Spicy Roasted Almonds

My husband loves flavored almonds from Blue Diamond. I guess they make several flavors, but his favorite out of the ones our grocery sells, are hands down the BBQ Habenero ones. The Lime and chili Almonds are a close second though.

These fancy almonds are on the pricey side and I can't always fit them into my weekly grocery budget. Plain raw almonds in bulk are considerably cheaper than the flavored pre-packaged brand name varieties.

I thought I might try my hand at flavoring some of the cheaper raw almonds myself, and see if they were an acceptable alternative for Mrblocko. I rounded up about 10 recipes and he selected spiced roast almonds from Family Friends and Food.

This version doesn't have as much heat or zip as the BBQ habenero version, but they were pretty tasty nevertheless. They have just the slightest tingle. They are mild enough for Blockette to not have to reach desperately (and dramatically) for a beverage. Although, that could be because she helped make them. Somehow, things are less spicy when she helps make them...most of the time.

The flavor coating didn't adhere to the almonds as well as I would have liked. Maybe a recipe that has egg in it would act as a better binder for the spices. This recipe just used butter. Because of the butter, I've decided to store this snack in the fridge. I don't want to take any risks of the butter getting rancid or anything nasty like that.

Because I found so many different versions for flavored and spicy almonds, I'm going to test out a few different recipes before I make any repeats. That way he'll have a bit of variety and he can choose which flavor he likes best.


Spiced Roasted Almonds from Family Friends and Food
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 cups whole almonds
Coarse salt to taste

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the cumin through cayenne pepper. Add the Worcestershire sauce and almonds. Stir to coat all almonds. Turn the almonds out on to a shallow baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees. Stirring occasionally. Transfer to a serving dish and toss with coarse salt. Serve warm. Or if preferred, allow them to cool and store them for up to 3 weeks in an air tight container.