Perfectly sweet & spicy, chewy & crunchy vegan candied nuts. Make a double batch because everybody will go nuts for these (sorry….couldn’t resist)!
Well Christmas has been and gone and New Year is fast approaching. I really can’t believe how time flies these days. They say that happens as you get older and now I am finding it to be true.
This was my first Christmas with my blog and I must admit that I wasn’t nearly as organized as I should have been. I should have been working on my Christmas recipes months before but December kind of crept up on me and before I knew it I was up to my eyes in dried fruit, gingerbread and cranberries at every possible opportunity in order to get my recipes created and out to you guys in time for Christmas. What with that, my day job and Christmas shopping etc, by the time the big day arrived I was ready for a break. That is why you haven’t heard from me for a week.
I have thoroughly enjoyed doing not much at all except eat, drink and be merry. I haven’t even done a massive amount of cooking since Christmas Day, that is until yesterday when I decided to create something New Year’s Eve worthy to publish today.
A vegan life without nuts would be a very boring one. At least for me it would. I eat them in some shape or form almost every day. They have got to be one of the most versatile ingredients out there.
From snacks, to butters to sauces, they are good for so many different purposes. They are also so nutritious, providing energy, protein, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids. Nuts and seeds really do have it all.
In this recipe, nuts of your choice are combined with sugar, salt, cinnamon, smoked paprika and that new vegan miracle ingredient aquafaba. Yes, the brine from a can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans.
Who would have thought that weird looking liquid could make such delicious recipes? I have used it to great effect once before in my Vegan Omelette With Asparagus, Spinach & ‘Cheese’. If you haven’t yet tried that you really should!
Candied nuts are often not vegan because egg white is used to coat them and make the sugar and spices stick nicely. I actually got the idea for this recipe from a jar of candied nuts that my husband was given as a Christmas gift. They looked really delicious and I sneakily checked the ingredients to see if I could have some and found they contained egg white. It was only after that, when I was making some hummus, that it dawned on me that I could use the aquafaba from the chickpeas in place of the egg white in my own vegan candied nut recipe.
I hit the jackpot the first time with these Vegan Candied Nuts. They are so darn delicious! Sweet, sugary, cinnamony, salty with a bit of spicy pop from my very favourite spice smoked paprika.
If you have yet to try smoked paprika then this is the recipe to try it in first. It has the most amazing, smokey, savoury flavour and is great in chili, rice, bean and potato dishes, but even more so it is fabulous in these Vegan Candied Nuts.
This is my favourite brand of smoked paprika:
It is absolutely delicious.
The smell in the house when these nuts are cooking….. They say you should bake bread and have coffee brewing when you are trying to sell your house and have people viewing it. I say forget that and just make some of these Vegan Candied Nuts. Those people will never want to leave! The smell is just intoxicating and they taste just as good. Once you start eating them you just can’t stop.
They are just right for snacks, sprinkling on salads, oatmeal, ice-cream and dairy free yogurt and they make an amazing gift. Just fill a mason jar and tie some ribbon or twine around the top. Perfect! They also make amazing nibbles to serve alongside drinks or cocktails at parties.
Whip some up for your New Years Eve celebrations and I can guarantee you will have happy guests all night long!
I have loved seeing what you have been making over the holidays. My Gingerbread Waffles were my most viewed recipe on Christmas morning followed closely by my Cranberry, Apple & Walnut Smoothie and the pictures and feedback you have sent me have been great. You guys rock!
Vegan Candied Nuts
Ingredients
- 200g | 1.5 cups raw shelled nuts (see recipe notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons coconut sugar (you can sub this for brown sugar)
- 4 tablespoons light granulated sugar (I used organic vegan cane sugar ).
- 4 tablespoons aquafaba (see recipe notes)
- A little more sugar for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300°F
- Line a baking tray with a Silpat or baking parchment.
- Add all of the spices and sugar to a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Put your aquafaba into a bowl and whisk until white and foamy. You don't need it to be stiff like meringue. I used my electric hand whisk and it took less than 1 minute.
- Pour the nuts into the whisked aquafaba and stir gently to coat.
- Pour in the spice & sugar mix and stir gently again to coat the nuts in the mix.
- Pour everything out and onto your prepared baking tray.
- Bake for 15 minutes then take them out, stir them about a bit and put them back for another 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and push the nuts apart a bit with a fork so they don't dry hard in a big clump.
- Sprinkle with a little sugar just to give some more texture (this step is optional)
- Leave to cool and harden on the tray,
- Once cool break them up a bit with your hands and store in jars or other air tight containers.
