I love snacking on nuts over the holidays and years ago I once made a recipe from my flatmate’s cookbooks for seasoned nuts with mixed curry spice and sugar. They were surprisingly easy to make and started me off making many different types since.

With all the clean eating of late, and trying to minimise the refined and processed foods I expose my children to, I wanted to try my hand at this. Something really easy to make but worth going through the effort, however little it might be. I wanted to use either honey or maple syrup instead of white sugar if I could. I wasn’t too sure how it would go, but I am used to caramelising sugar to make Panforte (one of my favourite Christmas treats) and this is made with honey, so I was hoping it would be about the same.

I find these best to make just before you serve them, well within a few hours anyway. They are easy enough to do and only require a modicum of attention so you can easily plan these in when you are entertaining. I must admit, dedicating a blog post to this is almost a con. These are so easy to make, I could literally be telling you to toast some nuts. Because this is how easy they to make.

• 200g Mixed Nuts, raw
• 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
• 1-2 pinch(es) of Sea Salt (I use Himalayan Pink Sea Salt)

Heat your oven to 180C and line a baking tray with parchment.

Place the nuts into a bowl and add the maple syrup and your pinch of salt. Toss them well to ensure they are well coated, I find the walnuts need a little bit more attention here. Spread them evenly over the baking tray and place them into the pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes. Toss them a couple of time whilst they are cooking, to get an even caramelisation and watch them carefully in the last few minutes of cooking, so they don’t catch.

Remove from the oven and give them a light sprinkling of sea salt, optional, then allow them to cool for a few minutes. They can be served warm or at room temperature and are best eaten on the day.