No need to turn on your oven to whip up these caramelised nuts- They are made stovetop and take 10 minutes! Made with a paleo friendly sweetener, they are sugar free, gluten free, dairy free and vegan- Perfect for gifting or smart snacking! 
A reader asked me a while back my thoughts on artificial sweeteners and whether I ever consumed them.
I know some people are team splenda/Aspartame whereas others are the complete opposite- team honey, maple syrup and agave. Then there are some who are in the middle- They use the natural liquid sweeteners, white or brown sugar and on occasion, use the artificial ones. I am part of that team.
I’m not about to get into some big discussion about how splenda gives you cancer, how stevia is like nail polish or how white sugar is made by the devil. A simple google search will provide you with all those details.
Out of interest, I took into consideration my daily consume
Artificial sweeteners- Sucralose in my protein powder, protein enriched snacks (Quest Bars) and Diet soft drinks on occasion.
‘Natural’ Artificial sweeteners– Natvia natural sweetener and Norbu sweetener in recent recipe development
White Sugar- 1 packet in my coffee.
Coconut palm sugar/Brown sugar- My preferred sweetener in all my kitchen experimentation, recipe development and baked goods.
Liquid sweeteners- Maple syrup for pancakes and honey for sandwiches. Brown rice syrup for recipe development.
As you can see, I tend to use all kinds of sweeteners, yet some more than others. I know which sweeteners I prefer and which to limit. Ideally, I’d like to cut back on my artificial sweetener consumption, but the protein powders I use I enjoy and unsweetened ones taste (and look) like dirt. I really enjoy the taste of white sugar in my coffee and coconut palm sugar has such a distinct, sweet taste in all my baked goods. My recent collaboration with Natvia and Norbu has seen me test our recipes with both of those types.
Regardless of what sweetener you choose, as long as it’s making YOU feel good and not having any negative side effects (lethargy, bloating etc)- then keep doing YOU.
For some, splenda makes them turn instantly pregnant. For others, they can guzzle diet coke by the litre. It comes down to knowing what your body handles and in what doses.
Okay, off my (unsweetened) soap box.
I’ve always been intrigued with whether or not a ‘Natural’ sweetener like granulated stevia or an erythritol blend would work in caramelising nuts. After my American trip and getting my fix of Nuts for Nuts, I wanted to make my own. I initially wanted to do it the way I made my spicy honey roasted peanuts but thought to try it out the way I caramelise vegetables, onions or apple- on the stove top.
For anyone watching their sugar intake, diabetic or even paleo (Norbu is considered to be a Paleo sweetener!)- You can now enjoy caramelised nuts! The sweetener crystallised perfectly and formed delicious clusters- something I was fearful wouldn’t happen. These take less than 10 minutes to whip up and smell incredible- you can even change up the nuts to suit your taste/needs/fancy pants.
As with Christmas around the corner- These nuts would be perfect to jar up and gift to them!
Want to see a step-by-step recipe video of a similar recipe? These candied pecans are made the EXACT same way- Just watch the recipe below and see just how easy it is!
- 3 cups raw nuts of choice (I used cashews, almonds and Brazil nuts)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 T cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 cup Norbu natural sweetener (can use coconut palm sugar or a stevia baking blend)
- 1/4 cup water
- Heat a large frying pan or deep pot on medium heat. When hot, add the Norbu sweetener. sea salt, cinnamon and water and mix until fully combined. Allow to heat up, stirring occasionally.
- When the sweetener has completely melted, add the nuts and mix until fully incorporated. Watch over the pan and continue stirring often until most of the sugar has been coated and beginning to crystallise.
- Remove pan from the heat and allow to sit for 1-2 minutes. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir the nuts once more to avoid overly large clusters and set on a plate or chopping board to cool completely.
- For more cluster like portions, allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Nuts can be stored in an airtight container.
What are your preferred sweeteners?
Do you use artificial sweeteners?
Have you ever used artificial sweeteners in baked goods/cooking?
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This is amazing, Arman! I have to try it with the sweetener that I have. It’s erythritol and a very powder. But since it’s melted first anyway I don’t think it will be a problem. I use it rarely in yogurt when I don’t have fruit with it (which is my preferred way of sweetening whenever possible). I haven’t baked with it yet though.
