Cinnamon-Roast Almonds & Spicy-Candied Pecans

Today you get two recipes in one blog post... because these delicious candied nut recipes are so similar, addicting and EASY!

This holiday season I've decided to send off candied pecans & roasted almonds to a few friends & family members. I started off trying a wonderful recipe for Spicy-Candied Pecans from Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible, page 417. I'll tell ya right now, these things are amazing. Thank you, Paula! They're so good I almost did a cartwheel... almost. My partner asked me to try something with almonds instead of pecans. I searched online and found several ways to roast them... until I came across one for Cinnamon-Roasted Almonds that sounded good. After tweaking it a bit they turned out to be an addictive treat worth sharing. At a dinner party, place a bowl of these out on the table and watch people devour them. 

Like I mentioned, both of these recipes are very easy to make... plus they make your kitchen smell like Heaven. Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Roasted Almonds

Ingredients:

1 egg white
4 cups whole almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon



Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Lightly greased a 10 x 15 inch baking pan or sheet.

2. Lightly beat the egg white; add water and vanilla and beat until frothy but not stiff. Add the nuts, and stir until well coated. Mix the sugar, salt, cayenne pepper and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the nuts. Toss to coat and spread evenly on the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, stirring every 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before eating.

Spicy-Candied Pecans

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 large egg white
1 pound pecan halves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
pinch of ground cloves


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.  -  I just lined a baking sheet with foil. It worked just fine. 

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg white. Add the pecans and toss to combine. In a small bowl, stir together the salt, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and cloves. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the nuts and toss well.

3. Spread the nuts in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake, tossing occasionally, until the pecans are fragrant and almost dry to the touch, about 30 minutes.