This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These candied cashews are addictive! They make the perfect homemade gift or topping for a salad. The best part? Only 3 ingredients are needed and they’re ready in 15 minutes.
These caramelized cashews are really tasty. Dangerously so. I only made a fairly small quantity, but the recipe easy doubles, triples, etc. if you need to feed a crowd.
The recipe is written for 1 cup of nuts. I used a pretty small saucepan to make these. Just use a skillet or larger pan if you are doubling/tripling/etc. the recipe.
This recipe is pretty foolproof as long as you watch the nuts closely. At first it won’t seem like they’re really doing anything, but it’s important to keep stirring them or else you will end up with a mess that is NOT fun to clean. Don’t ask me how I know this. 😉
Candied nuts always scream Christmas to me, but really they’d work for any occasion where you want candied nuts haha.
How to make candied cashews
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat, then add the sugar and nuts.
You will see the sugar begin to melt after a few minutes. It then melts at a faster rate, and you need to keep stirring to ensure they won’t burn.
Once the sugar is totally melted and the nuts are coated, they’re done! This process takes about 10-15 minutes total. Possibly a little longer if you’re doing more nuts.
I used cashews for this recipe, but it would also work with most nuts. Go nuts! (See what I did there?).
You may also like my maple roasted pecan recipe.
Hope you love these candied cashews!
Easy Candied Cashews
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup unsalted cashews
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt (optional)
Instructions
- Add the butter to a small saucepan over medium heat and let it melt.
- Add the sugar and cashews.
- Stir the mixture frequently (it burns easily so watch it closely) until the sugar melts and caramelizes over the nuts. Once all the sugar has melted and coated the nuts, they're done.
- Spread them onto a plate or piece of parchment paper so they don't all stick together. Some will clump together, which is fine.
- Allow them to cool then store them in a sealed container.
Notes
- Recipe easily doubles, triples, etc.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
I love this recipe! It was a delicious snack for one😃 This was an easy make and I’ll do it again to share over the holidays.
Thank you, Cynthia!
Too much sugar IMO. I halved the sugar and they were much better. Also, if you wait until all the sugar melts, they’re more like toffee nuts. You want to catch it when the sugar is melted barely enough to coat the nuts, but still a bit granular.
Way too much caramel for the amount of nuts
What is 1.5 Cup?
I am not sure what you’re asking?
One and one half cups.
Stumbled upon this and after reading through most if not all of the comments I did it! This recipe is a lesson in patience so for those that said the sugar didn’t caramelize I promise it was simply that you did not wait long enough. I didn’t rush, I didn’t turn up the heat I just kept checking and stirring and soon I started to see that light brown liquid gold peak through. I did a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg and baby! Delicious!
Yes! I am so glad you enjoyed it and it worked out for you. 😀 Appreciate you taking the time to write me a review!
Honestly incredible, and so easy! I make more of a brittle than candied nuts. I’d recommend this recipe with pecans, I’ve tried several nuts and it’s by far the best!
I’m thrilled to hear that, Laurence! Thanks for your review! 😀
Darn, came out more like cashew brittle. Any thoughts?
So you mean it all clumped together? I try to separate them really quickly since they will clump together as the sugar hardens. It’s normal for a bit of clumping, though.
Works great! I plan to use this for salads. Thanks for sharing!
Enjoy!! 🙂
These turned out great! I sprinkled cinnamon on top of half of them and they were even better. Thank you!
Fantastic!! 🙂