With a perfect balance of sweet and salty, GiGi’s Nut Crunch Christmas Candy is a recipe worth passing down to the next generation.
Nourishing Memories
Everyone in our family looks forward to the day in December when we make GiGi’s Nut Crunch Christmas Candy. Obviously, I am aware that there is very little this recipe has to offer in regards to health, since it is loaded with sugar and butter, but once a year a little treat is good for the soul.
I remember having a conversation with a doctor friend of mine about the importance of nourishing food for the body. I am a firm believer in giving your body what it needs to grow, sustain life, and heal, but sometimes there are things we eat or do because they are nourishing to the soul. Out of every recipe I have, this one nourishes my soul the most, because it reminds me of my grandma.
God gave us the most wonderful Christmas gift back in 2017, when my mom and step dad were able to bring my 90 year-old grandma back to New Jersey to spend Christmas together. All of my family live on the West Coast, so I have spent over 20 years of Christmas holidays in my married life without them. We had the amazing chance of taking grandma into New York City on Christmas Day to Saks 5th Avenue and the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. What a beautiful bucket list memory we were able to give her.
On our visit, we had tea parties, went Christmas caroling, painted nails and of course, we made her Nut Crunch Christmas Candy together. I will never forget her sitting at my kitchen table spreading out the melted chocolate and licking her fingers. That is the memory that will forever nourish my soul and the memory I will pass on to my children as they learn to make GiGi’s Nut Crunch Christmas Candy.
GiGi's Nut Crunch Christmas Candy
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks butter)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup filtered water
- 1/2 cup whole blanched almonds (I use regular almonds although the blanched are so much prettier with their skins off)
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli 60% semi sweet chocolate chips)
- 1/2 cup mixed chopped pecans and almonds
Instructions
- Make sure you have all the ingredients ready: nuts chopped, chocolate chips measured, etc.
- Prepare your cookie sheet with either butter or oil. You will be dumping boiling hot candy onto this surface so it will need to withstand high temperatures. DO NOT USE GLASS!
- In a 4-5 qt saucepan, add the first 5 ingredients (sugar, butter, salt, water, and whole almonds). Bring to a boil on medium heat stirring often to prevent burning until your candy thermometer reads 290° F (about 10 minutes). I keep my candy thermometer in the pan while it is heating.
- When it reaches 290° remove from heat and add in the next 3 ingredients (baking soda, chopped almonds and pecans).
- Stir and pour out onto your prepared cookie sheet.
- Immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips out onto the hot candy and spread around evenly as it melts.
- Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup mixed chopped nuts.
- Cool completely before breaking it into bite sized pieces.
Prepare All Your Ingredients
Because you need to move fast when making candy, it is important to have all your ingredients ready to go and your pans prepared. The children will love chopping the nuts and spreading the chocolate once the candy is on the pan.
How Butter and Sugar Magically Turn Into Christmas Candy
Measure out the butter, sugar, whole almonds, salt, and water into a 4-5 quart sauce pan and insert a candy thermometer. Turn the heat to medium and stir often to prevent burning until the temperature reaches 290° F. This should take around 10 minutes. Immediately turn off the heat and add in the baking soda and 1 cup total chopped almonds and pecans. Be sure and reserve 1/2 cup of mixed chopped nuts to sprinkle on top of the melted chocolate for later.
Once the candy reaches 290° F, turn off the heat and pour it out onto a buttered cookie sheet. NOTE: Do not use a glass casserole dish or anything that can’t withstand high heat. You will be breaking the candy with a knife after it cools and a glass casserole dish will shatter. Ask me how I know. While it is still hot, sprinkle your chocolate chips over and spread them around with a rubber spatula to melt the chocolate. Then sprinkle with your reserved chopped nuts.
The Importance of Passing Down a Recipe to the Next Generation
Our children need to know that if things are not passed down to the next generation, they disappear for good. The things they value and look forward to are part of the traditions that make them who they are. I love cooking with my children and telling them the stories of each recipe we make. The stories are what will live on and on as generations that follow will get to enJOY and even improve upon the recipes we make.
Something About Cooling and Cracking…
I don’t know why, but this last part has always been my favorite part. I love taking the finished nut crunch outside into the cold winter air to cool and solidify the chocolate. There is something about setting out something in the cold outside that makes me feel connected to our colonial ancestors. To not be dependent on a refrigerator, but rather use the benefit of the season, is to be somehow sustainable. This might just be me. I do have a tendency to get excited about the littlest details.
When the chocolate has hardened, take a butter knife and break the candy into bite sized pieces and store in a cool area of the house.
Remembering GiGi at Christmas
I pray your family will enJOY this recipe as much as mine does. God’s richest blessings on you all and a very Merry Christmas.
In everything you do -eat, play, and, love- may it always be Seasoned with Joy!
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See My Other Posts on Christmas Treats:
In everything you do -eat, play, and, love- may it always be Seasoned with Joy!
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