Spiced Cashew Nuts (Air Fryer)

 

I love eating those spiced/flavored nuts that you see at gourmet stores or kiosks at the malls. They are quite pricey and though it is a lot easier to just buy these off the shelf, you might want to make them at home.

Before the year ended, I bought some nuts from Bake With Yen online store. I used to go to their shop at Taman Megah with my auntie and from what I remember, that shop was always so crowded and packed with home bakers eagerly picking up baking supplies during the weekends. 

The online store is quite limited but what I want is all available, so I don't need to go to the shop for now.

To make spiced nuts, you need a spice mix and you have to make a little bit of effort to make the syrup for coating the nuts.

You can make your own spice blend from what you have in your pantry. Here I used mixed peppercorns, cumin, smoked paprika, cajun seasoning and salt.

Since I was making only using a small amount of nuts, I made a syrup using only 2 tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon of honey and one tablespoon of butter. I had to be careful not to burn the honey since I don't have a saucepan any smaller than the one I used.

The raw cashew nuts are roasted in the air fryer and then mixed with the syrup and spice blend.

The cashew nuts are then returned to the air fryer to roast further until nicely browned and a crispy shiny coating is formed on the nuts.

You can do this in the oven of course, especially if making larger amounts of nuts. Since I was using only 2 cups of nuts, I used the air fryer.

These nuts were so crunchy and addictive. Sweet, salty with a hint of aromatic spices. 

It is really hard to exercise portion control because these are so good, you just want to keep popping them into your mouth. 

They make great toppings for salads too.

The best part was that I made these twice just to get them right so that I could write a recipe.

So here is the recipe. Happy munching!

Spiced Cashew Nuts

Recipe source : PH

Note : I used the air fryer and you may certainly use your regular oven to make these but need to adjust the timing.

Ingredients :

- 2 cups raw cashew nuts

For the spice blend (mix all together) :

- 1/2 tsp sea salt

- 1/4 tsp ground mixed peppercorns (or regular white or black peppercorns)

- 1/2 tsp ground cumin

- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

- 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning

For the syrup :

- 2 tbsp water

- 1 tbsp honey

- 1 tbsp butter

Method :

1. Make the syrup first. In a small saucepan, add water, honey and butter.

2. Over low flame, stir using a spatula to melt the butter evenly mix the honey and water.

3. Allow the mixture to come to a gentle boil, when you see bubbles forming around the edge of the saucepan, keep stirring the mixture to prevent burning.

4. Boil for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Take off the flame and set aside to cool.

5. Put the cashew nuts into the basket of the air fryer and roast at 180C for 8 minutes, stirring at halftime.

6. Meanwhile, add the spice blend to the syrup and stir to mix evenly.

7. At the end of 8 minutes, pour the cashew nuts into the saucepan and stir to coat the nuts with the syrup/spices . 

8. Return the nuts to the air fryer and roast at 160C for 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. At the end of the 8 minutes,  stir the nuts and leave them in the air fryer for another 2 minutes on residual heat.

9. Pour the nuts onto a line baking tray to cool completely.

10. Store in an airtight container.