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These maple cinnamon spiced nuts are sweet, fragrant, and just a touch spicy. They’re perfect for gifting but so good you’ll want to have them on hand year-round!
If you’ve ever walked around a mall, a farmer’s market, or a street vendor selling spiced nuts, you know exactly what they smell like. Nutty, sweet, with all those cozy, warm spices that beckon us to buy a bag to take home (or eat immediately). These maple cinnamon spiced nuts are my copycat version—and you’ll be surprised by how easy it is to make them!
I’ve been making these spiced nuts for holiday gifts these past few years; they’re the kind of thing that’s perfect for friends, neighbors, co-workers, delivery service workers, and those distant relatives who are notoriously hard to shop for. Lately, I’ve been making them to keep on hand for snacking at home too. They make a great garnish for desserts (try them on my Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread or Air Fryer Pumpkin Pie), salads, and even sweet-and-savory sides like Sweet Potato Casserole.
What You’ll Need for Maple Cinnamon Spiced Nuts
If you cook or bake often, you probably have most of the spices on hand for this recipe already.
- Egg white – Don’t throw the yolk down the drain! My Chinese Curry Pockets use exactly one egg yolk, so you can make them for dinner after making your spiced nuts.
- Maple syrup – you’ll want to use the real good stuff, not the pancake syrup with corn syrup in it.
- Pecans – buy whole, raw unsalted pecans for this recipe. You’ll be roasting them in the oven.
- Almonds – same with almonds. Buy whole, raw, unsalted almonds.
- Granulated sugar
- Salt
- Ground cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Nutmeg
- Cayenne pepper – You can omit this if you’re worried about the heat level, or use a smaller amount. I love using this in this recipe because people always ask what that little hint of spice and tickle in the back of their throat is.
How to Make Maple Cinnamon Spiced Nuts
I have to warn you before you make this: your house is going to smell amazing and it might just tempt you into eating a whole batch of these nuts as soon as you take them out of the oven. That’s understandable, but you should definitely let them cool a little bit first.
Prepare. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make the coating. Beat the egg white and maple syrup in a mixing bowl until frothy.
Coat the nuts. Place the pecans and almonds in the bowl with the egg white and maple syrup. Toss to coat, then pour in the sugar and spices; toss again.
Mix the spices and sugar. Whisk the sugar, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.
Bake. Pour the nuts onto the prepared baking sheet, spreading them in an even layer. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring the nuts occasionally so they don’t burn.
Tips for Success
Here are some hints and tips to help you make perfect maple cinnamon spiced nuts.
- Vegan spiced nuts. If you want to make this recipe vegan, don’t just omit the egg white! You can use aquafaba instead, which is the liquid in canned chickpeas. Two tablespoons is roughly equivalent to one egg white.
- Gifting tips. I usually put these spiced nuts in a mason jar and tie a ribbon around it for gifting. You can also scoop the nuts into a cellophane bag and tie it with a bow, or place them in decorative tins.
- Make it your own. You can use five-spice powder, pumpkin pie spice, or any other spices you like. Just make sure the amount you use adds up to the same amount used in the recipe.
FAQs
Pecans and almonds are the best nuts for making spiced nuts, but if you want, you can also use walnuts, cashews, or hazelnuts.
There are several reasons why this may have happened.
1. Your baking racks are too high so your baking sheets are set too high in the oven causing the nuts to bake too fast and hotter.
2. Your oven runs hot and has hot spots. Invest in an oven thermometer to make sure the temperature that is set on your oven is what is inside the oven.
3. You should keep an eye on the nuts and stir them frequently.
4. Use a light colored baking sheet, not a dark one.
Yes! I do this all the time because I eat egg whites for breakfast a lot. 3 tablespoons = 1 egg white.
Yes! I do this all the time. If it looks like there is more egg white mixture to go around, definitely add more nuts. The seasoning amount stays the same. You’ll just get more yield from this recipe — which is a good thing!
