Sweet & Spicy Roasted Party Nuts

These party nuts are a little sweet and a little spicy. They’re completely irresistible! Use this recipe and make it your own—I add fresh rosemary, too!

These roasted mixed nuts are completely irresistible. They’re a little sweet, a little spicy, and nice and toasty.

These nuts will be a hit at your holiday parties, or a redeeming snack in between. I love to add fresh rosemary, so they taste like the holidays in the best way.

This recipe is so versatile, too. You can easily change up the nuts and seasonings to suit your preferences. These photos show my favorite iteration, made with pecans, almonds and pepitas (pumpkin seeds).

Ready to raid your pantry for the ingredients?

Roasted Party Nuts Ingredients

You’ll need a few simple ingredients to make the best party nuts.

Raw Mixed Nuts

Be sure to buy raw (not pre-roasted), unsalted nuts for this recipe. I’m partial to almonds, pecans and pepitas. The almonds get nice and crunchy, the pecans crisp up beautifully, and the pepitas clump together to form crackly green clusters.

You can use other nuts, too. Walnuts would be great in place of the pecans, hazelnuts would be fun, and peanuts are always delicious.

Real Maple Syrup

Just two tablespoons of maple syrup makes these nuts lightly sweet. As the mixture roasts in the oven, the maple syrup condenses and turns into a light candy coating. I love that these nuts are naturally sweetened and not at all sticky.

Baking the nuts at a relatively low temperature (325 degrees) and stirring frequently are the two keys to achieving perfectly roasted nuts with an even layer of candy coating.

Butter

A little melted butter offers extra richness and depth to these mixed nuts. They really taste like a treat.

If you’re looking for a dairy-free or vegan alternative, olive oil works well.

Kosher Salt

I like to use kosher salt in this recipe because I love the little bursts of saltiness it provides. You can use regular salt if you don’t have kosher salt on hand; your nuts will be more uniformly salty (not a bad thing, really).

Did you know that different salts vary in saltiness, by volume? See my recipe notes to find the right amount for your salt.

Vanilla Extract

Vanilla extract adds another subtle layer of flavor. Nuts, maple syrup and vanilla are a trifecta of flavor.

Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne adds some subtle heat and balances the sweetness of the maple syrup. I love it.

With my fresh jar of cayenne, even 1/4 teaspoon has a good amount of kick. Feel free to scale back on the spice or omit it completely.

Watch How to Make Sweet & Spicy Party Nuts

Flavor Variations on Roasted Party Nuts

Make this recipe your own! Simply stir any of the following into the maple syrup mixture:

For rosemary mixed nuts (shown here), stir in 2 tablespoons finely snipped or chopped fresh rosemary. Preparing the rosemary is a little tedious and takes a few minutes, but it is 100 percent worth the effort.

For pumpkin spice or cinnamon mixed nuts, add between 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice blend or cinnamon, to taste.

For bourbon-spiked mixed nuts, add 1 to 3 teaspoons bourbon in place of the vanilla extract, to taste.

For sweeter party nuts (these are lightly sweet as written), double the maple syrup.

For extra-spicy or not-at-all-spicy nuts, adjust the cayenne pepper. You can even double the cayenne, or adjust to taste—sample the nuts tossed in the maple mixture and stir in more, if you’d like. Or for not-spicy nuts, simply omit the cayenne altogether.