Sugar Maple Walnuts

From my copy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Vegan Cupcakes cookbook. Personally I think these would be better with pecans, but I didn't create the recipe.


1 cup walnut halves
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
Dash of salt
Dash of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Spread the walnuts on a pan and bake for 6-8 minutes. Toss after 4 minutes and keep a close eye on them so they don't burn. Remove from oven and place in a bowl to cool. Prepare a lightly greased piece of parchment paper to use in just a minute (I just greased the same pan). Pour sugar, maple syrup and salt into a large, heavy skillet. Heat on medium, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts, bubbles, and turns into an amber-like liquid. Remove from heat and stir in the walnuts and cinnamon. Stir to coat each nut. Immediately spread coated walnuts on the parchment; use a spatula to keep them from clumping. Cool completely before handling.


If there are massive chunks don't fret - the walnuts break from each other easily when this is dried. Just try to separate them as much as possible before it cools.


Another warning: these are REALLY hard to stop eating.


Note 2/27: These were gone within about 12 hours.