Honey-Roasted Peanuts
from https://www.seriouseats.com/

Crunchy, roasted peanuts coated in a honey butter glaze and finished with a light dusting of sugar and salt.

As for the coating, there are several ways to approach this: You can make a glaze containing egg whites; mix up a glaze with honey, a fat like butter or oil, sugar, and flavorings; or simply coat the peanuts with warmed honey. I decided to test the first two methods side-by-side, since I knew I wanted more than just honey as a coating. I liked the crunchy, somewhat airy shell on the nuts with the egg white coating, yet it masked the honey flavor. I ended up going with a glaze made with honey, potato starch, butter, oil, vanilla extract, sugar, and salt, which gave the nuts a shiny, crisp coating that lets the honey flavor come through. The glaze is infinitely adaptable, so I encourage you to play around with it by adding spices and other ingredients to taste, such as cocoa powder, dried rosemary, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, or ground cinnamon.

1 pound raw blanched peanuts (3 cups; 450g)
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup (75g) sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons (5g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt, divided; for table salt, use half as much by volume or the same weight
1/4 cup (80g) honey
2 tablespoons (24g) potato starch
1 tablespoon (15ml) vegetable oil
1 tablespoon (15g) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F (177°C). Spread peanuts evenly on rimmed baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Decrease oven temperature to 300°F (148°C).

Meanwhile, stir together 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl and set aside. Grease a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium saucepan or saucier, combine honey, potato starch, oil, butter, and vanilla extract, as well as remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a sturdy heat-resistant spatula, until dry ingredients have dissolved and mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Off-heat, add peanuts and stir to combine until peanuts are thoroughly coated in honey mixture.

Transfer honey-coated peanuts to prepared baking sheet, spreading them into an even layer. Bake peanuts until golden brown and toasted, about 25 minutes.

Immediately transfer peanuts to a large bowl and let cool completely, stirring and scraping every few minutes with a sturdy spatula or spoon to prevent the nuts from sticking to the bowl and to each other, about 30 minutes (peanuts will be sticky at first but will harden as they cool). Once cool, break up any remaining clumps. Add sugar-salt mixture and toss to coat. Serve.

Makes: 1 quart