Things have been busy around these parts, but then who isn’t busy at this time of the year? There’s decorations to hang, presents to wrap, Christmas parties to attend, pantries to fill for the all important food day, and then regular life must still continue on top of all of that.
On top of the usual craziness, we’re building a house and looking after/caring for/occupying a 9 month old baby. The last two weeks have seen us paint the whole inside of our house (almost twice), build our kitchen (something that is usually left to cabinet makers) and lay half a house of bamboo floating flooring.
But I’m never too busy to combine two of my great loves, food and snail mail. So when Claire from Claire K Creations put the call out for a second year of Foodie Secret Santa, I jumped at the chance. These spiced sugar crusted nuts are perfect for posting and a great gift for your Christmas host.
How are you going at this busy time of the year?
- 2 egg whites
- pinch of sea salt
- ⅓ cup caster sugar
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 1 tbspn ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- Preheat oven to 160*C, line a large tray with baking paper.
- Beat egg whites until frothy with large air bubbles. Add caster sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until all combined and soft peaks form.
- Stir in gently, spices and raw sugar, then mix through macadamia nuts until well coated.
- Spread mix on prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes (or until crisp), stirring every 10 minutes to break up.
- Allow to cool completely on tray before breaking up and putting into air tight container.
Hey Clare, these were utterly scrumptious, thanks so much for sending them. We ate all the macs in a single sitting and I have been sprinkling the leftover bits of spicy sugar on my yoghurt in the mornings. I hope you have a lovely Christmas and new year.xx
So glad you liked them Erin!
I listened to Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb talk about making spiced nuts yesterday via their podcast. Leigh says she used a DOZEN egg whites to coat all the nuts. Annabel cracked up and said, ‘Leigh, you’re supposed to whisk the egg whites. I only used two egg whites to do all the nuts I made.’ Then I cracked up.
These nuts look amazing and I want some now. 🙂
That story made me laugh Maureen!
Well you combined two of my loves – macadamias and cinnamon! Yum yum yum Clare.
They were so yummy!
Life is certainly very busy for you right now with your baby and building your home. It must be so satisfying and exciting to see your home coming together. I love the sound of your spiced nuts – I don’t know why but I do seem to eat a lot of nuts at Christmastime xx
Life really was super busy!
Ahhahahaha I can’t believe we made nearly the same thing and you got mine! I hope my version lived up to yours (they look delicious). Merry Christmas!
Yours were delicious JJ!
I can’t see how many nuts you need for the recipe!
Same question. How much but?
Spelling error. Nuts!!