Tracy’s Famous Candied Peanuts CategoriesDesserts · Recipes · Sides and Appetizers

Tracy’s Famous Candied Peanuts

I have a confession to make.  I LOVE nuts.  Salted roasted nuts, Chinese boiled peanuts (sounds gross but ooooh how delicious), and of course, candied nuts.  I’m that girl in the corner shoving handful after handful of the tasty gems into my mouth while everyone else is looking fabulous, sipping on cocktails and not messing up their lipstick.  Oh you don’t want to touch nuts at the cocktail bar that everyone else has probably gotten germs all over?  I will.

Crazy people like the folks behind the South Beach diet recommend eating just a tiny handful of nuts, per serving.  20 small peanuts…  Say what??  

Everything is good in moderation, but obviously they haven’t had THESE nuts.  Tracy’s famous candied peanuts.  Throw restraint out the window, and get ready to hit the treadmill for a few days, because you will NOT be able to keep your filthy little hands out of the peanut bag until you’ve licked the bag clean.  I dare you to try.

Like David Lebovitz, we also love swirling these into ice cream, along with a homemade caramel, for the most incredible candied peanut caramel ice cream.  Our founder Tracy Chow whipped up a batch of Guinness ice cream with these candied peanuts, stuck it in the freezer and went for a walk.  Upon her return, the whole thing was gone!  Quite a mystery… (wipes corner of mouth).  The dog probably ate it.

Enough of my perfect peanut propaganda.  You get the point.

So this St. Patrick’s day, forget Chocolate Beer Cupcakes with Whiskey filling and Irish Cream icing.  Ain’t nobody got time for that!  Forget green eggs and ham.  Who wants their eggs with food coloring?  Blech.

This St. Patty (and every day after, for that matter), we are sticking with the tried, tested and true Irish way.   A frosty cold brew, and a bowl full of nuts. 

Cook & prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups of raw peanuts
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of water
Any spices you fancy (Chipotle chili powder, smoked Hungarian paprika, or smoked salt are perfect finishing touches)

Directions

In a large deep skillet on medium high heat, combine peanuts, sugar and water.  Stir quickly so all ingredients are well mixed.  Then leave the peanuts, and wait until bubbles start to form to start stirring again. You want to make sure the sugar doesn’t burn, so stir every so often.
The sugar will start crystallizing and sticking to the peanuts.  If the sugar is turning into a sand like texture, and isn’t sticking to the nuts, add a little more water. Continue to stir and adjust the water content (in tiny amounts) until the sugar and peanuts clump together, and achieve a deep golden brown color.
At this point, sprinkle the peanuts with the spices of your choice, and spoon peanuts onto a baking sheet to cool. Make sure peanuts are cooled completely before serving.
Store in an air tight container.

 

Written and photographed by Tracy Chow & Jennifer Yu

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