Name: Skillet Candied Nuts
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw, unsalted nuts; 1 tablespoon water; 1 tablespoon sugar; 1/8 teaspoon table salt

Why This Recipe Works

To make this crunchy snack, we started by toasting nuts in a skillet to bring out their flavor. Adding water, sugar, and salt to the hot skillet caused the water to evaporate and the sugar to caramelize and thicken. As the nuts started to stick together, we spread them out on a large plate and let them cool. Breaking the nuts into bite-size pieces made them ideal for snacking or using as a topping on our White Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Sauce.

Before You Begin

Any variety of nuts can be used here, but we’re partial to cashews, pistachios, and almonds. Have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you start cooking. As the sugar caramelizes toward the end of cooking, it may start to get a little smoky; this is OK.

Instructions

Toast nuts in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until fragrant and spotty brown, about 3 minutes. Quickly add water, sugar, and salt and stir with rubber spatula to evenly coat nuts.

Cook, stirring often, until sugar mixture caramelizes and nuts begin to clump together, 2 to 3 minutes. Quickly transfer nuts to large plate and spread into even layer. Let cool for 10 minutes. Break nut clusters into small pieces with your hands. Serve.