Caramelized and Spiced Nuts Recipe-February 2024-www.zdask.com

　　Active Time

　　5 minutes

　　Total Time

　　5 minutes

　　Editor's note: This recipe is from Erika Lenkert's book, The Last-Minute Party Girl: Fashionable, Fearless, and Foolishly Simple Entertaining For Lenkert's tips on throwing a last-minute New Year's Eve party, click here.

　　These fancy flavored nuts require almost no effort. Prepare 'em in advance, store 'em in a well-sealed container, and when the time is right, let your salads, desserts, and cheese plates go nuts with sugar or spice or both. To only "caramelize" the nuts, skip the cayenne and black pepper, which make them "spiced."

Ingredients

Makes 1 cup

　　2 tablespoons unsalted butter

　　1 tablespoon sugar

　　Pinch of cayenne and freshly ground black pepper (for spiced nuts

　　1 cup pecans or walnuts

Step 1

In a small saucepan melt the butter over moderate heat, add the sugar (and spiced if you wish), and stir until the sugar's dissolved. Add the nuts, stirring until golden, 2 to 4 minutes.

Step 2

Transfer the nuts to a bowl to cool.

　　Reprinted with permission from The Last-Minute Party Girl: Fashionable, Fearless, and Foolishly Simple Entertaining by Erika Lenkert. © May 2003 McGraw-Hill