Meringue Nuts

Lightly sweetened with an addictive crispiness, these are almost impossible to stop eating! Use a nice combination of pecans, cashews, almonds, and hazelnuts.

5 cups mixed nuts
4 oz unsalted butter
3 egg whites
1/4  teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spread the nuts on a jelly roll pan and toast in the oven for about 12 minutes.  Let cool and set aside in a large mixing bowl.  Leave oven on.

Place the butter on a jelly roll pan and place in the oven just to melt the butter.

In the small bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt on high speed until there are soft peaks.  Reduce the speed and gradually add the sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating briefly between additions.  Then beat on high speed until stiff.  Add the vanilla and bit a little longer.

Add the meringue mixture to the nuts and stir just to mix. Place the nut mixture in large spoonfuls over the melted butter in the jelly roll pan.  It doesn't have to be even.

Bake 10 minutes, remove from oven and with a wide metal spatula, turn the mixture over any which way.  Bake for 10 minutes more and turn over again, stirring just a little bit.  It will look like a big mess, but this is okay. Continue to bake and stir every 10 minutes until the meringue is golden and the butter is all absorbed.  The total baking time is about 45 minutes.

When done, pour the nuts onto a brown paper bag and allow to cool.  You can break it apart to separate the nuts or leave it in clumps.

Store airtight.