Whether you eat these out of hand, stir them into your morning yogurt, add to a fancy cheese platter, or sprinkle them over your ice cream sundae, MAKE THESE QUICK MOCHA CANDIED WALNUTS! Please?
Start eating these crispy, brown sugar candied walnuts with cocoa, coffee, and spices, and you may find that you cannot stop!
When I say these are "quick," I mean it. It'll take you, oh, about 5 minutes to whip them up, plus just 30 minutes in the oven. Boom. You have the most amazing mocha (coffee + cocoa) walnuts.
Don't like coffee? Or, maybe you want an extra boost of coffee flavor? See the variations at the end of the recipe.
What are the best walnuts to use for candied walnuts?
My walnut world changed once I tried sprouted walnuts. (Don't worry...sprouted walnuts don't actually have sprouts!) Sprouted walnuts are soaked and then dried, which takes away all of the bitter flavor and makes them easier to digest, leading to faster nutrient absorption. All I know is that they taste amazing!
We love spouted walnuts so much that we have a subscription from Tenderly Rooted, but you can find sprouted walnuts on Amazon.
You can see that I used to shy away from walnuts in the past because of their bitter taste. Take a look at my other candied nut recipes: Lone Star Pecans, Sugar and Spice Pecans, Copycat Trader Joe's Cocoa Chile Spiced Pecans, Spiced Candied Pecans. Notice the keyword there? PECANS. Sprouted walnuts have changed me.
Let's make Quick Mocha Candied Walnuts
Here's all you need.
Whoops! You'll also need cocoa powder. Use Dutch-processed or natural; it doesn't matter! Whatever you have on hand.
Whisk the sugars, cocoa, spices, and salt together. Be sure to combine these well; you don't want one walnut getting all of the cayenne pepper!
Whisk the egg white with vanilla bean paste and espresso powder until frothy. Quickly, toss in the walnuts. I like to use salad hands for this.
Next, toss in the dry ingredients.
Pour onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Bake, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before storing or eating...although I guarantee, you'll snag a few while they're warm.
I can't help but wonder what these might be like used to bake a Coffee and Walnut Cake? Hmmm.
Quick Mocha Candied Walnuts
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder (dutch or natural)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 egg white
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 heaping teaspoon espresso powder*
4 cups sprouted walnuts
Preheat oven to 275. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper. Whisk sugars, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt together.
In a large bowl, whisk egg white with vanilla bean paste and espresso powder until the egg white is frothy and mixture has lightened in color. Quickly toss in the walnuts until completely coated.
Add dry ingredients, tossing until walnuts are evenly coated. Take care to incorporate any dry mixture that has collected at the bottom of the bowl.
Pour onto the prepared sheet and bake for 30 minutes, removing to toss every 10 minutes. Once baked, remove tray from oven, then lift parchment paper and walnuts off of the tray and onto a countertop to cool.
Store in an airtight container. Makes a great homemade gift - package in cello bags tied with ribbon.
*VARIATIONS:
- omit espresso powder for a cocoa spiced version
- bump up espresso powder to 2 teaspoons for more coffee flavor
Well, I'm having yogurt with mocha candied walnuts for lunch today. How about you?
