Chili Lime Peanuts
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I recently made the brilliant decision to make a batch of tin roof ice cream. This meant buying peanuts, which we don’t normally keep in the house, and naturally the only peanut jar in our grocery store was rather large. First, I stirred a few peanuts around in the melted chocolate that was sticking to the bowl and had myself a little snack (obviously). Then, I debated making another batch of chocolate peanuts/ice cream entirely, but couldn’t remember if the base would have fit in my ice cream maker at the same time (spoiler alert: it would have). So instead, I thought I’d try some spicy peanuts for snacking. Peanuts on their own for snacking? Meh. Chili powder on anything? Sign me up.
These are incredibly easy and versatile. You could certainly use the mixture on any kind of nut you want, and/or add or adjust the spiciness/seasonings to your taste preferences. In addition to snacking, these would be good on Southwestern-y salads, as part of a relish, or even in fried rice or something similar. Now I just need to tackle the highly addictive habanero BBQ almondsand we’ll really be in business.
Chili Lime Peanuts
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 2-3 limes)
- zest from one large lime
- 2 Tbsp. chili powder*
- 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 4 cups shelled unsalted peanuts
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 250º. In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the peanuts until combined. Stir in the peanuts until evenly coated. Scrape nuts onto a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until fragrant and beginning to darken, about 25 minutes, stirring once or twice during baking.
*Note: As I was making these, I realized I was out of commercial chili powder. Instead, I used ancho chili powder, which has a little less heat than my typical blend, but also has a smoky taste to make up for the lack of cumin most commercial blends have. It worked perfectly.