Maple Spiced Almonds Recipe
Homemade spiced almonds are simple but tasty…and healthy too. Sweetened with maple syrup and a delicious spice blend of cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. These almonds make a tasty and healthy snack, are perfect for a holiday snack board, or can be used as a DIY holiday gift.
Ingredients
- 2 cups almonds raw
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cardamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a medium-sized baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the almonds and 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Mix together until evenly coated.
- Spread the almonds evenly across the lined baking sheet. Avoid overcrowding. Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven for about 14-15 minutes.
- Once the almonds are done roasting, remove them from the oven and set them aside.
- Pour the maple syrup into a medium skillet and heat it over medium heat. Stir it and watch it carefully. As soon as the maple syrup begins to bubble, reduce the heat. Lower the heat as low as you can and still maintain a slow bubbling.
- Add the almonds to the maple syrup and stir.
- Slowly start to add the salt and spices, mixing as you go. At this point, you still want to maintain the slow bubbling of the syrup.
- After the spices get mixed in the bubbling may stop and this is okay. Keep stirring the almonds over low heat until the sugars crystalize. You will know that it is crystalizing when the almonds become more difficult to stir because the syrup is stiffening and it will look less glossy and more opaque.
- Once fully crystalized, spread the almonds evenly on a fresh sheet of parchment paper and let them cool entirely before eating (about 10 minutes).
- Once fully cooled, store leftovers in an airtight container or resealable zipper bag on the counter for 1-2 weeks.
Notes
- Roasted almonds should have a nice snappy crunch when you bite into them. If your almonds are chewy, they did not roast long enough in the oven. Roasting for about 15 minutes in the oven appeared to be the sweet spot between that perfect crunch but not tasting overcooked or burnt. Keep in mind that almonds fresh out of the oven will still be a little chewy until they have fully cooled. Keep an eye on the almonds for the last couple of minutes when roasting. A shade or two darker is normal, but if the almonds are getting dark brown/black remove them from the oven immediately.
- Wait for the sugars to crystalize fully before removing the almonds from the stove. This will help most of the sugars coat the almonds. If you pull them off before they have crystalized fully, you will have a lot of crunchy sugar on the parchment paper and not a lot on the actual almonds.
- Once the sugar has crystalized (looking for that stiff, opaque syrup), remove the almonds from the heat immediately to prevent them from getting overdone.
- The time it takes the sugars to crystalize will depend on the type of cook surface you are using and how evenly it heats.
- If you are doubling the recipe, I would recommend doing it in batches to avoid overcrowding both the baking sheet and the skillet.
- As written, the recipe is not overly sweet. If you want more sweetness and a thicker sugar coating, you can increase the maple syrup used by 1-2 tablespoons. You will need to cook the syrup slightly longer in the skillet in order to get it to crystalize. Wait until the syrup is bubbling before adding the almonds to avoid overcooking them.