These sweet and spicy nuts and pretzels are the kind of snack that you eat half of before your guests show up. They’re crunchy, sweet, salty, and just spicy enough to keep you reaching for more. A mixture of nuts and pretzels gets coated in melted butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne, then baked for a toffee-like consistency. It’s an easy, make-ahead snack that feels simple enough for a weeknight but special enough for a holiday table.

Why You’ll Love These Sweet and Spicy Nuts

Perfect blend of sweet, savory and spicy. This snack mix is flavored with a delectable blend of brown sugar, maple syrup, salt, and cayenne pepper.
Fully customizable. You can use any combination of nuts and pretzels or other dry mix-ins.
A delicious and sneaky way to get a little extra protein during the holidays. Even though this mix is coated in sticky sugar, you’re still eating nuts, which are pretty good for you and packed with protein. Plus, the added cinnamon provides a small dose of antioxidants too.
Super snackable, hard to resist, and great for sharing. Put a bowl out at your next party or potluck and watch them disappear.
Cravable textures. It’s all crunch crunch crunch! With a little caramelized sugar coating to pull it all together.
Nice break from richer cookies and other sweet treats. Who doesn’t love a little variety in their life? These are a great way to bring in something new to your standard sweets rotation.

Close up of a bowl filled with sweet and spicy nuts and pretzels.

Ingredients in Sweet and Spicy Nuts and Pretzels

Dry mix-ins – equal amounts of nuts and pretzel twists. You can use any combination of nuts you want.
Sugar and spice sauce – the sauce is a bold mixture of butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon. It will taste super concentrated at first, but it’ll mellow out as it’s distributed over the dry mix-ins.

How to Make Sweet and Spicy Nuts and Pretzels

Toast the nuts on a foil lined sheet for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove them from the oven and let them cool while you make the sauce.

Foil-lined sheet tray with nuts on it for the sweet and spicy nuts and pretzels.

Add butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, cayenne, cinnamon, and salt to a small pot and cook until fully melted and emulsified, about 3 minutes.

Pot filled with butter, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne.

Add the nuts and pretzels to a bowl and toss with the sauce until everything is coated, careful not to break the pretzels. You can also toss everything with the sauce on the sheet tray but it will be more challenging (in our experience).
Bake the nuts and pretzels at 350°F on the same foil lined sheet for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and use a spatula to toss the nuts, then place them back in the oven and bake for another 7 minutes.
Toss the nuts again, then let them cool completely before eating.

Our Tips for Sweet and Spicy Nuts and Pretzels

Rachel and Emily from Cooking with Conks

Use untoasted nuts. To avoid over-toasting or burning the nuts when they bake with the sugar and spice sauce, we suggest using raw nuts. You’ll toast these briefly first, then coat them in the wet mixture, then bake them. This helps them toast up more evenly and without as much risk of burning.

Mix all the dry ingredients together first so they’re ready when your sauce is hot. The sugar based sauce cools quickly once you remove it from heat, so you’ll want to toss it with the nuts and pretzels before it cools.
Use non-stick foil or parchment paper. The sugary sauce is super sticky, so you’ll want to make sure you line your baking sheet with either non-stick foil or parchment. Foil works best for wet mixtures, which this is, but parchment could work in a pinch too.
Don’t forget to toss with a spatula halfway through baking. This ensures they’ll get evenly coated and cooked. Then toss them one more time after they’re fully baked.
Let them cool completely before eating. This one is hard. They smell soooo good when they get out of the oven. But trust us. If you eat them when they’re hot, not only will you possibly burn your tongue (ouch), but the nuts and pretzels will still be soft and not crispy yet.

Sheet tray with cooked sweet and spicy nuts and pretzels.

Variations and Substitutions

Got a nut allergy but still want to make this? No problem! Make this with all pretzels (they’re our favorite parts anyways), or maybe add some Chex cereal or oyster crackers.
Don’t like it spicy? That’s okay. Just take out the cayenne! You end up with more of a sweet and salty mix, which will still be excellent.
Change up the sweetness level. If you don’t want these quite as sweet, you can take out 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.
Don’t eat dairy, or allergic to gluten? For dairy-free, sub coconut oil or vegan butter for the melted regular butter. For a gluten-free version, use gluten free pretzels instead of regular ones.
Like almonds but don’t like cashews? Skip the cashews and double the almonds.
Adjust for budget. Nuts are pricey, we know. If you can find one type at an affordable price, go for it and make the whole mix with that one nut and some pretzels. Or use a smaller amount of nuts and increase the amount of pretzels. You can customize the dry ingredients however you like!

Close up of a hand holding a couple of sweet and spicy nuts and pretzels.

Storage Suggestions

Keep this sweet and spicy nut mix in an airtight container at room temp for up to a week. But we promise you that it’ll get eaten up way before then!

Ingredients

Nuts and Pretzels

3 cups mixed nuts 1 cup pecans, ½ cup almonds, ½ cup cashews, ½ cup hazelnuts, ½ cup mix of your favorites
3 cups pretzel twists

Sugar and Spice Sauce

2 tbsp butter
5 tbsp brown sugar
2 ½ tbsp maple syrup
1 to 1 ¼ tsp cayenne depending on spice preference
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp salt

Instructions

Toast the nuts on a foil lined sheet for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove them from the oven and let them cool while you make the sauce.
3 cups mixed nuts
Add butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, cayenne, cinnamon, and salt to a small pot and cook until fully melted and emulsified, about 3 minutes.
2 tbsp butter, 5 tbsp brown sugar, 2 ½ tbsp maple syrup, 1 to 1 ¼ tsp cayenne, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 ½ tsp salt
Add the toasted nuts and pretzels to a bowl and toss with the sauce until everything is coated, careful not to break the pretzels. You can also toss everything with the sauce on the sheet tray but it will be more challenging (in our experience).
3 cups pretzel twists
Bake the nuts and pretzels at 350°F on the same foil lined sheet for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and use a spatula to toss the nuts, then place them back in the oven and bake for another 7 minutes.
Toss the nuts again, then let them cool completely before eating.

Final Thoughts

These sweet and spicy nuts and pretzels have had a yearly invitation to our holiday dessert and snack tables. We grew up enjoying these with our cousins and other relatives, and we can’t think of a more delicious holiday snack to make when the weather gets colder. They’re super craveable and almost impossible to resist. If you make these, please let us know how they turn out by leaving us a comment below. And feel free to tag us on Instagram too!