Whiskey and Vanilla Glazed Walnuts and Pecans

We were out to eat one night had a lovely salad with roasted strawberries and maple glazed walnuts. Since both my husband and I enjoyed it I came home and looked for a similar recipe in my files. The recipe I found had only walnuts and was glazed with sugar. I decide to play around with the recipe and see if I could make a glazed nut that would have more flavor. The resulting recipe for whiskey and vanilla glazed walnuts and pecans is my first attempt at that recipe.

Whiskey and Vanilla Glazed Walnuts and Pecans

Ingredients:

1 pound shelled nuts (1/2 walnut, ½ pecan)
1 tablespoon of kosher salt

1 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons whiskey

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup Karo light corn syrup

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

Optional Ingredients:

Smoked Salt
Vanilla Sugar
Cinnamon Sugar

Directions:

In a medium bowl, soak walnuts and pecans in enough water to cover; stir in salt. Allow nuts to soak for at least 15 minutes. Rinse nuts and drain completely.

Bring enough water to cover nuts to a boil; drop in nuts and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until nuts appear to be more pale in color. Remove nuts from the heat and rinse again and drain thoroughly.

Combine sugar, whiskey, water, Karo syrup and the vanilla in a medium saucepan, stirring well to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and add nuts. Simmer on low heat for a half hour. Remove the nuts from heat and allow to stand for 15 minutes during which time some of the remaining sugar syrup will be absorbed into the nuts.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

After 15 minutes, drain remaining syrup from walnuts. Line a baking sheet with oiled parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Spread nuts evenly on the baking sheet and bake in preheated oven until the nuts are dry and crisp and the sugar has caramelized, this will take about 20 minutes. When the sugar has caramelized, remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow nuts to cool completely before moving them to a storage container.

Cinnamon sugar or vanilla sugar may be sprinkled over the walnuts halfway through the baking period, if desired. Smoked salt can be used in place of the sugar to take the nuts in a savory and sweet direction.

The cooled nuts may be stored in a jar in the refrigerator for several weeks if they aren't eaten long before then.

Nutritional Information (for the entire recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 4545.42
Calories From Fat (57%) - 2607.12

Total Fat - 311.47g
Saturated Fat - 27.91g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 178.35mg
Potassium - 2245.95mg
Total Carbohydrates - 410.95g
Fiber - 36.97g
Sugar - 275.71g
Protein - 55.61g

Comments from the testers:

I tend to share new recipes with people as soon as I try them out. Everyone seemed to enjoy these and they never made it to a salad and were instead eaten alone as a snack. The whiskey flavor was not very prominent in the end product. Next time I will eliminate the water and replace it completely with whiskey. A request was made to replace the Karo syrup with maple syrup and to use almonds and see what happens. That became the next test. Results of that test will follow in a future post.