My dad loves any type of nut; cashews, pecans, macadamias, he’ll pretty much nosh on anything you put in front of him, but almonds are probably his favorite. Every Valentine’s Day my mom would drive us across town to the local candy shop to pick up a pound of chocolate covered almonds. We would have them wrapped at the store in heinous foil wrapping paper and eagerly present them to him when he got home from work. In typical dad awesomeness, he always pretended as though he had no idea what was enclosed in the small foil wrapped box.
About 5 years ago, I was wondering through our local mall and noticed an enticing sugary aroma wafting through the air. Being a sugar freak, I followed the intriguing smell directly to a counter that was roasting and glazing all types of nuts perfectly packaged in cellophane cones. I just so happened to be headed back home that weekend, so I picked up three pack and tucked them away for my dad. As you may have guessed, these sugary almonds were his version of bliss.
This weekend, I thought I’d try my hand at making a version of these Candy Coated Almonds in my own kitchen. The process is really simple and as a little bonus, the sweet blend of vanilla and almonds will fill your house with an amazing scent. Trust me, after one whiff of the vanilla goodness, your family will be hanging out in the kitchen just waiting for these babies to cool down enough to start eating them.
Package these delectable candy coated nuts in small cellophane bags or serve them up in homemade parchment cones and you’ll have the perfect homemade gift for any nut lover! I added little felt hearts to my cones for a little Valentine’s Day flair.
Bavarian Vanilla Almonds {Candied Nuts}
Ingredients:
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract if you are using regular granulated sugar instead of vanilla sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 pound almonds or pecans
3/4 cup of vanilla sugar (if you do have vanilla sugar, simply substitute regular granulated sugar)
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons of Vanilla Fleur de Sel (if you do not have Vanilla Fleur de Sel simply substitute fine grain sea salt)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine egg white, vanilla extract and water. Beat mixture until frothy. Stir in almonds and mix to coat.
3. Gently combine sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt and stir into almond mixture, thoroughly coating all nuts.
4. Evenly spread nuts onto prepared baking sheet and place into oven.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
6. When cool, pack in an airtight jar. They will keep at room temperature for about 2 weeks.
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Easybake
Saturday 26th of November 2016
I prepared the nuts per recipe but used the fine sea salt. They were a little too salty. Next time I may cut down the amount of salt.
Jamie
Sunday 27th of November 2016
Feel free to adjust the salt to your liking. I hope you enjoyed them otherwise!
James Hess
Sunday 16th of October 2016
You can substitute 3/4 Cup of Baking Sucralose (Chlorinated Sugar - Zero Carbs!) instead of granulated sugar to make a ultra low carb version!
Jamie
Monday 17th of October 2016
What a great idea, James! Thank you!
Laura Johnson
Friday 1st of July 2016
How many servings would you say this makes?
Jamie
Saturday 2nd of July 2016
Hi, Laura! I would say it makes about 12 to 16 servings. I hope you enjoy them!
Elizabeth Mitchell
Tuesday 17th of May 2016
Side note: I used pecans because I can't do almonds.
Jamie
Wednesday 18th of May 2016
Pecans sound great!
Elizabeth Mitchell
Tuesday 17th of May 2016
These were divine. I cut down the sugar to 1/2 cup and bumped the vanilla up a little, and they barely cooled off before we were reaching into an empty bowl. I'm making two pounds today. Hopefully they will last longer.
Jamie
Wednesday 18th of May 2016
I'm so glad you liked them, Elizabeth!