Holiday Spiced Nuts

This post is sponsored by Sprouts Farmers Market.

Entertain your friends and families with this Holiday Spiced Nuts. They will make a sweet holiday gift, great for snacking or for your cheese board. Stove top version made with seasonal spices with vegan option. 

I am officially in holiday mode compiling all my favorite cookie recipes and easy ideas for holiday entertaining. This year I plan on baking about 10 dozen cookies and if you are in Fort Worth and want holiday cookie box from yours truly, I will happily hand deliver them to you. I am just feeling extra generous this year! In other news, I cannot keep my hands off of “Holiday Spiced Nuts”….I mean how can you stay away from something that is salty, sweet, crunchy with warmth from cinnamon, cardamom, and rosemary, esp this time of the year. If you are into edible gift giving (which you totally should), or need nuts for the cheese board, or want a big bowl for snacking – these Holiday Spiced Nuts are IT.

Holiday Spiced Nuts are very easy to make and it calls for just few ingredients which you probably already have in your pantry. We are talking combination of your fav nuts, fats of your choice such as ghee, coconut oil, or butter depending on your lifestyle or what you have, sweetener (such as honey, maple syrup or brown sugar) and lastly spices and herbs. Since it’s the holiday season, I went with warming spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and rosemary. I am not even kidding when I say it’s easy…you can watch me do it LIVE.

Nuts can be pricey & since they are packed with good fats (hello omega-3s, vitamin E, protein), they tend to go rancid or dry out if you don’t use it quickly enough.  The general recommendation is to store shelled nuts at room temperature for up to three months or in the refrigerator for up to six months, or in the freezer for a year or more. I highly encourage everyone to use the bulk-bin section at Sprouts for their wide selection of nuts and seeds. They carry so many different kinds of nuts, organic, roasted, shelled, whole, raw. You name it they probably carry it. Bulk purchasing can be cost-effective, you can decide whatever quantity you want, and overall there is less waste produced from packaging.

Remember the trip I took to Arizona with Sprouts back in October? We got to spend sometime talking to Sprouts team members learning about their Zero Food Waste initiative. In 2016 alone, they donated more than 19 million pounds of fresh food (or more than 15 million meals), diverted more than 12 million pounds of food from landfills by providing it to local farms as animal feed or to composting facilities, and recycled more than 70 million pounds of cardboard!! Being more environment-friendly is something I have been trying to practice more of but seeing these numbers shook me a bit and I left wanting to make more deliberate choices on every consumption habits.

I wrote a post back in 2016 on “5 Simple Ways to Live Green” and I still embrace all of those fully. But come 2018,  I would like to be more intentional in terms of avoiding excessive packaging, starting to compost, and producing less waste overall.

Learn —-> “How to Build a Holiday Cheese Board”! 

I cannot wait for you guys to make Holiday Spiced Nuts for yourself, or your loved ones this holiday season! Please don’t forget to share your version of Holiday Spiced Nuts using @foodpleasurehealth.

The recipe I am sharing is rather a small batch but feel free to double or quadruple the recipe accordingly.

Holiday Spiced Nuts

Author: Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health
Serves: 1 cup

Ingredients

• 1 cup mixed nuts (I used almonds, cashew nuts, and pecans)

• 1 tablespoon ghee (can use coconut oil or butter)

• 1 tablespoon honey (can use brown sugar or maple syrup)

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder

• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

• pinch of salt

• 2 springs rosemary, stems removed and chopped

Instructions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Heat a pan over medium heat with ghee.

3. Add nuts to the pan and stir it for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add honey to the mix and cook for additional 2-3 minutes stirring frequently.

5. Lower the heat then add cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, and pinch of salt.

6. Stir everything together and add rosemary to the pan.

7. Transfer the nut mix to the baking sheet and let it cool.

You can also pin the recipe for later use.

More holiday inspired recipes you might like :

Holiday Shortbread Ghee Cookies

How to Build a Holiday Cheese Board  

Samosa Bites

Tips for Hosting A Stress Free Holiday

Thank you so much for the partnership Sprouts.