Walnuts are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, fiber and omega 3 fatty acids. Therefore, it is highly recommended to include them in our diet and eat them for breakfast or a snack, alone or accompanied by other equally beneficial foods, such as honey or plain yogurt. Likewise, they are widely used for the preparation of sauces for meat, fish and pasta.
Still, walnuts are delicious and a very versatile nut. So much so, that we can also make them caramelized, as we will see in this recipe. To prepare them we only need 4 ingredients and very few minutes, what more can we ask for? Read on, discover how to make caramelized pecans and treat yourself.
Ingredients to make Caramelized Walnuts:
• 400 kilograms of shelled walnuts
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 small glass of brown sugar
• 1 glass of water with a few drops of lemon juice
How to make Caramelized Walnuts:
Crack the nuts carefully to try to make them as whole as possible, but removing their inner membranes. Put a pan on the fire, add the brown sugar and, immediately afterwards, pour the water with lemon. Go stirring to form a light syrup without crystallizing. You can also make the caramelized nuts with honey by heating honey with butter and water in the pan.
Add the nuts and stir carefully to prevent them from breaking. Then, add the butter and continue stirring so that all the ingredients are integrated. After 3 minutes, remove the caramelized walnuts with a skimmer or similar utensil and place them on baking paper, separating them from each other to prevent them from sticking to each other.
Tip: Avoid putting the walnuts on kitchen paper because they will stick terribly to the paper.
Once the homemade caramelized nuts are cool, you are ready to consume them. You will see that something so simple and so quick to do will not go unnoticed, so this is an excellent idea for your Christmas menu. You can accompany them with some type of cured cheese and some grapes or mix them with natural yogurt. Likewise, you can serve the caramelized walnuts with whipped cream and thus prepare a simple and quick dessert.
Caramelized nuts without frying
This dried fruit so common in Christmas seasons is so versatile that you can consume it alone or accompanied by any food. By itself it already provides us with omega 3 fatty acids in large quantities, as well as fiber, vitamins and minerals. For this reason, it is recommended to lower cholesterol, to complement certain low-calorie diets and to prevent cardiovascular diseases.
Caramelized nuts can be made with regular sugar, however, this would considerably increase the calories of the result. For this reason, we have opted for brown sugar, much healthier because it is less refined. Also, remember that you can make caramelized nuts with honey, preferably pure or agave. Now, if what really worries you is the cooking method, you should know that you can also prepare caramelized nuts without frying, how? Very simple, baked! In this way, in addition, there are some crunchier nuts, perfect for chopping and decorating a cake, for example. To make caramelized nuts in the oven, you just have to follow these steps:
1. Prepare the syrup with brown sugar or honey without the butter, that is, only with water.
2. Mix the nuts with syrup on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
3. Distribute the nuts throughout the tray and bake them at 180ºC until they are ready.
