Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sweet and Spicy Almonds

You are standing in the line at the grocery store to pay. You see lot of candies, magazines on the rack next to the cashier. There lies small packs of different kinds of nuts. These are more noticeable during the holiday season. Have you ever picked them up? I have, and kept it back after checking the price. These glazed and toasted nuts are so easy to make at home, but cost quite a bit if bought. If you can make something in less than 5 minutes active time, I think you should never buy them, unless you are getting it for cheaper than the cost of the ingredients of course.
One year back - Dry Fruit Yeast Cake/Bread
Two years back - Eggless Pecan Pie Bars
Ingredients:
Whole Almonds - 1 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Water - 1 TBSP
Cayanne pepper - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Chat masala - 1 tsp or to taste (Optional, you could use any favorite spice powder instead)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. If using the foil, lightly spray the foil with vegetable oil spray. In a saucepan, heat sugar, salt, cayanne, chat masala if using, water to a simmer. Stir so that sugar dissolves easily. When you start seeing bubbles at the edge of the pan, add almonds and stir with a wooden spoon so that all almonds get coated with the sugar spice mixture. When all the almonds are coated, turn off the heat and dump on the prepared baking sheet. Spread them so that they are in one layer. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until toasted. These don't taste good if they burn, so keep a close watch after 12 minutes. Cool in the pan on the wire rack completely. If clumped, break the almonds gently. Store in an airtight container. These are good on salads and they make great gifts for the holidays. These are good with some cold drink too or as a snack. You could make the same with walnuts, pecans or a combination of nuts.

Do drop in and check out what my Bake-A-Thon buddies are baking in their kitchens,
Susan of The WellSeasoned Cook,
Preethi of IsingCakes,
Veena Krishna Kumar of VeenasVegnation,
Priya Suresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.

Enjoy.


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10 comments:

  1. Never thought it was so easy
    Thanks

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  2. Simple way to relishing snacks CHampa!!

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  3. so totally true champa.. some of the packaged things are just overpriced coz they know people will buy easy readymade snacks and other things..
    those almonds look great!

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  4. Extremely addictive and absolutely inviting,feel like munching some.

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  5. You are so right - buying sugared nuts like this is expensive! I can see a bag of almonds going on my Costco list because these sound delicious and a healthy alternative to a batch of cookies.

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  6. Duh. I am still thinking cakes, cookies, and breads. Must rewire the brain. I'd walk away with two handfuls. Scrummy, Champa.

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  7. we all need a stash of this! just for rainy weathers!

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  8. I know after baking these almonds in mw, I thought can there be anything more simpler!..btw never struck me that you meant anything baked..guess I misunderstood that!..anyway I am enjoying your posts..

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  9. Very Good idea! Happy Holidays!

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