This recipe is a variation on one from food blogger Arianne Jones. It takes on a caramel like quality as it bakes and the sugars in the maple syrup start to bind the nuts together. You can use any variety of nuts or seeds. And, it makes a great gift if you put them up in nice jars with a cute label on them. The flavour of these spicy nuts really seems to increase by the second day, so watch out with the heat of it all. If you aren't good with lots of heat, I would strongly suggest you use just one teaspoon of crushed chilli peppers.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup almonds 65 g
  • ½ cup cashews 65 g
  • ½ cup walnuts 65 g
  • ½ cup pecans 65 g
  • ½ cup hazelnuts 65 g
  • ½ cup pistachios 65 g
  • ¼ cup of sesame seeds 35 g
  • ⅓  cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons dried rosemary leaves
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 - 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1½ teaspoons sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Prepare 1 – 18" x 13" rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
  2. I put my nuts on a chopping board and loosely chopped them. 
  3. In a large bowl, toss all of your nuts and seeds.
  4. In a small bowl mix maple syrup, olive oil, rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes, paprika, black pepper and salt.
  5. Pour the wet mixture over the bowl of nuts and fold to ensure everything is coated evenly. Transfer the mixture to the baking sheet and flatten.*
  6. Roast for 20-30 minutes, tossing halfway through until nuts are toasted and maple syrup caramelizes. Let cool completely on the parchment paper.
  7. Enjoy! Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

*If you want the nuts to come out more like a brittle, when you place them on the baking sheet in one flat layer, minimize the space in between the nuts and don’t rotate or shake halfway through. The maple syrup will fill in the gaps and once it is cool you can crack brittle pieces apart. If you’d like to enjoy it in a trail mix consistency – ensure the nuts are separated on the sheet tray.