Candied Almonds

Bless Budget Bites for giving me a Wednesday night crave. I have never made a more simple, but delicious recipe. I didn't take photos because really... three steps. 

1. Stir.
2. Pour.
3. Bake. 

My 3 year old could do it. So you should too! I made a smaller portion so you don't have to make an entire pound of almonds at one time. Trust me. You don't want to make a pound. You'll be forced to eat them all.

Ingredients

8 oz. shelled almonds
1/6 cup brown sugar
1/6 of a cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg white
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and salt until well mixed.

Separate the egg white from the yolk. Place the white in a large glass or metal bowl and whisk until light and frothy, but it is not yet forming peaks (no clear liquid should remain in the bottom of the bowl). Add the vanilla extract and whisk again until incorporated.

Add the almonds to the egg whites and stir to coat. Add the cinnamon and sugar and stir to coat again.

Spread the sugar coated almonds out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil coated with non-stick spray. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once half way through. *Note - Don't freak out when you open your oven after 15 minutes and the liquid looks sticky and has spread out. If you've properly greased your foil or used parchment paper use a spatula to stir it all together. That liquid will continue to bake until you get a lovely, crunchy coating to your almonds.

After baking, allow the almonds to cool, during which time coating will solidify into a crunchy candy shell.

Next up - pecans. My favorite. :)