Moroccan Mint Tea-Glazed Nuts

I’ve tried roasting many a nut, and they’ve never turned out quite right until I discovered this recipe. The key to success here is to pan toast the nuts on the stove before you coat them with any glaze and before you roast them in the oven.

I season the nuts with my Zanitea Moroccan Mint organic tea blend, made with gunpowder green tea and spearmint leaves. The bitter green tea and the sharp mint flavor are a great match for the sugary maple glaze and the sweet cashews I chose to use. You can use any raw nuts in this recipe, but I like cashews because they have lots of nooks and crannies for the seasoning to stick to.

These tasty tea-glazed nuts make for a nice cocktail hour nosh, a cheerful addition to a cheese plate, or a thoughtful hostess gift. Unless you eat them all first, that is.

Happy cooking and sipping!

Adapted by Suzanne Klein, Tea Foodie from a recipe on Slashfood.com, which is now Huff Post Taste at HuffintonPost.com. I printed out the recipe years ago, and now I can’t find a link to the original anywhere. I will update this post if I find a link to the original source.

Makes 2 cups of nuts

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons loose leaf Moroccan Mint tea blend

2 cups raw nuts (e.g. cashews, pecans, almonds)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons real maple syrup

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation:

1. Grind the Moroccan Mint tea into a course powder using a small food processor or spice grinder.

2. In a large cast iron skillet, toast the raw nuts over medium heat, stirring occasionally so they don’t burn. You want to end up with most of the nuts having some browned spots.

2. While the nuts are toasting, melt the butter and maple syrup together over medium-low heat in a small saucepan.

3. When the nuts are toasted, pour the butter and syrup mixture over the nuts, and then toss with the ground Moroccan Mint tea to coat.

4. Transfer the skillet to a 350-degree oven, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the nuts are mostly browned. Stir the nuts a few times during cooking to ensure an even roasting.

5. Remove the nuts from the oven, and sprinkle the salt over the top so that it adheres to the still-sticky nuts. Allow the nuts to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Tips:

• If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, toast the nuts in a regular skillet, and then transfer the glazed nuts to a parchment-lined baking sheet for the oven.
• You can use other ground teas in place of the Moroccan Mint, like Earl Grey, Lapsang Souchong or Jasmine.