This year I was really stuck on what to get my aunt and my nanny. So I defaulted to what I do best- food. My sister had made them both candied nuts in the past, so I figured that was a good place to start. My mom has a collection of recipes for this sort of thing, but I wanted to try something new. I settled on a recipe for lemon pepper nuts and cinnamon sugar nuts. I altered them both slightly and settled on these combinations:
Lemon Pepper on the left, Cinnamon Sugar on the right
My mom tends to have every nut under the sun on hand, which was real convenient for this recipe. I settled on this combination:
Peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and I even shelled a bunch of pistachios.
To coat the nuts, I beat an egg white with a tablespoon of water until it was frothy. I'm not sure if I beat it quite long enough, but it seemed to work fine.
Next, I melted butter and brushed a cookie sheet with it.
I preheated the oven to somewhere around 350 (I don't remember the exact temp, sorry!). I then set the timer for an hour and fifteen minutes. Yeah - that long. Every twenty minutes or so I checked them and moved them around so the sugar didn't burn and the nuts didn't combine into one sugary mess. After an hour and fifteen the cinnamon sugar were done.
The lemon pepper nuts took another twenty minutes or so. I think it had something to do with the lack of brown sugar. But eventually they came out nice and crispy:
My nanny and my aunt were both pretty happy to get them yesterday. I think I liked the lemon pepper ones the best. The cinnamon sugar ones weren't quite up to snuff, so I definitely think I'm going to keep trying different recipes
I also made my relatives some of this "Christmas Crack." too. Which I think went over the best. It was kind of a last minute thing so I didn't document it. It's often made with matzoh during Passover (ie. I've been familiar with it since I joined my best friend's Jewish family in the 7th grade). I definitely recommend it for any occasion.
I also have an old-school Betty Crocker cookie recipe on the way, so stay tuned, and Merry Christmas!
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