Maple Candied Walnuts - Cooking Mischief

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Or, “How I accidentally figured out a quick and easy way to make praline sauce”.

Originally Posted: March 19, 2022

Reducing maple syrup to caramel — Reducing maple syrup down to a salted caramel sauce.

Total Time: 30 minutes

Table of Contents

Intro

One day I decided to try making Maple Candied Walnuts from scratch as a topping for some Roasted Butternut Squash. By playing around with amounts, I accidentally figured out that this is a very easy way to make Praline sauce as well (one just needs to add more maple syrup and let it reduce to caramel sauce).

Ingredients

This is just what I used my first time. You can play around with amounts, which is something I plan to do in the future. Using less maple syrup results in more of a classic maple-glazed candied nut, whereas using more maple syrup gives you more caramel sauce, resulting in something closer to praline sauce.

10oz bag of Crushed Walnuts
½ – ¾ cup Maple Syrup
8 pinches Salt (this is the amount I ended up with after I kept adding salt to taste)

Equipment

Nonstick Skillet (I like this T-Fal one)
Laser thermometer (useful for checking skillet temperatures; I use one all the time)

Getting the pan up to toasting temperature — I originally bought this laser thermometer to check the temperature of some fermenting homebrews, but these days I use it a lot more often to check skillet or grill temperatures. I also check temps when I’m getting ready to sear a sous vide steak or fish.

Written Instructions

Total Time: 30 minutes

Toasting walnuts — Start by toasting the nuts, then add maple syrup and salt to taste.

Adding maple syrup to the walnuts — Start by toasting the nuts, then add maple syrup and salt to taste.

Heat nonstick skillet to about 300°F/149°C, then add crushed walnuts. Stir and allow them to roast a little, then add maple syrup. You can play around with the amount of maple syrup if you want to end up with more caramel sauce at the end. Continue stirring and adding salt to taste, and allow the maple syrup to thicken into caramel sauce.

If you wish to separate the caramel sauce from the candied nuts, spoon them into a sieve with a bowl underneath.

Draining excess caramel sauce — I let the nuts cool on a cookie rack, but some of the smaller ones fell through. Next time I’m using a sieve with a bowl underneath to catch the dripping caramel sauce.

Uses

A quick sweet snack
Topping for various dishes such as Roasted Butternut Squash or a salad
In cookies or muffins