Healthier Candied Walnuts

I bought some beautiful large beets at the farmer's market on Saturday and had to think of something to make with them. I'm a lover of roasted beet salads with candied walnuts and goat cheese, so that is what I chose to serve for dinner last night alongside some chicken sliders. (The salad recipe will be on the blog in the next few days so stay tuned!)

You can certainly make a beet salad with walnuts that are not candied, but why would you want to? Making homemade candied walnuts is extremely quick and easy and makes a salad a million times better (in my own personal opinion).

These walnuts make a great sweet snack at any time of day. They would also be amazing in some oatmeal. I just had this thought and now I may need to try it in my oatmeal tomorrow morning. Ok, now I'm getting really excited for breakfast tomorrow!

I decided to make these candied walnuts a little more guilt free and use natural sweeteners instead of brown sugar or granulated sugar to candy them. I had some organic coconut sugar on hand and replaced the brown sugar in the original recipe with the coconut sugar. Let me just say, these walnuts turned out absolutely incredible. 

Try to limit the amount of candied walnuts you make because they are extremely addicting. I have to avoid eye contact with them throughout the day to control my hand from reaching into the jar and consequently eating most of the them. I can't wait for you to try these and enjoy them in whichever way you decide to!

Healthier Candied Walnuts:

(recipe slightly adapted from: http://guiltykitchen.com/)

1 cup walnut halves

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons coconut sugar (or brown sugar)

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir in the sugar, sea salt and maple syrup. Let simmer for 3 minutes.
3. Stir in the walnuts and stir to coat in the sugar mixture. Let simmer for another 3 minutes.
4. Pour the walnuts onto the baking sheet and smooth out into a single layer. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool and break apart before serving.