Spicy Maple Walnuts

• Candied nuts are a nice addition to salads. Try them on top of a salad made with greens and beets. They are also great on ice cream or with a piece of fruit or just by themselves.
• This recipe has no butter and less maple syrup per nut compared with other recipes.
• I wanted a recipe that used maple syrup and the oven (not a skillet). I also wanted to make a big batch (one pound of walnuts -- that's about 6 cups). For most recipes that meant using a cup or more of maple syrup which would be quite expensive.
• Walnut halves make a great presentation but these are so yummy no one will complain it you use chopped nuts.
• I'm pretty sure this recipe could also be made with pecans or mixed nuts.
• I've made this recipe twice and I'm still playing with the flavorings. Have fun experimenting with you favorite flavors.

½ cup maple syrup

1/8 to ½ teaspoon cayenne (or more -- see last note above)

½ to 1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

½ to 1 teaspoon savory (optional) 

 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1 pound walnuts

Parchment paper extends over all four sides.

• Preheat oven to 350°. 
• Line a large jelly roll pan with parchment paper. It will work best if the paper extends beyond all four sides of the pan (see photo). Otherwise, the syrup may run underneath the paper.
• Mix the first five ingredients -- everything but the walnuts. Feel free to leave out some of the seasonings or add a few of your own.
• Add the walnuts and mix well.
• Spread the walnuts onto the parchment paper. Try to get them one layer deep.
• Bake a total of 10-12 minutes. Watch closely so the walnuts do not burn. After the first four minutes, use a spatula to mix the nuts around. Ideally, to prevent burning, you need to flip every nut. After the next four minutes, mix/flip the nuts again.
• The maple syrup will be bubbling. Remove the pan from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack. Flip the nuts one more time.
• Now you need to break apart the nuts before they harden in place. After a few minutes, the nuts and pan will be cool enough that you can slide your hands underneath the parchment paper to begin separating the nuts.
• Once the nuts are completely cooled, they can be stored in a jar.