Spiced Nuts

I made these to take to a potluck several months ago. Bart has been craving them since then, so he finally made them himself. These are crunchy, spicy, and addicting!

1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound pecans, cashews, walnuts, or whole unblanched almonds
2/3 cup superfine sugar (or process granulated sugar in a food processor for 1 minute to make the superfine sugar)
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

Adjust two oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 275°F. Whisk the egg white, water, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the nuts and toss to coat. Drain in a colander for 5 minutes.

Mix the sugar, cumin, cayenne, and paprika together. Toss the spices with the drained nuts. Spread the nuts evenly on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until the nuts are dry and crisp, about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally and rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Remove from the oven and let the nuts cool completely on the baking sheet, about 30 minutes. Break the nuts apart and serve.

Variations:

Curry-Spiced Nuts: Reduce the cumin to 1 teaspoon and substitute 1 teaspoon curry powder for the cayenne pepper.

Cinnamon-Spiced Nuts: Omit the cumin, cayenne, and paprika and add 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger, and 1 teaspoon coriander with the sugar.