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My family has a ridiculous weakness for sweet and spicy almonds. We have been buying a version of them from Costco and devouring them almost as soon as we get them home.
I was determined to provide the flavor we love, with a whole lot less sugar. The fourth time was the charm and we are thrilled with these!
I add the highest amount of cayenne to the batch when I make these. If you are leery of making them too spicy, start with 1/4 teaspoon and add more gradually. Mix the sugar, salt and cayenne together and taste just a bit of the mixture.
Gradually increase the cayenne, about 1/4 teaspoon at a time. (Just a note: The sugar can’t be reduced much lower without compromising the recipe. The sugar helps everything stick to the almonds.)
Sweet and Spicy Almonds with Brown Sugar and Cayenne
Ingredients
- 4 cups almonds
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the nuts on a large baking sheet in a single layer. Toast in the oven until nuts are fragrant, approximately 13- 15 minutes. Watch them carefully, they will go from perfectly roasted to burnt in just about a minute. While the nuts are roasting, combine the sugar, salt and cayenne in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a large COLD saucepan, combine the honey, water and oil. When the almonds come out of the oven, set them aside for a minute. Bring the saucepan to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Add roasted almonds and cook; stirring every so often, until all the liquid has evaporated and the honey has thoroughly coated the almonds. This should take less than 5 minutes. The almonds should be shiny at this point.
- Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the coated almonds, a few tablespoons at a time. Stir well between each addition. Once all of the sugar is combined with the nuts, toss to combine thoroughly. Spread the warm almonds in a single layer on top of parchment paper or a silpat mat to cool. Use a couple of forks or your fingers to separate the still warm almonds if they clump together while they are cooling.
- Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
These look great. I've had sweet nuts, and spicy nuts, but not both together. I have a feeling if I started on these I wouldn't be able to stop.
I'm thinking sweet, SPICY, and salty is the new sweet and salty. And this proves it.
A friend of mine made me something very similar to this at Christmas time – they were to die for!!
I made some similar nuts this weekend–they were delish!
Sweet and spicy are great together. These do look very good. I make some sugared almonds during the holidays but have not tried adding the spicy element. That needs to change! Thanks for another lovely recipe.
One for sure it won't last long at my house! My boys love these! They can eat this the whole day long! YUM!
I made a fantastic spicy almond for christmas gifts this year, I ended up hiding the left overs in the freezer, because Mr W and I could not keep our hands off them. These look amazing!
These almonds look awesome…such great munchies…I have never had almonds with cayenne pepper…bookmarked…
I love these spicy almonds look awesome!
I WILL be making these! Just bought a big bag of almonds and I think this is to be their calling.
What a great snack idea!
This is the perfect snack.
Can you believe I've never even tried these before? Crazy, I know. Thank you for sharing this delicious anytime snack. I hope you are having a lovely week. Weather is warm in Austin, and we are anticipating crowds for SXSW. Hugs and love.
Yummy! These would disappear really fast in our home… all of us LOVE almonds including my two-year old who nibbles on them with great pleasure… I must try this soon – especially if I want to get something out of my husband 🙂 Thanks for a great recipe, Mary!
I just made another batch of almond crisps. I still have a bag of whole almonds in my pantry, I am going to make this. Sound like a good snack to have around.
Sweet, spicy and good for the heart. Perfect!
Those look quite delicious, I would be devouring them too!
I am such an almond lover and these look simply delicious!!
I've done these on the smoker before and they are awesome! Now if I can just make the wasabi almonds, those things rock!
Hi, I can't find these nuts at my Costco. Do you know who manufactured them?
Yes, the vendor at Costco is Almond Brothers. They are not a regularly stocked item. If you are in AZ, here is a list of their future dates at the valley Costco locations. http://www.almondbrothers.com/pages/costco-road-show-2011.php