Friday, December 3, 2010

French Fridays with Dorie - Sweet & Spicy Cocktail Nuts



It's that time again...time for French Fridays with Dorie.  Just like November, for December, we get to select from the four featured recipes and decide which one we make each week.  I just had to make this recipe first thing this month!  What a great treat to have for holiday parties.  I actually cheated just a bit and made this right before Thanksgiving, as I wanted them for my guests to nosh on before the big dinner was served.  Let me tell you, they were a BIG hit!  So tasty, and crunchy, and salty, and spicy and sweet!  A perfect little nibble to whet your guests' appetites.


Here's all you need.  I picked all the nuts that I love!


I followed Dorie's main recipe, but she has lots of Bonne Idee's for changes you can make to the spices.  Next time I may try five spice powder, curry and cardamon...doesn't that sound divine!


The recipe is fairly simple...coating the nuts in egg whites, then adding the sugar and spice (and everything nice)

Before Baking!

After Baking!


Just before I popped these puppies in my mouth!
Good with beer, too!
Just a couple of tips.  I used my silicone baking mats for these...thank goodness I did.  The baked recipe is very much like a brittle...the pan would have been a nightmare to clean up.  I also doubled the recipe so that I'd have lots of nuts and I think I crowded the baking pan too much.  You definitely want some space in between your nuts...they need room, man!  There were gobbled up quickly, so make sure you make enough to keep your guests happy!!!  

Dorie says these only keep for about 5 days, but I'm wondering if they might keep any longer, as they would make terrific gifts!

Wondering what everyone else at FFwD made this week?  
Take a peak here.

29 comments:

Kathy said...

Your nuts look great! Love your photos! I really can't wait to make these, maybe next week. I made the Beef Daube. We really enjoyed it.

A.W. said...

Gorgeous photos! And thanks for the tips at the end.

Karla said...

Love you ingredient photos - very neat! And the finished product looks perfect for noshing on - I think I'll make these before heading to the in-laws for Christmas.

And thanks for your comment on my blog - great to 'meet' you!

Cheers,
Karla

Susan said...

Wow, Steph! Those look great. I'm a little concerned about making them because I'm afraid we won't be able to stop eating them!

Sarah said...

Love your pictures. These were a huge hit at my house too!

p.s. I'm very jealous of your 35% off coupon to Le Creuset!

Cher Rockwell said...

Another one for December that I can't wait to try. And I like that we can choose our own nuts (no fishing around for the good ones). Thanks for the tips regarding the pans!

Betsy said...

The nuts look great! I make holiday gift bags of edible treats for my neighbors and local friends. It looks like these would make a great addition. Maybe I'll do a dry run next week.
I love your photo with the labelled ingredients. How did you do that?

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

Great photos! I'll find out tonight if I'm invited back to the Man Cave or not! ;)

Trevor Sis Boom said...

They need room indeed! lol. I made these too and concur about the need for a silpat!
Trevor Sis. Boom.

Frolicking Night Owl said...

Yes, great gift idea. I need some great ideas like this!

Steph said...

Hi Betsy, thanks for visiting my blog. I posted this answer on your blog, but I'll post it here too. I use Picassa (which is a free photo editing software) and in Picassa, one of the options is to add text to pictures. It's so easy, you click anywhere on the photo and just start typing. So fun!!!

Joyti said...

Hmmm, looks delicious! So great for a holiday party too.

Anne-Marie said...

Hi Steph! I love your blog. It's so personal and I LOVE the design. My blog still has training wheels so I'm looking forward to snazzing it up! I agree the nuts from FFwD would be great gifts and I bet they would keep longer than 5 days if packaged properly.

Ann (napangel) said...

I'm so glad I used my silicone mat, too. Holy MAN! Love those nuts.

Steph said...

Anne-Marie, thanks for the comment about my blog. I've been trying to make it more me. While your blog might have training wheels, it's got what's really important...terrific writing!!!

Unknown said...

These look awesome! Mine came out of the oven. . .about an hour ago and are half gone.

Good choice! :)

Anonymous said...

Love the photo of your spices; the colors are so rich!

Elaine said...

These look delicious! I think it was a great idea of doing this recipe for your Thanksgiving guests. It's a perfect treat to have on hand for entertaining. Thank you for the tips.

Cakelaw said...

These nuts look scrumptious! Love the step by step photos.

Kimberly said...

I love your photos. Good point about giving the nuts some space. I've definitely made that mistake before and ended up with a pile of nuts stuck together. I think this recipe almost (almost!) needs to be on two baking sheets.

Jun said...

I wanna make this! But I'm afraid I can't stop eating this once it's done

Anonymous said...

I love these nuts too. It looks like you took the time to drain the coating off your nuts before baking. I lost my patience towards the end and had goopy peanuts on my tray!

I am jealous that you could go to a LC factory outlet AND had a big discount too! ;-)

Lana said...

To drain or not to drain, that is the question:)
These nuts are so intriguing in their simplicity, that the only problem will be what spices to use. But, who says they are to be made only once?
Yours look very nice - I assume that you were patient enough to separate the nuts before putting them on the baking sheet.

Teresa said...

Love, love, love your photos. I'm making some more of these today for a party.

Kris' Kitchen said...

I have enjoyed reading about all the nuts this weeks...so I am getting in gear to make them soon...they look great and almost smell delicious just from looking at them. Love all your photos.

Anonymous said...

Yours look amazing! I used parchment paper instead of a silpat (on the Christmas list!) and agree that it would have been a nightmare to clean up had I not used it. The nuts do need space but I kind of liked the nut-brittle that I ended up with! - Laura

Anonymous said...

Yours look amazing! I used parchment paper instead of a silpat (on the Christmas list!) and agree that it would have been a nightmare to clean up had I not used it. The nuts do need space but I kind of liked the nut-brittle that I ended up with! - Laura

tricia s. said...

Great photos- awesome that you got the words over the ingredients ! The nuts were a hit for us as well and Nana had to make a second batch already. Yay !

luciacara said...

Thanks for posting about the nut mix - yours look really good! Since I made two batches, we were still eating them five days later (reduced household at the moment). They softened up a little, but my container wasn't completely airtight. I think they would last at least that long if airtight.