Happy 4th of July

I found these red star dishes at Marshalls a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn’t resist buying them. I knew they would be perfect for 4th of July, but I needed something to serve in them. Candy? Maybe, but candy would melt if we had a hot day (at least my kind of candy). Nuts? Sure, but I wanted something more than just salted nuts. I wanted sweet and spicy nuts.

I found this recipe for Sweet and Spicy Nuts from the Redbook Magazine website. I liked the spice mixture in this recipe, but I adapted it to make it a little spicier. I had a hard time finding unsalted nuts, so I used salted nuts. I just didn’t add salt in the spice mixture. If you use unsalted nuts, add 2 teaspoons salt in the mixture below.

Sweet Spicy Nuts
6 cups of mixed nuts
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 egg white

Preheat the oven to 325°, and grease two rimmed baking sheets.

Mix the sugar, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Beat the egg white in a large bowl until foamy. Add the nuts to the egg, and mix until all of the nuts are coated. Add the spice mixture and mix until all of the nuts are coated in the spice mixture.

Spread the nuts out on the two baking sheets, and bake for 20-25 minutes stirring twice. The nuts will be lightly brown.