Spiced Lavender Walnuts

Total Time: 20 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups walnuts (i used hazelnut halves because i didn't have enough walnuts on hand) or 2 cups hazelnuts (i used hazelnut halves because i didn't have enough walnuts on hand)
• 1 cup unbleached sugar (reduced from 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup filtered water
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon dried provence lavender
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaf, finely minced

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2 spread the walnuts on parchment-lined cookie sheet. bake 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned. alternatively, the nuts can be lightly toasted in a skillet on the range.
• 3 in a medium-sized saucepan, combine the sugar, water, cinnamon and salt.
• 4 (after testing this recipe the thought ran through my head of using half of a cinnamon stick. fyi).
• 5 over medium heat boil the mixture *without* stirring until it reaches 238 degrees (soft-ball stage) on a candy thermometer. be careful with this step as the sugar syrup is very hot and will burn your skin!
• 6 remove pan from heat and stir in the lavender, rosemary and walnuts.
• 7 using a buttered spatula, quickly stir until all nuts are coated.
• 8 transfer the walnuts to the cookie sheet and spread them singly in an even layer, separating the mixture using the buttered spatula.
• 9 cool.
• 10 store in an airtight container or in a ziploc-type plastic bag in the refrigerator or freezer.