How To Make Candied Walnuts

Considering the high price tag that candied walnuts typically tout at fairs, expos, and carnivals, you would think that this delectable snack was difficult, time-consuming, and ridiculously expensive to make. Spoiler alert: It’s not. Like, not at all. You only need 7 simple ingredients (8 if you count water) and literally less than 10 minutes to prepare.

What You Need:

1 egg. Rather, you need one single egg white only. Water (again, do we count water as an ingredient?) Vanilla extract Walnuts — you’ll want to buy halved shelled walnuts. Sugar — I use a blend of regular granulated and light brown sugar for the best flavor. Ground cinnamon — for cinnamon candied walnuts And just a pinch of salt for the best possible flavor.

How to Make Candied Walnuts:

We start with a single egg white combined with water and vanilla extract (or Madagascar bourbon vanilla, if you have it — yum!) which we’ll whisk vigorously until foamy. This gives us the liquid that will be necessary for our cinnamon/sugar mixture to fully coat each walnut. Then we’ll add our halved walnuts (see photo above) before tossing them with the cinnamon/sugar mixture (see photo below). They’ll then be baked for 45 minutes, but you’ll scrape the pan with a spatula to turn the walnuts every 15 minutes so that nothing can burn and so that they’ll be evenly baked with perfectly crisp (not burnt) exteriors when finished. Very similar to how you prepare my homemade granola, though maybe a bit less healthy… Like my caramel popcorn and funnel cakes, these candied walnuts are just not only less expensive when made at home, they’re also so much cheaper.

Tips for Making Candied Walnuts

Make sure you turn your walnuts frequently (every 15 minutes) with a spatula while they are baking in the oven! This ensures that the nuts are evenly distributed and that no burning occurs. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper so that the nuts can be easily turned during baking without sticking to the pan. Don’t use wax paper as it could melt and burn in the oven, and I don’t recommend using foil as the nuts tend to stick to that and the foil tends to tear. My candied walnuts have always finished baking within 45-50 minutes, but keep an eye on yours. If your oven runs hotter they may finish baking sooner, and the last thing you want is to accidentally burn them and have to throw them out. You can tell that the walnuts are done when they look dry when you remove them from the oven and there’s no liquid left on the pan.