Notes
If you cook your own chickpeas from scratch then you can use the liquid you cooked them in instead of the aquafaba from a can. You will need to reduce it down a bit first though until it is thick like canned aquafaba or raw egg white.
Estimated nutrition per serving:
Long time vegan, creator of A Virtual Vegan & author of the book 
Michelle says
I’m not vegan but always looking for new ideas. Using egg whites can be a drag as I’m clumsy at separating them and what do you do with the yolks? Will make these as a birthday present for a friend who was talking about aquafaba meringues.
Ashley D says
I just made this recipe with pecans and I can’t stop eating them! Thanks for introducing me to aquafaba; I am still new to veganism and had no idea chickpea brine was so magical! For this recipe, I did reduce the sugar by half because I was worried about the nuts being too sweet. I also added more smoked paprika, so these were more “sweet and spicy” than “candied.” I’ve added this recipe to my collection and will definitely be using it again! Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Sweet and spicy sounds good. I love the smoked paprika flavour and often add more. You will find aquafaba used in a lot of my recipes. It is magical stuff!
Monique De Martin says
Best looking nuts I’ve seen ;) I will give these a go NOW! Thank you so much or sharing!
A Virtual Vegan says
I hope you enjoy them!
Monique De Martin says
Yes Mel, I did thanks. I tried candied pecans to garnish a raw salted caramel and pecan cake. They looked beautiful and shiny on top. I was thinking about trying this chickpea miracle (first time I’ve used it) in raw chocolate icing to give it a shiny appearance…that would be amazing… more things to research and play with now! :) thanks again
A Virtual Vegan says
Great! Your cake sound delicious. I think aquafaba would work well in a chocolate icing. Have fun experimenting :O)
Monique De Martin says
I have a little raw cake business LOVING RAW that I just started up to supply local Brisbane health food shops (australia). I design all my own recipes for raw desserts too. I just read your “work with me comments” and was pondering. For a sweet cake, I went with the safe option and excluded the smoked paprika & added my favourite spices with cinnamon – cardamom and nutmeg. I love smoked paprika so will a good one to try next time adding it to the cinnamon… have you ever eaten the smoked paprika nuts with a sweet dessert or chocolate cake? I wonder… another thing to experiment with :)
A Virtual Vegan says
I have used them on sweet things like ice cream but not on cake. I would think they would work well with chocolate though. Have you ever tried a chocolate and chili combo? It’s awesome and I think that the smoked paprika would work in a similar way. Now you’ve made me want to experiment with that!
patti says
I just made these and they are de-lish. Thanks for the recipe!! :)
I’m adding them to a mixed green salad with mandarin oranges and slices of yellow sweet pepper and chunks of avocado. YUMMY!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Patti. Thats so good to hear and your salad sounds delicious. I could eat that right now! Thanks so much for stopping by to let me know :O)
Redawna says
These look fantastic! The aquafaba is a great idea1 Definitely have to give this a try. Thanks.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! Let me know what you think when you try them :0)
Sina @ Vegan Heaven says
These look like such a great snack! And what a genius idea to use aquafaba! :-)
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! The Aquafaba idea came to me in one of those light bulb moments…..They don’t happen often ;0)
A Virtual Vegan says
Oh dear indeed…..It’s impossible to stop eating them!
Gin says
Using aquafaba to make these candied nuts is _genius!_ I also love that touch of smoked paprika, yum! I’m seriously pinning this to make next Christmas, I’m so stoked.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thanks Gin. They are so good! You don’t have to wait until Christmas. They are great on salads, oatmeal, yogurt or just for grabbing by the handful which is my downfall!
Jac -Tinned Tomatoes (@tinnedtoms) says
I have been meaning to try candied walnuts. We had them on a salad at the Atholl Arms Hotel in Dunkeld (who do fab veggie and vegan food) and I wanted to recreate the salad. My hubby even loved them and he hates walnuts. I’ll have to try them with aquafaba. I’ll link to you if I do :)
A Virtual Vegan says
Thanks Jac. I hope you manage to get that salad recreated. My recipe will be awesome with walnuts. I find it such fun trying to recreate recipes and get the flavours just how I remember them. I’ve recently been doing it with one of my husbands favourite sweet treats from a local cafe. I think after quite a few attempts I have finally got it spot on. It will be published soon!
Sarah @ Foodrecipe.org says
Nice Vegan Recipe, Looks Yummy and Delicious. i will try to make this vegan candied Nuts for my Husband because my Hubby is vegan too :D
Thanks for sharing
A Virtual Vegan says
Thanks Sarah. I hope your husband enjoys them!