Rosemary Roasted Cashews

We have about 10 pounds of cashews in the house right now. The boy looooves nuts! (I'll wait while you crack a clever joke.) And in the ranking of nuts, cashews are his favorite.

Me? Nuts are nice, but I don't mainline them like he does. In fact, I can win a staring contest with a bowl of nuts, that is, until you coat those suckers with butter, herbs, spices, and sugar, and then my eyelashes go all aflutter.

I've played around with a few spiced nut recipes, but never found one that I was in love with. The spices are always a bit off, or too overwhelming. And if it's a recipe that calls for brown sugar, maple syrup, or some other sweetener, the nuts are too sweet or sticky.

Enter the recipe for rosemary roasted cashews from Ina Garten, a woman who apparently can do no wrong — and is blessed with fabulous gay friends that are always making table centerpieces for her.I like to search out the cashews with extra globs of sugar.

This recipe is the perfect spiced nut recipe — not too sweet, just a little kick from the cayenne, and a delicate flavor from rosemary. We've made the recipe multiple times in the past few months (actually, I only found the recipe, and the boy made the nuts), and each time, I cannot stop eating them, that's how good the nuts are. This recipe is a keeper.

Rosemary Roasted Cashews
adapted from Ina Garten
makes about 3 cups

1 1/4 pounds cashew nuts, raw or already roasted
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted

• Spread nuts in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet, and bake in a pre-heated 375-degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
  
• Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
• When the nuts are done roasting, toss the warm nuts in the rosemary mixture until coated.
  
• Serve warm, or cool and store in an airtight container.

Gluten-Free Double Chocolate Cashew Cookies

Deciding on the perfect cookie to take to a party can be daunting. Not really, but...pull out an old trick or try something new? I wanted something new.

Martha Stewart has an online Cookie of the Day feature, so I started my hunt there. Nothing sang to me as I clicked my way through many months of archives, then I landed on a recipe for a chocolate cookie with nuts (Martha used pecans) that looked perfect.
The cookies turned out to be gluten-free. Even better! A gluten-free friend would be at the party, and, believe me, it's ain't no party if you can't eat the cookies.

Then I realized, hey, it's almost Passover, and half our our household observes this Jewish holiday. These cookies will also work for that whiny, hungry week without leavened wheat. Double win!
With only powdered sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate, nuts, salt, and egg whites in the ingredients, these cookies cook up light and chewy like a meringue, but taste like a rich brownie.

I'd make these cookies again even if there weren't a celiac at the party or Passover was in observance. These cookies are truly "a good thing." Thanks, Martha!
Gluten-Free Double Chocolate Cashew Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart
makes about 24 cookies

3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped cashews (can use any nut)
4 large egg whites, room temperature

• Whisk together sugar, cocoa powder and salt.
• Stir in chocolate and cashews.
• Add egg whites and stir until just incorporated. Do not over stir.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and drop cookie dough on the sheet by the spoonful, about 3 inches apart.
• Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven until tops of cookies are dry and crackled, about 25 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through.