Copycat Christmas Market Nuts

I love the Christmas markets that pop up in every city this time of year but, I have to admit, I love them because they feel so quintessentially Christmas, not because I have any strong feelings towards what they have for sale. Except, that is, for one thing. The cinnamon sugar nuts.

Oh, I burn, I pine, I perish.

Before I get carried away, waxing lyrical about my deep adoration of these sweet, tasty snacks, let me give you a bit of background. There are whole stalls dedicated to the nuts, which have a sprawling selection of different nuts and flavours of sugar coating. My favourite are the classic cinnamon sugar ones. When you buy them, they are scooped from their trays into paper cones, which I always end up opening immediately and eating as I walk around the rest of the stalls. Ah, good times.

Sometimes though, it’s not possible to go to a Christmas Market. Whether that’s because of a global pandemic, a reluctance to brave the inevitable crowds or some other reason, we don’t have to miss out on our annual dosage of the cinnamon sugar nuts. Very similar ones can be made, very easily, at home- I’ve been doing it for years now and today I’m sharing the recipe that I use with you! It’s a slightly adapted version of this one.

One quick note before we get into the recipe: I tend to use metric measurements (grams, litres etc.) when baking. However, I have given the ingredients for this recipe in cups. This is to make it easier to adapt for different types/sizes of nut.

The first thing you’ll need is nuts. My favourites are pecans, but you can use whichever is your favourite or do a mix like I have done here. I used pecans, cashews and almonds. Do bear in mind that if you use a mixture of small nuts and larger nuts (for example, if you were to use brazil nuts and hazelnuts), the smaller nuts may burn before the larger nuts are done. You might want to do the two nuts separately. I would also suggest using blanched nuts, if you are using nuts like hazelnuts or almonds.

Alongside your nuts, you’ll need granulated sugar, light brown soft sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla extract, an egg white and water.

Preparing the nuts is actually really easy! You just whisk together the dry ingredients (both sugars, the cinnamon and the salt) and set aside. Then, in a large bowl, you whisk the egg white with the water and vanilla until frothy. You mix the nuts into the egg mixture until they are coated, then mix the dry ingredients in. The nuts then go onto a baking tray, ready for the oven.

Before they go into the oven, the nuts will look like this- coated in a slushy, deep brown mixture. During baking, the sugars will crystallise onto the nuts and the nuts themselves will toast, leaving you with nuts that are a deep gold colour and have a crunchy, pale coating.

In order to ensure that the nuts are evenly coated in the sugar, you need to give them a stir every 10-15 minutes. It’s a bit of extra work, but it really does make a difference!

After 15 minutes, the nuts will look a little something like this. You can see that in some places the sugar has melted, while in others it has crystallised slightly.

After another 15 minutes, most of the sugar will have crystallised. However, the nuts will still be quite pale (in the above photo, you can see this more easily with the cashews and almonds). The nuts need a little while longer in the oven to really toast and become golden.

5-10 minutes more and you can see that the sugar has completely crystallised and that the almonds and cashews are now a deep golden colour. The nuts are ready, but need to cool completely before you can dig in. If you want the nuts to be slightly less toasty, bake them for slightly less time at this stage- I would suggest about 5-10 minutes, instead of 15.

The nuts will keep for about a month if kept in an airtight container at room temperature. I love them, just as they are, as a snack, but you can also serve them on salads, on a cheeseboard, or as decoration on cakes/desserts. I hope you love them as much as I do!