Simple Candied Nuts

I recently cleaned out my pantry, literally taking every item off every shelf and moving it into the kitchen to rest on various surfaces so I could really deep clean it. Shelves wiped off, many many items thrown away, reorganized and the whole nine. Well wouldn't you know, after all that work it seems I have even less room than before, haha. Love it when that happens.

Well one of the many items I found hiding in my black hole of a pantry were some raw cashews... (I'd been wondering where they'd disappeared to). What was I going to do with raw nuts... A HA, I'll candy them. I like candied nuts on salads and as an occasional snack so I grabbed them up and went right to work.

I pulled out my handy dandy Better Homes and Garden cookbook, my favorite cookbook! Some of the pages are stuck together they get used so much. This cookbook is full of pictures and handy information about many many things, not just recipes and I was able to find the simplest recipe ever for good ol' candied nuts.

Candied Nuts courtesy of my Better Homes and Garden cookbook.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups raw or roasted nuts (I used raw because it's what I had on hand)
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Step 1:
Line a baking sheet with foil, butter or spray the foil and set aside. (I did not grease my foil and had no problems.)

Step 2: In a 10 inch heavy skillet combine nuts, sugar, butter and vanilla. Cook over medium high heat shaking skillet occasionally until sugar begins to melt. Do not stir at this stage.

Step 3: Reduce heat to low. continue cooking until sugar is golden brown, stirring occasionally. Remove skillet from heat.

Step 4: Pour nut mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Cool completely. Break into clusters. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

I love how the Better Homes and Garden recipe was so simple that even though this was my very first time making candied nuts I was able to pull out a great tasting result with no hassle. I'll show you later where these little beauties ended up. I think you'll be very pleased.