Lavender and Rosemary Spiced Walnuts

Submitted by BecR2400

"Lavender and Rosemary Spiced Walnuts are great sprinkled in salads, as cake or cookie decorations, or served as a healthy appetizer or snack. Would make a delightful hostess gift, presented in a tin and tied with a pretty lavender ribbon. From Sharon Shipley's Lavender Cookbook."

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 2 cups of Lavender Spiced Walnuts
• Serves: 16

ingredients

• 2 cups walnut halves
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender flowers, crushed with a mortar and pestle*
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaf, finely chopped
• butter

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter a baking pan and spread the walnuts. Bake for 5 minutes, stirring once, until lightly browned and fragrant. Set aside.
3. In medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, cinnamon, and salt. Over medium heat, boil without stirring until the mixture reads 238 degrees F (soft ball stage) on a candy thermometer. The sugar syrup is very hot, so take caution.
4. Remove from the heat and stir in the lavender, rosemary, and walnuts. Work quickly and stir gently until all of the nuts are coated.
5. Transfer the nuts to the buttered baking sheet and spread them in an even layer, separating them with two buttered forks.
6. Cool. Stir in an airtight container at room temperature or in a heavy plastic bag in the freezer.
7. *By crushing the lavender with a mortar and pestle instead of a spice grinder, you can release the essential oils and still keep the buds partially intact. This gives the nuts more visual appeal, because you can see the bits of lavender florets in the sugar coating.

Reviews

[jesusgiftoflove]

SO MUCH FUN!!! I had no idea what I was doing and was scared to try... but I followed your instructions exactly and am so happy with the results! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to taste the lavender and was happily mistaken. Tasted great and will make a fun gift back to my friend who gave me the lavender!! Thanks so much!!!!

 

[Lalaloula]

These nuts turned out very special! As I dont eat walnuts (due to an allergy) my dad taste tested these and said they were great. According to him, they have a very intense taste, which makes them different from all other spiced nuts recipes Ive made for him so far. They are not your everyday nuts, but definitely yummy. They are roasty and herby, sweet yet hearty. The preparation was easy, even without using a candy thermometer (I dont have one). I simply used the water test method to see if the caramel was ready. That worked out nicely and the caramel set up perfectly making the nuts great to eat without any stickyness problems. I made two batches one using fresh sage in place of the rosemary. Both were received well. THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing this great recipe with us, BecR! Definitely a wonderful gift recipe! Made and reviewed for the HERB OF THE MONTH tag game in the french forum April 2010.