I made caramelised nuts last for Christmas gifts, a sweet and a spicy version. They were a hit! I like homemade gifts, especially when they’re edible too 😉
I’m so glad you tried it out!!!! Homemade edible gifts are the best thing ever! 🙂
I try to avoid sweeteners as most of them irritate my tummy! Particularly sugar alcohols. 🙁
On the other hand, normal sugar is fine for me! But I obviously try and avoid it where I can as it just makes me want more sugar. It is ridiculously addictive.
My favourite sweetener is probably mashed banana 😉
Dude, I’ve been guzzling real cola and sprite here and it’s like an addiction!
We don’t do a lot of sweets. I don’t use protein powder all that often either but if I do then I guess there might be some artificial sweetner in there. Not sure. I use honey a few times a week. I gotta say, those nuts look awesome. That means a lot coming from someone who lacks a sweet tooth 🙂
I should make a savoury nut mix…or a sweet and savoury nut mix just for you 😉
I’m a part of the team in the middle…. I use some white sugar in my baking but I’m also a huuuuuge fan of subbing maple syrup/honey when I can. YAY NUTS LOVE NUTS hehehh
stop saying nuts. Nuts.
Sometimes I forget whose blog I’m reading and take things very literally.
Example: “For some, splenda makes them turn instantly pregnant.”
Enter: panic.
Then Enter “Oh yeah, Arman’s blog…bloating…got it”.
Haha, cheers Laura!
I do use sweeteners in my life–both in regular stuff as well as in baking. But there are some that I really don’t care for, and that mess with my stomach. There used to be this amazing brown sugar xylitol (I think) blend that I swore by, but I can’t find it anywhere now. Usually in batch (rather than single serving) recipes, I will do my own blend of sweeteners and sugar (so that the right chemical reactions will occur). .
Oh wow, I don’t think Australia has a brown sugar xylitol blend!
OMG I love caramelised nuts. They are selling them at all the Christmas markets around London, so I’m stocking up every time I go by one!
Oh those markets must smell incredible!!!!
I have a coke zero every now and then when we are out for a restaurant, but prefer to use all “real” sugar sweeteners when cooking– occasionally I’ll throw in liquid stevia into a recipe.. but not often.
We have a similar viewpoint too! I love a coke zero when I’m…falling asleep at 4pm lol!
I hate sweetners but LUV coconut palm sugar (it’s soo awesome!) These look delish Arman, and the pictures are pretty damn good too 🙂
How epic is coconut palm sugar? I am obsessed with using it as my sweetener of choice!
Cheers mate- coming from you it’s borderline knight worthy.
Caramelized nuts! Yes! This is the perfect recipe for that big bin of mixed nuts that shows up in the grocery stores here in the States during the holidays. It’s like a seriously huge box of nuts, and you just pay by the pound. Sit around the fire and crack ’em open…and then caramelize ’em up! I just used palm sugar for the first time the other day…pretty cool stuff. And now I have leftovers–to make caramelized nuts apparently! 🙂
Dude, coconut palm sugar is my go to sweetener now- it works so well with recipes! I kinda want a camp fire now but may actually melt.
The topic of sweeteners is so controversial, you really can’t please everyone. I love how you addressed it and this line “or how white sugar is made by the devil” had me laughing out loud! Your recipe looks delicious and these really would be great holiday gift!
Thank you Sonali! I need to get ready prepping a batch of these specifically for the occasion!
Artificial sweeteners & stevia make me pukey. I just can’t tolerate the flavour/after taste. My go-tos for baking are coconut sugar or maple syrup!
Sometimes I just like to drink maple syrup. It’s a Canadian thing.
LOL. I should invent a maple syrup cocktail in a red starbucks cup and call it the JoGro.
Stevia is the only added sweetener I will ever use!
Nice! you guys have flavoured ones too!
I think it is important to try and not get hung up on things like this. At the end of the day, I think there is probably “research” saying everything is bad for you in some way.
I try to stay away from aspartame just because it makes me so bloated.
Cheers, Dannii! Yes, aspartame can have that effect, and so randomly too!
Staying away from splenda as instant pregnancy is not on my to do list for 2014. Thanks for the tip.
In other news, I recognised your fingers on pinterest the other day. It was weird.
Pinning and stumbling 😀
LOL. I nearly peed myself just then. Did my latte toned complexion give it away huh
These look amazing and so easy! I am not an artificial sweetener fan – i just don’t like the taste at all. I actually prefer unflavored protein powder – i mostly just use it in smoothies and i think it tastes better. I used to use xylitol is baking sometimes, but then i found out it was cat poison, which kind of creeped me out. My go-to sweeteners are honey or brown sugar. I have never actually tried coconut sugar – I need to!
