Name: Fire Roasted Spiced Nuts
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 3 cups Deluxe Mixed Nuts (Or nuts of your choice); 2 Tbsp Melted Butter (or Olive Oil); 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup; 2 Tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary (OR 2 tsp chopped Dry Rosemary); 1 1/4 tsp Salt; 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder; 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper; 1 tsp Smoked Paprika; 1 Sprig Fresh Rosemary; Nonstick Cooking Spray

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Camping over a winter holiday? Try my campfire roasted spiced nuts recipe! A bit sweet, a bit spicy, with just the right amount of rosemary to round things out. Elegant & addictive!

We spent this past holiday season at MacGregor Point Provincial Park, and had a blast.

As introverts, holiday parties aren’t really our thing - too overstimulating and chaotic. We’d much rather just take off for a quiet campground and watch the snow fall all around our RV. Us, the cats, some homemade snacks - bliss!

Because we were camping over the holidays, we decided to do at LEAST one festive holiday treat. It’s now almost a month later, and I couldn’t tell you much about what we did, because one pretty much eclipsed everything else: spicy mixed nuts.

This fire roasted nut mix quickly became one of our favorite recipes to cook over a campfire, EVER.

It took a few tries, but I eventually landed on a spice blend that was the perfect combination of herbs and spices. The final spice mix had the perfect balance of sweet and savory, and just the right amount of heat.

By “right amount” and “spicy”, I mean spice in the literal sense - dried and ground aromatic plant matter. It’s not a firey spice, but a warming one.

TONS of flavour, without burning your mouth - basically the perfect snack to serve a mixed crowd. These spicy nuts would even be a great snack to serve at a holiday party, if you’re into that kind of thing

The good news is that it’s also an incredibly simple snack to make. Since perfecting this recipe, we’ve even taking to making it at home, in the oven. Even at the end of a busy day, one of us can always find the energy to throw a big batch of these spiced nuts in the oven.

I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. They’re incredibly addictive, and not incredibly healthy. Sure, a few nuts can be a good source of certain nutrients, but hoovering a couple lbs without thinking about it? Probably not a good thing, LOL!

Anyway - IMHO - it’s the best way to prepare a quick, warm campfire treat when winter camping.

Next year, I may end up making a bunch of these spiced nut, tossing them in some pretty containers, and giving this as Christmas gifts to friends... or maybe as neighbor gifts to fellow campers, if we do a holiday trip again next year.

Seriously, though... Bring extra ingredients with you on your camping trip, because you’re going to end up wanting more than one batch of this. Trust me - your taste buds will thank you for planning ahead!

Anyway, let’s talk about what you need:

Ingredients

This recipe uses really simple ingredients. With the possible exception of the nuts themselves, they’re all pantry staples that you’re likely to have on hand.

A few notes for you:

Mixed Nuts

You need 3 cups of nuts for this recipe, and really... you can use pretty much any kind of nuts.

I generally use buy the big tub of Great Value Deluxe Mixed Nuts from Walmart, as that’s cheap, easy, tasty, and in convenient packaging.

That last point is especially good when it comes to camping food!

If you’d like, you can put together a mix of whatever different types of nuts you like.

Pecan Halves, Pepitas (Shelled pumpkin seeds), Shelled Pistachios, Walnut Halves, Whole Almonds, and Whole Cashews are all great options.

I would imagine spiced Macadamia Nuts would be amazing, but they’re usually a bit too bougie for what I’m looking to spend!

All that said: if you use unsalted nuts, you may need to add a little extra salt. Taste after mixing the ingredients together, and adjust the salt level if needed.

Maple Syrup

Be sure to use actual Pure Maple Syrup - the boiled sap from maple trees - rather than pancake syrup.

Maple Sugar Flakes and Maple Sugar Pebbles are other options that work well.

If maple syrup isn’t your thing, you can use the same amount of brown sugar or white sugar - I just *definitely* prefer this recipe done with maple!

Fresh Rosemary

I use fresh rosemary twice in this recipe - chopped up in the nut mix, and a sprig of it on top.

If you have a hankering for spiced nuts and don’t have any fresh rosemary on hand, you can use 2 teaspoon of finely chopped Dried Rosemary in the mix, and just skip the sprig on top.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Melted Butter or Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Ground Black Pepper
Smoked Paprika
Salt (Kosher salt or sea salt)
Nonstick Cooking Spray

... I just don’t really have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go. Pretty straightforward!

Spicier Nuts!

If you’d like your campfire spiced nuts to have more of a kick, add ½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper, Chili Powder, or Smoked Serrano Powder after mixing the main ingredients.

Taste, and add more spice if desired.

Smokier Nuts

If you want a smokier flavour, swap out the regular salt for Smoked Sea Salt.

I like to add a bit of Smoked Serrano Powder as well - this will kick the heat up while ALSO adding a layer of smoky flavour.

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How to Make Campfire Spiced Nuts

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through:

Measure all of your ingredients - except the sprig of rosemary - into a mixing bowl, gently toss to coat everything evenly.

Rip 2 long sheets of foil, form an X with them, and spray the center generously with cooking spray.

Mound the nut mixture in the center of the foil, top with the sprig of rosemary.

Pull the ends of the foil strips up and to form a loose - but sealed - foil packet. Set aside.

Get a low to medium fire going.

Grill over the fire - flipping every few minutes - for 10 minutes or so. I like to use tongs to give the packet a good shake every once in a while, to keep everything distributed and prevent burning.

Once the nuts are heated through, glazed - and just a little sticky - remove from heat.

Taste, season with additional salt if desired, and serve warm or cooled - they’re tasty both ways!

Oven Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, line a large cookie sheet an with parchment paper, set aside.

Mix the nuts with the remaining ingredients - aside from the sprig of rosemary - and spread out in a single layer on the prepared sheet pan.

Let the nuts bake in the 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, giving them a good stir every 5 minutes or so.

When the nuts are heated through, glazed, and just a little sticky, remove from the oven.

Allow to cool a bit before serving - while they’re tasty when warm, they harden up into more of a candied nut after cooling.

Leftovers & Storage

Once cooled to room temperature, these spiced nuts can be transferred to an airtight container - We usually use a Ziplock baggie or Mason jar.

In a tightly sealed container, they’ll keep for a month or two at room temperature - in theory. We’ve never had a batch last more than a couple days, but you might have more self control than we do!