Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts

The most famous bar nuts in New York City — sweet, spicy, rosemary-scented, and done in ten minutes. Once you make them, you will never stop.

A friend gave me the Union Square Cafe cookbook years ago, and it has traveled with me ever since. If you have not heard of Union Square Cafe, it is the restaurant that put Danny Meyer on the map in New York City. A James Beard Award winner, a New York Press Award honoree, and the kind of place that inspires the sort of fierce loyalty that makes people argue about it at dinner parties. The cookbook is just as good as the restaurant’s reputation, and this recipe is the reason I reach for it every December.

I have been making these nuts as Christmas gifts for as long as I can remember. A tin on the doorstep, a bag tucked into a bottle of wine, a small jar slipped into a gift basket with cheese and crackers — they go with everything and they are always, without fail, the first thing to disappear.

The other thing I will tell you is that you should make a batch for yourself at the same time. Not a small one. A full one. Because once the rosemary hits the warm butter and the whole thing comes out of the oven, you will not want to give any of it away.

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What Makes Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts So Good

The recipe comes straight from Danny Meyer’s Union Square Cafe cookbook, and the genius of it is in the spiced butter. Fresh rosemary, dark brown sugar, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, and melted butter come together in a large bowl while the raw nuts toast on a baking sheet. The warm unsalted nuts get tossed in that butter mixture and that is it. Ten minutes, one baking sheet, one large bowl. The sweet rosemary fragrance that wafts through the kitchen while they are in the oven is almost the best part.

The original recipe calls for a mix of whole unpeeled almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, and Brazil nuts, but the beauty of this recipe is that you can use whatever unsalted raw nuts you love. I often use whatever is in the pantry: sometimes pistachios, sometimes macadamia nuts, always plenty of cashews because they soak up the spiced butter in the most satisfying way.

What You Need

2 1/2 cups mixed unsalted raw nuts (pecans, walnuts, cashews, almonds, pistachios — your choice)

2 tablespoons fresh chopped rosemary

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt

1 tablespoon unsalted melted butter

How to Make Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Spread the raw nuts in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Toast until light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Keep a close eye — nuts go from perfectly toasted to burnt faster than you think.

While the nuts are toasting, combine the melted butter, fresh rosemary, cayenne pepper, and dark brown sugar in a large bowl. Add the warm nuts straight from the oven and toss to coat. Sprinkle with kosher salt and toss again.

Serve warm or at room temperature. That is the whole recipe.

Variations on the Original

Union Square Cafe’s original nut blend includes pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts, peanuts, almonds, and cashews. From there the recipe is endlessly adaptable. You can dial the cayenne up or down depending on who you are feeding. Add a pinch of cumin for a smokier edge. Swap the dark brown sugar for maple sugar if you have it. The spice mixture is forgiving and flexible.

What you should not change is the fresh rosemary. Dried rosemary will not give you the same result. The fresh herb in warm butter is what makes the kitchen smell the way it does, and that is half the point.

How to Serve and Store

These bar nuts are perfect with a glass of wine, an ice-cold beer, or a well-made cocktail. They belong on every cheese board and every charcuterie spread. Serve them in a room temperature bowl and watch them vanish.

To give as gifts, place in clear cellophane bags tied with ribbon, pack into holiday tins with a clear window, or tuck into a small white box with a handwritten tag. They pair beautifully with a bottle of something good.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for several days, though in my experience they rarely last that long.

A Few Things Worth Knowing

Make the nuts just before your guests arrive if you can. They are best warm, straight from the oven, and the smell alone will make everyone walk into the kitchen to see what is happening. That is not a bad way to start a party.

If you are making them ahead, a quick 5 minutes in a low oven brings them right back. They also travel well, which is why they have been in my Christmas gift rotation for years. A tin of these nuts, tucked with a good bottle of wine and a small wedge of aged cheese, is one of the nicest things you can give someone.

I hope you make a batch of these this season. Make one for the people on your list, and make one for yourself too. Put them in a bowl in the living room on a football game afternoon. Open a bottle of something good. Let the house smell like rosemary and brown sugar for ten minutes and see how you feel.

Have you ever made bar nuts as a gift? I would love to know what you put in your holiday gift baskets this time of year.

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