Toasted Cinnamon Almonds

Because nothing says the holidays like hot nuts in your mouth. Sorry. I couldn't resist.

There is a stand by where I work that sells toasted almonds in December. The smell is intoxicating. By intoxicating I mean that there is an actual anthropomorphic hand made out of roasted almond smell that not only drags me to the stand, but removes money from my wallet to give to its German nut toasting master. I should file a complaint. At $6.00 for an 8 oz. bag, I was thinking I could just make them myself cheaper and with my own anthropomorphic hand that will do my taxes. Maybe I should make these next month.

I wandered into a Walgreens to check on the price of almonds, and found that a 16 oz. bag cost over $8.00. No doubt cheaper than the German stand, but I knew I could do better at Aldi. Sure enough, a 12 oz. package was $3.99. That is a serious price difference. Here's the recipe.

TOASTED CINNAMON ALMONDS:
1 teaspoon cold water
1 egg white (eggs 12 for $1.59)
1 12 oz. package natural almonds ($3.99)
1/2 cup white sugar (sack of sugar for $2.49)
1/4 teaspoon salt (don't know-I haven't bought salt in years)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon ($0.99 per canister)
Cooking Spray ($1.29)

 Preheat your oven to 250 degrees and spray a cookie sheet with the cooking spray. Combine the water and egg white in a bowl and whisk until frothy but not stiff. Pour in the nuts and stir until coated. Separately mix the sugar, cinnamon, and salt, then sprinkle over the almonds until coated. Spread the almonds evenly on the sprayed cookie sheet and put in the oven for 1 hour stirring the almonds every 15 minutes.

At the end you have your own toasted cinnamon almonds for about $3.00 for 8 oz. This recipe isn't only for almonds. It works with almost any nuts you have in your sack. Sorry. Last one, I promise. As a holiday treat everyone seems to love these, and they don't last more than a couple of days. I guess everyone just loves having my nuts in their mouth. Sorry, sorry. I'm just going to stop now.