I have made this recipe for roasted nuts on and off for Christmas for about 10 years now. Some recipes I make every single year. Some family members would be in an uproar if I did not make them one year for some reason or another. This particular recipe however, gets made when the need or urge to have them on hand strikes me. They are so easy and really good. I like to have them out on Christmas Eve and Christmas day for everyone to snack on. They would also make a nice gift for the nut lover. I happen to have several of them in the family!
The recipe is pretty adaptable. You can change the herb used in it to something that suits your taste or you can leave out the cayenne all together if you do not like hot and spicy foods. Or you may love spicy foods so much that you can double the amount of cayenne called for and serve them with a warning label!
In the above picture, I used only pecans (mostly because that is what I had on hand) but you could do a mixture of whatever you like such as pecans, cashews, walnuts, etc.
Now for the recipe:
Spicy-Herb Roasted Nuts
- 3 cups nuts of your choice
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less depending on your taste)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, optional (sometimes I use it sometimes I don’t)
Toss all ingredients together until well coated. Spread out in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet. Place in oven and bake at 350° F for about 10- 15 minutes or until fragrant. Stir every 5 minutes. It is important to keep an eye on them because they can suddenly burn if you are not careful.
Happy Holidays!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Simple, yet sounds and looks delectable!
Brenda
Very simple yet very, very good!
-Cynthia
Don’t you just love this time of year – even the blog postings are fattening! Good recipe.
LOL! So true Barbara, so true!
-Cynthia
oooooooo…those look yummy! I have some pecans in the freezer that have just been waiting for something special…looks like they’ll finally get to come out and play! Thanks for sharing your recipes!
Your welcome! I wish I had some pecans in the freezer waiting to come out play! They are so expensive in the stores buy me.
-Cynthia
I love nuts, especially almonds, I bet this would be good with them. Thanks for the yummy recipe! Kim
Hi Kim,
Are you getting crazy weather too? This week has been nuts- the recipe fit the week! LOL
I have made this recipe with a mixture of nuts and it is really good with almonds in it. Have fun with it. -Cynthia
Yum! I love the smell of roasting pecans, even without spices. I think this recipe looks fantastic!
I agree Karen! The smell of pecans roasting always makes me think of the holidays because I roast so many at this time. They seem to go into everything I make from cookies, to cranberry sauce, to pralines! You can’t beat pecans!
-Cynthia
I’m a nut lover too. I guess we really are what we eat! LOL. I might have to try it sometime. I wonder what it would taste like if we skipped the cayenne and used cinnamon instead? I like spicy, but it seems that I am all about cinnamon right now for some reason. Maybe it’s because I keep intending to make cinnamon rolls and STILL haven’t gotten around to it….
Hi Cinj,
I used to always make sweet roasted walnuts. They would be good with cinnamon on them I bet. I need to make some of those here soon! -Cynthia
I could use a cinnamon roll right now! They sure sound good with a nice hot cup of coffee!
Oh this is a good recipe. I has some pecans I brought home from trip to Georga this spring. They turned out yummy, in fact they didn’t last the evening. We had company for a game of cards and dessert…
Thanks for sharing this with us!
Karyn
Thank you for sharing this with me Karyn! It is nice to know that someone tried the recipe I posted. Even better to hear that it was a hit!
-Cynthia
Mmmm. I have a bag of pecan halves on the kitchen island right now that I never got around to doing something with because I just wasn’t in the mood for anything sweet.
I’ll have to try this one. I love cumin.
Hi Molly,
Hope you like the roasted pecans as much as we did! -Cynthia
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