This is another, straight up, yummy, Ina Garten recipe. These are great as a snack or as an appetizer with cocktails. Alternatively, you could serve them alongside, or crumbled over, ice cream, for an irresistible dessert, that never disappoints. Another option is neatly packaging them as a wonderful hostess gift.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup whole roasted cashews
1 cup whole large pecan halves
1 cup whole unsalted almonds
1 cup whole walnut halves
1½ cups sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. fleur de sel
Preheat the oven to 350º degrees.
DIRECTIONS
First, combine the nuts on a sheet pan, spread them out, and roast them for about 7-9 minutes or until they become fragrant. Do keep a close eye on them, because all ovens vary a bit and you don’t want them to burn. Remove from the oven and set them aside, to cool.
When the nuts have cooled, place the sugar and the water in a medium sauté pan and mix with a fork until all of the sugar is moistened. Then, cook over medium-high heat, until the sugar melts. Once the sugar fully melts, don’t stir the caramel, just swirl the pan, to keep it moving. Don’t worry, the mixture may look as though it’s crystallizing, that’s normal.
Then, continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture becomes a clear golden brown, swirling the pan, constantly at the end. Be very careful, the caramel is insanely hot! Take the mixture off the heat, then, working quickly, add the vanilla (it will bubble up!) and swirl the pan to combine. Working quickly, (the caramel will continue to cook in the pan) add the nuts and the kosher salt. Then, toss the nuts, until the nuts are completely coated.
Finally, line a sheet pan with parchment paper and pour the the whole mixture onto the pan. Spread the nuts out in one layer, pulling them apart with two forks. Sprinkle with the fleur de sel and set aside to cool. When they’re completely cooled, carefully break the nuts into large clusters with your hands, trying not to break the nuts too much. Consider yourself warned, these are hard to resist!
