Herb-Spiced Mixed Nuts

[nverland]

Herb-Spiced Mixed Nuts
Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Yield: 3 to 4 cups

Ingredients

3 to 4 cups (283 to 354g) pecans, walnuts, and almonds
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, olive oil, or coconut oil
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped sage
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2 Toast the nuts: Place the nuts on an ungreased, rimmed baking sheet and toast them for about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool slightly.
3 Combine the butter, herbs, and maple syrup: Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and add the rosemary, sage, thyme, cayenne, maple syrup, and salt. (If you are using oil, you should gently and briefly warm it as well.)
4 Toss the nuts with the butter and herbs: Using a spatula, toss the warm nuts in a medium bowl with the melted herbs and butter until the nuts are coated.
5 Serve! These are best consumed immediately, while warm. They may make your hands a little messy, but it’s worth it.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

1) Don't substitute margarine for the butter. It won't set.

2) Once you have a base recipe, you can add pretty much whatever herb or spice flavors you like, like ginger instead of cayenne, or pie spice.

Re: Thoughts

[nverland]

Agree!
1-NEVER substitute anything for butter
2-I love playing with the recipes by changing the spices/herbs. Go for what you like

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Some recipes it's fine to swap out the butter, but the results vary.

With cookies, different fats do different tricks. There are some fun comparisons:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jesseszewczyk/the-best-fat-for-baking-cookies-test

https://www.bhg.com/recipes/desserts/cookies/chocolate-chip/chocolate-chip-cookie-guide/

If you're just sauteeing things, there are many different fats you can use. I like ghee (clarified butter) for that, but I also use sunflower oil. Occasionally I use bacon grease for its flavor. Red palm oil swaps very nicely for butter because it's another semisolid fat, with high flavor-carrying capacity and a vivid red-orange color due to carotenes.

With things like glazes, spreads, icings, etc. you have to be careful swapping fats because the structure and chemistry often affect the end result, like whether it will set.

Gosh, now I'm wondering if red palm oil would work in some of those, because it tends to be solid at room temperature. I think it might, and the color is so vivid. Have to be careful about seasoning because of the magnification effect, but it's always possible to taste as you go.