What! Can poison?! I never knew that!
I need deez nuts.
You do need deep nuts. NutZ i mean.
Arman thIs is the perfect gift idea! My step father is diabetic and I bet he would love these! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Sam! That sounds like a great idea!
Liquid sweeteners like honey and maple syrup are my favorites, but coconut sugar rocks for baking. I have yet to experiment more with stevia, but I use that in my plain Greek yogurt sometimes. Never used Norbu before though!
I dare you to swap these with the real Nuts 4 Nuts in NYC and see if people notice.
They will see my sexy face and that will win them.
Please note- this has not been tested.
So I’m pretty sure that I drank like a litre and a half of diet coke over the weekend (not even exaggerating) so I wasn’t planning on drinking any this week…but then you mentioned it and now I’m craving it again. Dammit Arman.
I try to stick to natural sweeteners and stevia most often, but aspartame or sucralose (or sugar) sneaks it’s way in there sometimes. I’m not super worried about it though.
Well. Remember that red bull I told you about? Turns out it’s not sugar free (well, not in Malaysia). It’s 25% reduced sugar. Fail whale.
For some reason after consuming Natvia/ Norbu I get reallllly thirsty- followed my diarrhea and bloating : (! Looks like it’s regular ol sugar for me – usually in tea or gelato. I would like to try this recipe though, probably subbing the natvia for coconut sugar. Have you used molasses, golden syrup or treacle in baking before? A must in anzac biscuits and gingerbread men in my opinion! : D
Definitely try it with coconut sugar- I love the distinct flavour that gives (My first batch was made with it :))
I have several molasses recipes coming up 😀
I pitch my tent in the middle camp as well, although I do try to avoid artificial sweeteners for the most part. Even stevia I’m not a huge fan of. Honey and maple syrup, on the other hand? I can legit eat it by the spoonful. Even molasses, which I seem to get a huge craving for around this time of the year. Still waiting for it to hit…
That I am well aware of. I actually remember you nibbling dates in Toronto too. I wonder if that’s considered savoury next to a spoon full of honey now haha!
I’m sort of in the middle too. I like white sugar/brown sugar/honey/maple syrup for baking. I don’t bake with artificial sweeteners and I do try to limit them, but I just need to have a Coke Zero every couple of weeks. I know it won’t kill me!
Coke zero > diet coke.
However- Pepsi max > coke zero > diet coke.
However- Diet Mt.Dew > Diet root beer > Everything else.
However- Arman > Chelsea.
Woohoo! So happy to see another carmelized nut recipe with stevia. I’ve played around with it a bit myself and I’ve noticed that stevia works just fine. 🙂 If I had to pick a sweetener team, I’d be Team Honey all the way. Because not only is it one of my favorite sweeteners but it’s also what I call my boyfriend, friends, random kind stranger…etc. Being born a southern American girl makes “honey” pretty much a staple nickname to us around here.
Haha, I love that story- Honey Kaylin.
So excited to try these for the holidays – the vanilla seems like its a great touch! Will probably use coconut sugar. Thanks!
Thanks buddy! the first batch I used coconut sugar and it worked a treat!
Wow, very nice idea of sugar free caramelized nuts.
Thanks, Sadhna! 🙂
I love snacking on nuts so these flavoured nuts are definitely a recipe I need to make!
Thanks Thalia! 🙂
Oh my goodness yes! I’m living in Thailand at the moment and don’t seem to eat a lot of nuts (besides the peanuts in my pad thai of course) but now that the holidays are showing their face I definitely want to change that!
Oh wow! hope things are cooling down for you- I’m actually replying from Malaysia haha! Hi!
do we have norbu here? Ohh i am so looking into it! i love coconut sugar or maple syrup. So great with baking and well… this! Splenda? Well… it’s uh a tummy issue and not really fan. but to each their own
I’ll add that to my ever growing suitcase 😉
PS Word on the street is a huge GF range being released by one of our brand just before Christmas!
I use Sunwarrior Protein Powder. I got used to the “dirt” taste after awhile. Lol. I really like baking with coconut sugar too.
LOL! Lauren, I tried mixing it in yogurt once and it went all over my face lol!
I LOVE NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
So do I!
