TJs carries a number of candied nuts, but I always hate buying such a teeny tiny bag for the same price as a full pound of un-candied nuts. I got home last night wanting to bake, so I decided to try candying my own nuts!
The first idea that popped into my head was brown sugar and smoked paprika, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t totally crazy and setting myself up for a flavor combination disaster, so I did a little internet searching and found this recipe by Smitten Kitchen. I made some recipe adjustments: I used just almonds, reduced the sugar since I don’t like super-sweet candied nuts, used sweet smoked paprika rather than hot, and upped the cooking time just a bit. I also removed the nuts from the egg wash before sprinkling with the sugar mixture because there was a lot of extra liquid and I didn’t want the sugar to dissolve and melt (although it still ended up doing that anyway…so my I’m saying my almonds are glazed rather than candied :)).
I think these came out great! Just the right balance of sweet and salty, a little pizazz from the cinnamon, and a mild smoky hint to finish things off. I’m taking them into work today so I don’t eat them all, they are addictive!
Notes:
- Make sure you buy raw nuts if you are going to be doing any kind of roasting with them; if you buy pre-roasted, you’ll end up with brittle and overcooked nuts.
- I didn’t feel like waiting for my egg white to come to room temperature, so I put it in a warm water bath by nesting 2 of my awesome metal mixing bowls (kind of like a double boiler) from Webstaurant Store (@webstaurant) and it was room temp in less than 2 minutes.
- Thanks to my beautiful sister (a potter as well as an amazing cook) for the serving dish featured in the above picture!
Sweet & Smoky Glazed Almonds
Ingredients:
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tsp water
1 lb raw almonds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine sugar, paprika, cinnamon, salt and pepper; make sure there are no lumps.
- Whisk egg white and water until frothy. Add almonds and stir to coat.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove nuts from egg wash and spread in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar mixture, tossing to coat, then re-spread in a single layer.
- Bake nuts for 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Allow nuts to cool, breaking up any that are stuck together. Store in an airtight container.
- Take them into work so you don’t eat them all.
The cost:
nuts: 4.49
other ingredients: <1.00
Grand total: 5.49
That sounds delish! My wife often makes very sweet glazed nuts. But I really like the idea of adding in smoked paprika and black pepper, as i am addicted to both of those spices. I am emailing to my wife now….hint, hint, hun!
Yum.. these do look great!! I made something like this around Christmas time… definitely a yummy treat!
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