This recipe for candied walnuts is walnut halves coated in a sweet cinnamon sugar mixture and baked to crispy and crunchy perfection. Candied walnuts are perfect for salads, snacking or package them up for a fun homemade gift idea!
There’s a restaurant nearby that serves an amazing salad, I have to order it every time I go! It’s butter lettuce with blue cheese, apples and candied walnuts. I decided it was time to stop paying $10 for a salad and set out to recreate it at home. Most of the ingredients are easy to come by, but I had trouble locating the right kind of candied walnuts. Some candied walnuts have more of a hard sugar glaze on them, but this restaurant used walnuts with a light and crunch coating. I’m happy to say that this candied walnut recipe did the trick! These candied walnuts are light, perfectly sweet and have a hint of cinnamon to them. I have to admit, aside from a salad topper, I’ve even been eating them as an afternoon snack! They’re also great on other salads, such as a Tuscan kale salad.
How do you make candied walnuts?
This recipe is pretty straightforward – walnut halves are tossed in egg white and then coated in a cinnamon sugar mixture. Make sure you get the cinnamon sugar mixture into all the little nooks and crannies in the nuts! The nuts are baked in the oven until the coating firms up, make sure you check frequently towards the end of the baking time so that they don’t burn! This recipe is great because it can easily be doubled or even tripled; these walnuts are great for salads and snacks, but are also a unique holiday gift. Package them up in a pretty bag with a bow and hand ’em out to all your family and friends.
Whether you’re looking to recreate your favorite restaurant salad or simply looking for an addicting snack (hey, nuts are healthy at least!!), try whipping up a batch of these cinnamon sugar nuts. You’ll be glad you did!
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More great nut recipes
Candied Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg white
- 1 teaspoon water
- 8 ounces walnut halves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a sheet pan with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper.
- Place the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg white with the water until the mixture is frothy. Pour the walnuts into the egg white mixture and toss to coat. Pour in the cinnamon sugar mixture and stir until nuts are thoroughly coated in the sugar.
- Place the nuts in a single layer on the sheet pan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, stirring halfway through the baking time, until the coating on the nuts has hardened.
- Cool completely and store in an airtight container until ready for use.
I had another recipe for candied walnuts but it was just ok. I made these and they are so so good!
Absolutely amazing, so easy to make and their delicious. Thank you
These came out very good. I baked them for 35 minutes with a doubled recipe. The coating was not hard at that time but I was afraid they would burn if in longer. They were very good when cooled.
Long lost family recipe has been found! Over the decades, I was told that great grandma made these. Never a written recipe. But various family members rememberd egg whites, vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar, etc. But no one knew measurements! I’ve been googling recipes for years. Finally stumbled on to yours & then read the one comment about vanilla & Eureka! Made them & had 83yr old mom taste. She says “How did you find great Grandma’s recipe?” Thank you!!!!!
Like my Belgian grandma made, but with vanilla instead of cinnamon! Yum!
Worked beautifully.
Thank you.
I’m currently enjoying mine from this recipe! Can’t wait to make a few pounds of these for treats at work!
How long can you store these??
You can store them for 2 weeks!
Thank you! I had about 3 lbs of shelled walnuts and no clue what to do with them. Very good, and VERY addicting
Very good receipe. I find them a little too hard for my liking so I bake them 8 – 10 minutes on each side (20 min total max), there still crunchy but don’t feel like I’m going to break a tooth! I’m not a huge cinnamon fan, so I prefer them without the cinnamon and 1/2 teas of vanilla in place of 1/2 teas of the water. Very nice!
Amazing recipe! Just like the nuts from the little kiosks in the mall. I love them and they’re so easy to make. I can’t wait to make huge batches in the future! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Is this recipe done with already roasted walnuts or will my freshly cracked ones roast in the oven while candy coating is hardening? Please help!
I typically use regular, unroasted walnuts from the grocery store.
Thank you so much, Sara! My son’s aunt owns a walnut orchard so we got a huge brown paper bag full and I’m going to use your recipe to get them all eaten at a baby shower this weekend. You rock!!
Very good , I just made some for my friend, who wanted them for Christmas. I couldn’t do them until now. Very light crunchy, and better than pecans. I am glad I tried them.
So glad to hear you enjoyed them, thanks for reporting back!
Great recipe. Tonight I’m making 2 1/2 lbs for give aways tomorrow (Christmas Eve). I’m putting in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla although I loved them without. Just wanted to see what difference it makes.
I’m sure it’ll be great, glad you’re enjoying the recipe!
Can you leave them unrefrigerated using egg whites??
Yes because the egg whites are baked!
Finally, YES!!!
I have tried several recipes for candied walnuts lately. Results varied from utter failure to not quite what I was looking for.
I had no interest in the cinnamon/vanilla flavor so I just left them out.
Perfectly crunchy, fabulous taste. Super easy!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Hello,
I’ve been searching for a long time for this recipe because 40+ years ago, my Mom always made the most delicious candied walnuts at Christmas time. I and my younger sister have been trying to find a similar recipe to what Mo used (one that uses egg whites and cinnamon) because Mom unfortunately died before I or my sister got her recipe.
Thank you for this,
Susan Hoyt
I hope you enjoy and that it’s close to the one your mom made!
My daughter made these walnuts on Sunday and it’s now Thurs and the walnuts are gone 😞😞😞. I’m going to make another batch and hide them. They were delish.
Now that’s a snack that I’d love try!
Walnuts are one of my favorite nuts and candied walnuts sounds great. What a terrific gift these would be. I can send you my address if you need it!
These looks so good! Can’t wait to make them!