Spicy maple candied almonds

These spicy maple candied almonds are deliciously addictive. Eat them as a snack with drinks or chop them up and add them to a salad for flavour and crunch. They happen to be vegan and make a lovely gift when nicely packaged.

I adore my spicy caramel popcorn from my second cookbook so much, and I wanted to capture the essence of that recipe with these almonds.

Cinnamon, cumin, parika, salt and cayenne are the spices added to these almonds. They are finished off with freshly chopped rosemary.

The almonds are coated in a maple flavoured caramel and the warming spices and fresh rosemary are added at the end. I used sugar to make the caramel and added a small amount of maple syrup to give it flavour. You could use all maple syryp but its very expensive here in South Africa.

Only a hint of cayenne is added as this brings in the heat, but add more if you prefer them spicier. I find 1/8th of a teaspoon mild, and a 1/4 of a teaspoon has a distinct bite.

Sugar work can be tricky so you need to follow the steps and this recipe can be made without a sugar thermometer.

How to make spicy maple candied almonds

First measure out all your ingredients and finely chop the rosemary.
Use a heavy based medium sized pot and add the sugar, maple syrup and water.
Cook this until the sugar has dissolved and it starts to thicken slightly. This will take around 5 minutes.
Then add the raw almonds and cook them on the caramel until it eventually seizes up and becomes crystalized.
At this point you just leave them over a low heat until the sugar dissolves again.
Once the sugar has melted again, add all the spices and rosemary and then tip this out onto a lined baking sheet to cool.
Tip them into a sealed jar and serve with a sprinkle of extra salt if needed.

I used locally grown ZZ2 Al Monde Cape almonds. Almonds are the healthiest edible nut and amongst the healthiest foods we can eat. It’s no surprise why they are so popular. Sourcing a high-grade local product is better for the environment than the lower-grade mass-imported products we often see.

A few other sweet recipe you might like:

Spicy buttercrunch brittle with roasted nuts

Homemade peanut butter cups

Toffe, salted pretzle and chocolate bark

Spicy caramel popcorn

My favourite recipes for sweets

Prep Time:5

Ingredients

½ cup sugar
1/3 cup water
3 Tbs maple syrup
1 cup almonds
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cumin
¼ tsp paprika
1/8 – ¼ tsp cayenne
1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary

Instructions

In a medium-sized pot add the water, sugar, and maple and bring to a simmer.
Cook for about 5 minutes until the water has dissolved and the syrup has started to thicken slightly.
Add the nuts and continue cooking stirring regularly until the liquid eventually evapourates and the sugar crystallizes into a solid form.
Keep the pot on a low heat until the sugar dissolves again. At this point add all the spices and the chopped rosemary. Stir to ensure its thoroughly coated for a minute or so.
Spread the candied nuts onto a tray lined with paper and allow to cool. Add a sprinkle of rosemary leaves and sea salt to garnish.
Store in a sealed jar.

Servings: 1 1/2 cups

Author: Sam Linsell

*This post is proudly sponsored by ZZ2 Cape Al Monde Almonds