How to Store and Gift
Allow the spiced nuts to cool completely then store in an airtight container or glass jars for up to one month at room temperature. Truthfully, I’ve stored them longer than a month but follow what you think is right.
To make them as gifts: put them into small glass jars and tie a red ribbon around the neck with a gift tag. Place them into a gift bag along with another gift (or not) and see how happy your recipient is with your edible gift! I sometimes also print out the recipe (below) onto cute index cards and put them in the gift bags as well. I have also printed out gift tags with the recipe link to save space and to send folks to my website!
Other creative homemade edible gift ideas:
- Christmas Chex Mix
- Christmas Crack
- Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
- Maple Peanut Brittle
- Candied Bacon Nut Brittle
Maple Cinnamon Spiced Nuts
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 cups (297 g) pecans
- 2 cup (286 g) almonds
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F (177 °C) and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl beat the egg white until frothy with the maple syrup.1 egg white, 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- Pour the pecans and almonds into the bowl of the egg white and maple syrup. Toss the nuts and coat them well.3 cups (297 g) pecans, 2 cup (286 g) almonds
- In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper.1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Pour the bowl of the sugar and spices over the nuts and toss and make sure everything is coated well with the spice mixture.
- Pour the entire bowl onto the lined baking sheet and spread in an even layer.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, occasionally turning the nuts so they don't burn.
- Store in an airtight container.
I made these and they started to burn after 10 minutes! I think the oven temp is too high.
They shouldn’t. I’ve had numerous people with success with this recipe, including myself, which is why I posted the recipe. How high are your oven racks in the oven? That could potentially be an issue. Sorry they burned on you!
Oh, also, forgot to mention/ask – were you cooking on them on 350 degrees Fahrenheit?
Yes it was 350F. I have a very similar recipe that calls for 275F for one hour and to stir every 20 minutes. I was able to salvage most of them and they are delicious, but some did burn.
Will this recipe work without the oven? I’m wondering if I could just set them out to dry overnight. (I burnt the first batch, even with tossing them frequently.)
No, it won’t work. The oven cooks the egg whites. If you just set them out, you’re going to be eating raw egg whites.
I made these last year as gifts for all my extended family, and I’m making them again this year because I got so many requests!
Yay!! So happy to hear :) Happy Holidays!
Can’t wait to make this recipe! We featured this recipe in our Feature Friday blog post last week for Cinnamon and Spice Desserts! I hope you can visit!
Hi Julie! These look amazing, I would like to make them for Christmas presents. Do I need to buy raw almonds/pecans? I’m assuming I don’t want anything roasted… Thank you!
Yes, buy raw :) definitely not pre-roasted!
Sorry, I realized a second question. Can I use liquid egg whites instead of separating eggs? I’m planning of making a very large batch of these.
Yes, that will work!
Julie, these look amazing! And so easy! I’m going to serve them as an appetizer this Thanksgiving.
They’d be great for Thanksgiving!
could I use honey instead of the sugar?? We try and eat Paleo/clean. Want to stay away from processed sugar. thanks!!
Hi Amy, you could certainly try with honey but the sugar is what gives these nuts some of that crunchy crust.
is there something i can substitute for cardamon? This is a very expensive spice and I don’t use in anything else. Thanks
Hi Joyce! You can substitute ground cloves for cardamom! Enjoy :)
Julie – I made these over the weekend and OMG!!! They are FANTASTIC!!! I don’t care for nutmeg so I substituted additional cinnamon and they still taste great. I was going to give some away as Christmas treats but now I want to keep them all for myself. Going to make another batch soon…..we”ll see if they last until Christmas! ;-)
So glad you loved this Colleen! They definitely didn’t last long in my house. I want to make a double batch next time :)
Oh oh oh Julie!!! I made these last night as a trial run for Christmas gifts…just one word…AMAZING. They turned out so pretty and delicious…will work perfectly for a treat at our Christmas Party this weekend. Thanks for another great recipe and an even better gift idea!
I’m so glad these turned out amazing for you, Kelly! These are seriously one of my favorite holiday treats!!