GROUNDNUT SWEET RECIPE – CANDIED PEANUTS

Groundnut sweet also know as candied peanuts or sugar-coated peanuts is a popular snack in many countries. They are crunchy, sweet, insanely satisfying and simply irresistible!

In Cameroon, these are sold as a snack or street food. We remember our uncle warning us sternly years ago that we should never purchase Groundnut Sweet. According to him, we were going to damage our teeth if we dared to eat any. He said this because of the sugar crust all over the peanuts/groundnuts.

To an extent, Uncle was right. The sugar can be overwhelming especially if you are not a sweet-tooth person. BUT we have an epic solution to overwhelming sugar here. Add some salt! OKAY, the salt doesn’t take away the sugar but it takes away the overwhelming sweetness you get when you use just sugar. Plus the sweet and salty combo in a snack is to die for! Try it, we tell you.

You guys, this thing called groundnut sweet hardly lasts for long in our home when we make it. But if it survives in yours, store in an airtight container for future enjoyment.

You need very minimal ingredients in this recipe with the basic ones being the nuts, some sugar and water. Now with those three things you can make really tasty candied peanuts. But we love to take it up a notch by adding salt, and some form of flavor.You can watch us in the how-to video of this recipe adding ground nutmeg. Here pictured, we have vanilla extract and cinnamon as flavor options. These are equally very good. Just choose the flavor you prefer and use or you could even make it with no flavor at all and it will still taste good!

Now this whole recipe takes only 15 minutes. Fifteen! So it’s one of those thing that you can jump up and do if you want a quick crunchy satisfying snack. Also, you could use this same recipe with any nuts of choice – almonds, pecans, etc.

How to make groundnut sweet:

Start by roasting the peanuts for a few minutes. For the quantity of nuts in this recipe, we roast them for 5 – 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Roasting the peanuts ensures that they are crunch and it also lends them a nice flavor.

Then pour the sugar, water salt and flavor (nutmeg, vanilla extract or cinnamon) into a pot. Stir and add in the peanuts.

Mix and let it bubble.

Then keep stirring until the sugar crystallizes, nicely coating the groundnuts.

Let it cool then sit down and enjoy yourself! By enjoy yourself, we mean eat some. Then eat some more. You deserve it, honey. Check out the full recipe below!

• Yield: 6 servings
• Cook: 15 minutes
• Total: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups raw peanuts (groundnuts) - (292 g)
• 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, optional
• 1/2 cup water (118 ml)

Method

1. Place peanuts on a skillet and roast on medium heat, stirring from time to time for about 5-10 minutes.
2. Add sugar, water, salt and nutmeg in a pot set on medium heat and stir to combine. Add in roasted peanuts and mix well. Bring to a bubble then keep stirring until the sugar crystallizes on the peanuts. This takes about 5 minutes.
3. Spread on a tray to cool then enjoy! To preserve, store in an airtight container.