I’m definitely a “real” sugar kinda gal and get mine from either straight raw sugar, or the few you mentioned above like honey or maple syrup. I have boarded the sugar alcohol train too by using xylitol a few times, and thanks to Gigi I’m dabbling with some stevia…but only dabbling because most of it still tastes like a nail polish butt hole. As for artificial sweeteners…I don’t use them, but if they happen to be in something I eat once every blue moon I don’t make it a big deal. Long story short I really like the real deal and need to watch myself because tight pants are so not my thing.
Now that I’ve written you a novel, you must know I think your nuts look delicious.
Which nuts?
Oh yes, those nuts look good. I’ve never even considered caramelising anything without white sugar. Great idea. Maybe I should try to get such a sweetened and find out if my body can handle it.
Definitely try it out- test a few different ones and see which you can/can’t handle!
OKAYYYYYY.
Now these. THESE I WANT.
Give me ALL the nuts!
(nuts…balls…you’ve got a theme here…)
You are a dirty dirty birdie.
Please continue.
You forgot team no sugar at all, even in honey form. I encountered that team at thanksgiving yesterday. Lord only knows how they feel about bananas.
I love nuts, even more so when you caramelize them.
…….. That poor poor person. Bananas make you fat.
WOW! You are so clever! I really need to make this and stay away from the sugary sweets. I use xylitol for much of my baking. With a diabetic hubby and I have to watch sugar intake (mostly I watch it as it goes IN)…this sounds great! I love that you don’t even bake it. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Weekend Potluck. Score!!!
Thank you for hosting as usual! Ohhhh I’ve started exploring with using xylitol recently- I’m quite the fan! Expect all future recipes to have a sugar free option 🙂
Yay for xylitol!! I made these yesterday.. not using the full amount of sugar..and yes..using xylitol..and less cinnamon. Hubby loves them. They weren’t ‘sticky’ like regular sugar would be but still delish!! Cant wait to see more of your creations!! Rock on Big Man!
Cheers Marsha! I think I need more savoury recipes just to compliment all your sweet ones 😉
You got that right! I definitely need to make more savory dishes…maybe in the new year.
They sound yummy.
Over from Saturday Sharefest.
Thanks for stopping by, Kate- Appreciate it 🙂
What a great, healthy snack! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
Thanks for hosting, Karly 🙂
Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays Party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you share next time!
-Cindy
These sound really good! I usually use stevia or erythritol.
Thank you! they definitely work with erythritol 🙂
These look great! Love that they are sugar free too.
Thank you Julia 🙂
I did a double take with the pregnant comment…lol.
I tend to use honey and sometimes maple sugar for sweeteners, but honestly I’m a moderation gal. I really don’t love artificial stuff and sometimes it gives me a headache. This looks awesome…perfect for snacking! I do love my snacks…
Hahahaha my bad!
Thanks, Michelle- I think Norbu has been quite good with not being artificial unlike those heinous yellow packets!
LOVE this recipe Arman! I have one similar to it that I haven’t made in awhile and have been thinking about it – I’ll be sharing in my Low Carb Roundup soon!
Thank you so much Adrienne- Such an honour to see you on here, I’m a HUGE fan of your blog and your amazing content! 🙂
You’re too kind, Arman. See you around!
I am looking for a recipe for a vegan scone using spelt flour, baking soda, baking powder, almond milk, coconut oil, salt, maple syrup and lemon juice
Never heard of Norbu, but must admit I’m intrigued. These look fabulous!
I modified this and tried it out with unrefined cane sugar, flax seeds, sesame seeds and chia seeds… I guess I was going for a thin seed brittle but I didnt get too many sheets but a lot more fine stuff too. Great for over yogurt none the less! Whatever sheets I got I packed it up with a few of the crumbs as a food gift. Totally tasty too!
Oh yum- The idea for it to be like brittle is such a good one- Thanks for the feedback, Danika!
I’ve made these 3 times now using Truvia and they are fantastic! My kids love them also! Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Dawna! Thanks so much for the feedback- I’m glad the kids give the seal of approval too 🙂
Hi Arman, it damp and cold in the UK at the moment, so I’m going into the kitchen to try this recipe. I’ve been trying Stevia powder and liquid but I find it leaves a slightly bitter taste behind, Xylitol crystals are ok, but like you I prefer coconut sugar, and on occasion unrefined soft brown sugar. Thank you for the recipe. I hope you and the family have an awesome Christmas.
You are so welcome, Linda- Wishing you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday season 🙂
Thank you. So easy and soooo yummy.
You are so welcome, Suzanne!