Brown Sugar Candied Walnuts
These Brown Sugar Candied Walnuts will be your go-to topping for sweets, salads, and snack mixes! But watch out or you might just find yourself eating the whole batch by the handful!
Can we talk about Halloween?
I’m pretty sure that when I was young that on the afternoon of October 31st my mom let me dig through her closet to find something to wear for 2 hours that evening. Then we would bundle me up in every pair of sweatpants in the house along with my warmest coat and 3 scarves. Mom would let me use her Avon samples to apply whatever makeup I wanted. Those little teeny tiny lipstick samples were my favorite.
Finally my mom would put my “costume” over the stuffed sausage, stage makeup version of me and I would stand around (I couldn’t sit because I was so bundled) until it was time to go outside. This was Ohio where snow and frigid temperatures are anxiously awaiting the calendar to turn the page to October. Fall- what is Fall? That lasts for about 17 minutes in September.
I remember the lady who gave out Little Debbie Cream Pies, the family who thought it was their mission in life to scare little children with severed head scarecrows and nausea-inducing strobe lights, as well as the neighbor who handed out pennies. <– You are the worst. I’m sorry but that’s the truth. PENNIES?! Nobody wanted pennies even in the 80’s.
These days my children begin Halloween festivities by October 15th at the latest. Costume ideas are secured shortly after the school year begins and there are variations based on the weather and if the event will be held indoors or outside. I swear I have enough candy from these events that I don’t even have to go shopping for the actual event on October 31st. In fact my kids take a little stroll down our street and they are OVER IT. It’s October in Ohio which means there is about an 80% chance that there is snow on the ground. They would rather hand out candy and see all of their friends come up to our house.
Then we go inside and check for needles and such. Well honestly these days I check for peanuts since my youngest son is allergic. He knows not to take the big guns- Reese’s, Butterfinger, PayDay, etc. But I go through and do my culling and basically take everything and swap it out for safe candy that I have bought and set aside just for him.
Whenever I get the chance to eat nuts safely I take it. These Brown Sugar Candied Walnuts are so amazing that you will want to top everything with them. Toss them on an earthy salad, throw a few in a snack mix, or top your favorite ice cream with them. Stay tuned because I have a fabulous recipe coming up later in the week that uses them. You won’t want to miss it!
Brown Sugar Candied Walnuts Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 cups walnuts
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large pan heat butter over medium heat until melted.
- Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts to the pan and stir continuously until the sugar is dissolved (about 3-4 minutes).
- Using a slotted spoon or spatula remove walnuts from the pan to a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Allow to cool completely for 1 hour. The walnuts can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
29 Comments on “Brown Sugar Candied Walnuts”
Same as everyone else! The brown sugar did not melt. Did it stop us from eating them? NOPE. Did people ask for a special batch just for them? YEP. Am I making them again today?? HECK YES! You won’t be disappointed. So easy and yummy.
I just made this but my brown sugar did not melt?’::What did I do wrong ? it just was in clumps.
I did it both ways and it worked much better melting everything first and then adding the walnuts. I did add a teeny bit of water, some salt and pumpkin spice mix. They both taste good, but the second batch looks better!
Just tried these.
The result was not great. Clumps of brown sugar stuck to nuts I don’t think there was enough liquid in 2 tbsp of sugar and not letting the sugar melt before adding the nuts made the mess worse.
Excellent recipe!! I dripped chocolate on some of the walnuts. I think i like them better without the chocoolate. You’re right i could eat them sll up in one sitting. Much thanks!!! 😋😋😋😋😋
Yummy & sooo quick!
Sorry this is not working Chunks of nuts and grains of sugar.
I’m so glad to find your recipe. I tried these today and can’t stop eating them as they cool – delicious! I’m going to chop them up for our granola and for our salads.
I mistakenly added everything to my skillet all at once, so the brown sugar didn’t have a chance to melt, and I ended up adding just a bit of milk, maybe a tablespoon or two. Made them taste a little like pralines. I also added a little sprinkle of flaked salt.
These are amazing! I sprinkled a bit of pumpkin spice as well as cinnamon just to give it a Holiday flavor I loved it. I’ve tried other recipes candied walnuts and this is by far the best.. Next time I may try apple spice.
Thanks, Cathy, for the suggestion regarding adding a bit of water. You saved dinner. Also? Immediately after, my family cooked bacon in the same pan as we made the brown sugar walnuts, and that worked really, really well.
Nice receipts
Super easy and super good! Thanks for the recipe!
These are amazing! And for those of you who had the same problem I did where the sugar wasn’t melting – after cooking 3 to 4 minutes just add a small point of water, a little at a time and the sugar melts right away and you don’t end up with sticky brittle. Thanks for the recipe!
YESSSSS!!! This made all the difference! Thank you!!
My sugar mixture was all clumpy and not coating the walnuts at all. (I’m not sure if my elevation at >5000 ft made a difference??). But when I added a tablespoon or so of water, everything changed. I got a beautiful shiny coating that coated the walnuts perfectly.
Yum!!!! 😊
This recipe is great with black walnuts, too! Some problems may occur with higher elevations; it is always a good idea to watch you pans with an eagle’s eye!
Delicious. I dumped everything in microwaveable dish. Cooked on high 4-5 minutes stirring every 60 seconds. Turned out great.
Had to stir for over 20 minutes. They are good but more like Walnut brittle! Slight burnt taste.
We used walnuts. We placed them on two sheets and baked them in a preheated 350º oven for the least time listed, 12 minutes. The walnuts in the pan on the bottom burned on the bottom. The sheet was in the middle of the oven so that surprised me. We used butter to grease parchment paper in both pans. I guess I’d say to watch them closely. The ones on top were almost too over done in 12 minutes but taste okay. We used between 1/3 c packed and 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, planning to use them in a salad.
Sorry – Dog jumped on my ,mouse…lol.
Try to melt the sugar, butter and cinnamon first, then add nuts toss for a minute or so and then turn out to silicon ( i used wax paper) I had the same thing happen to me and my nuts burnt waiting for the sugar to melt, I ended up adding a little more butter and it loosened a bit, but then tightened up once again. I gave up trying to save it and started over. I have several other nut recipes and they all add the nuts at the end. Why? Because the nuts will cool the sugar mixture slightly and the nuts go from toasty to scorched in a few seconds. It’s a lot easier. Happy Baking!
To those who had the chunky results: Try to melt sugar, butter and cinnamon fir
Can walnut pieces be used for this recipe??
I made these and they looked nothing like the picture mine was gooey and sticky. I don’t know if I did something wrong but I followed the directions exactly.
These sound delicious! To the people who ended up with “horrible” results, you did not wait for the sugar to melt completely. Be patient, it will happen but takes awhile!
I can’t seem to make the recipe work. 🙁 I keep ending up with chunks of sugar and hardly any of it on the walnuts. What could I be doing wrong? Thanks!
Can you use pecans to do this to also?
Pennies?! 🙁 I’d GLADLY take these pretty nuts instead.
Candied nuts are so good! These walnuts look great!
These look so addictive!
Halloween is so weird now compared to when we were kids. These look awesome! I want to go make some right now!