recipe with pecans & those came out fabulous as well. Will definitely make again. Thanks Natasha!
Lynne, thank you for such a nice review and you are welcome π.
AWESOME, Natasha! These candied walnuts disappeared before I could take a picture to post here. I have been unsuccessful with candied nuts before. They would always turn out with a crystallized sugar coating which did not look like store bought. This recipe is just perfect. I added a pinch of cinnamon. Thanks for a great recipe.
Thara, thank you for such an amazing review on the candied walnuts π and you are very welcome.
Natasha, I have just discovered your blog and I love it! I teach adult ESL and over the years I have had many immigrants from Ukraine in my class. I will share your blog with them–it will be good practice in reading English. π Also, I borrowed this candied walnuts idea, but I gave full credit to you: https://themerrylittlechristmasproject.com/rule-one-gift-idea-candied-walnuts-jar/. Thank you!
God bless you for your work with ESL students. It’s amazing what a difference it makes in their lives down the road. I will always remember my ESL teacher and the wonderful picture books and I’m 31 now – it was such a good thing for me when I was 5! π