Toffee Walnuts - An Easy Candied Nuts Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

Why are my candied walnuts grainy? ›

If your candied walnuts are grainy, you may not have allowed the sugar to dissolve completely before removing them from the heat. Avoid this mistake by slowly melting the butter over low heat. Stir the brown sugar mixture over low heat constantly for 3-5 minutes.

Yes, candied nuts can go bad. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a month for best results.

If your pecans are soft, it's most likely because they weren't baked long enough and are still retaining moisture. The sugar needs to bake long enough to caramelize and form a brittle coating on the nuts.

Astringent, mouth-puckering taste…

By soaking and dehydrating them, this will be greatly reduced. This is because when soaking walnuts, the tannins are rinsed away, leaving behind a softer, more buttery nut. The soak water from nuts and seeds should always be discarded and never used as water in a recipe.

Place walnuts in boiling water for five minutes to remove bitter taste. Remove from water and drain, then run cold water over the walnuts.

Then give them a sniff, rancid nuts often smell somewhat alcoholic and can also smell musty if they have begun to go mouldy. And finally, don't be afraid to give one a taste, eating a rancid nut in small quantities is not harmful, but they will taste foul and you'll know immediately if they have gone off.

To make rancid walnuts tasty again, a "chemical engineer" (consulted for this purpose) advises to soak the rancid walnuts in milk or other emulsive ingredient which is then rinsed off with hot water, and the nuts gently dried and roasted with sea salt.

Store in a Cool, Dry Place

Keep your candied pecans away from sources of heat and moisture. This means avoiding storing them near your stove, dishwasher, or even on top of your refrigerator. Instead, store them in a cool pantry or cupboard.

The problem is that crystals of sugar were re-introduced into the liquid candy. This will cause your candy to crystallize and become grainy. To prevent this, (stove-top method only) wipe down the inner sides of your pan a few times with a wet pastry brush while your candy is boiling.

Also do not stir the pan when the mixture is boiling, as this can cause the sugar to crystallize and give a grainy texture. The boiling sugar should turn a deep amber colour when it reaches the correct stage. Too pale and the candy will not set, too dark and the sugar will have burnt.

Why is my melted butter and brown sugar grainy? ›

If you don't cream for long enough, your mixture will appear gritty, yellow, and flat. If you cream for too long, the mixture will transition from smooth and voluminous to a greasy, separated, deflated puddle that sits at the bottom of the bowl. If you overmix your butter and sugar, start over.

COLD STORAGE = FRESH TASTE!

Heat causes the fat in walnuts to change structure, which creates off odors and flavors. Fresh walnuts smell mildly nutty and taste sweet. If your walnuts smell like paint thinner, you know they're rancid. And if they're rancid, you should throw them away!