Homemade Roasted Nut Recipes: Looking for Something Different? Check This Out!

I am always searching for new ideas for homemade presents for Christmas for my immediate and extended family. I love making things that are edible or are practical for the home, such as coasters. I have given homemade nuts on more than one occasion, which have always been well received. I'm still debating what I'll do for the 2011 holiday season. If I do make nuts again, I'd like to make something different than what I've made in the past. I thought it would be fun to compile nut recipes with a variety of ingredients, including some that are unusual for nuts. If you're giving them as gifts, consider making two or three different recipes and giving out small batches of each so people can sample all of them.

You can substitute a different nut for many of these recipes or consider using a combination of different nuts.

This recipe gets its spicy flavor from a combination of hot pepper sauce, cumin, chili powder, and curry powder. A hint of Worcestershire sauce and cinnamon combat the spiciness just a little and give the nuts some extra flavor.

This recipe adds a great twist to the classic chocolate-covered nut by carmelizing the nuts first. I love the combination of cocoa powder and powdered sugar for the final layer.

This is one of my personal favorites. If you love cinnamon, you will enjoy this recipe with any type of nut. I take the advice of many of the reviewers and double the coating for the amount of suggested nuts. I also bake the nuts around an hour and a half instead of the suggested hour. I don't take them out until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

I love the idea of adding a little chipotle chile powder to this classic recipe for a spicy twist. Consider adding another spicy ingredient or two, such as cumin, to kick up the heat a little.

Kitchen M describes three different nut spice combinations in this blog post: 1) Chinese Five Spice, 2) Lemongrass with Garlic and Sea Salt, and 3) Chai Spiced. She doesn't detail the baking directions, but if you've been clicking through to the recipes so far in this hub, you probably have a pretty good idea what temperature and approximate amount of time will work. I am intrigued by all of these ingredient combinations. I think that the inspiration for anyone reading her post is that if you like a flavor combination from just about any recipe, see if it will carry over to roasted nuts.

If you are a sucker for a sweet and spicy flavor combination, this recipe is perfect for you. The photos and information about the recipe included in the blog post are great.

Hit the fresh herbs for this one with a little thyme and rosemary. I love that the recipe includes pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds) for one of the nuts in the mix.

This recipe is the perfect dessert with lots of butter and a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, completed with orange. The blog post includes lots of great pictures to accompany the different direction steps.