NOBBLE your nibbles with a hit of spice this Christmas!
It is easy to buy your own nuts and coat them for extra flavour.
Serve as an easy snack that’s sure to impress your guests . . .
NUTTY PROFESSOR: It’s great to experiment with different flavours and nuts to find a mix you love. Use plain unsalted nuts, such as cashews, pecans, peanuts, macadamia, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and Brazil nuts.
Mix up different spices to get Indian-, Moroccan- or Mexican-style snacks.
For a festive flavour, combine dried ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Balance savoury spices with a dash of something sweet, such as sugar, honey or maple syrup.
CURRY UP: Combining ground cumin, cinnamon and a dash of cayenne pepper will give you an Indian flavour.
Mix the spices with butter and brown sugar before coating the nuts and baking in the oven for around 20 minutes, giving them a shake now and then. Keep an eye on them as they burn easily.
SWEET AS A NUT: This tasty festive honey-roasted nuts recipe from jamieoliver.com is a cracking treat.
Melt 50g unsalted butter with two tbsps of runny honey for three to four minutes. Place a kilo of nuts on two baking trays (cutting bigger nuts like Brazils into bite-size pieces) and divide the butter and honey mix between the two trays.
Scatter over two tsps of sweet smoked paprika. Toss to coat all the nuts, then cook for 20-30 minutes, or until golden all over, carefully shaking the tray every ten to 15 minutes to make sure they cook evenly.
Season with salt and serve, or put them in jars to give as gifts.
HOT STUFF: For a simple chilli nuts recipe, mix 50g softened butter with 25g sugar and ½ tsp of cayenne pepper.
Put the nuts in a bowl and coat with the buttery mixture, then season with salt.
Roast in the oven at 180C for ten minutes, tossing half-way through.
BOAST the best festive front door with a B&Q set including wreath, garland and two Christmas trees, all with lights, for £40, down from £50 at diy.com.
SAVE: £10
PROTECT winter lips with the Weleda Skin Food lip balm, down to £5.81 from £7.75 at Holland & Barrett.
SAVE: £1.94
BOOK travel through Virgin Trains Ticketing to save money with its new feature showing cheaper travel via indirect routes. You could save up to £90.
WARM chilly toes in the Chelsea Peers short suede sheepskin slippers from John Lewis, £75.
Or find your feet in the Laverne women’s chestnut mules, £9.99 at shoezone.com.
SAVE: £65.01
SAVE 30 per cent when you buy three bottles of wine from Lidl’s Deluxe range until January 1. The deal includes Deluxe New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, £8.29.
TASTY with smoked salmon, Philadelphia Original soft cream cheese, 165g, is down from £2.20 to £1.10 with a Nectar card at Sainsbury’s.
SAVE: £1.10
BRITISH Wagyu tomahawk steak, £24.99 per kg, is among items in the new Wagyu beef range at Aldi.
JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle.
Every month we’re giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers – whether you’re saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered.
Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket.
The more codes you enter, the more tickets you’ll earn and the more chance you will have of winning!
