Spicy Roasted Almonds

I love this recipe. It’s super simple but it feels fancy. Whether you’re eating them as a healthy snack or bringing them out when you have people, it’s super satisfying to know that you made a deliciously moreish and grown-up snack. Or maybe that’s just me. I love that feeling when someone tries something you’ve made, and they ask where you bought it and you can proudly tell them you made it.

I’ve recently hurt my right wrist which has significantly decreased my enthusiaism for cooking as I am right handed so it’s a pain to do everything with my left hand. It also means that I didn’t go to my Friday morning craft session. Instead of moping around at home I decided to make something easy and yummy that can be eaten one handed. I landed on spicy roasted almonds. And I am currently alternating between eating the result and typing up this post.

As I said this recipe is super simple. First, don’t forget to preheat your oven to about 160°C (we have a gas oven and it was on gas mark 3). Then you just chuck your nuts into a bowl with the spices and some oil and mix everything together until the nuts are nicely coated.

Now the title say this recipe is for almonds but really you can use whatever nuts you prefer. You may have to adjust the cooking time though so keep a close eye on them. As well as changing the type of nut you use you can obviously adjust the spices to your liking. My mum isn’t a fan of really spicy things so I didn’t put  too much cayenne in, but feel free to double or even triple the amount if you like a lot of heat. I also like the coating to be quite chunky and flavourful so I only use 1 cup of nuts for this amount of spice, but if you want you can halve the amount of spice or double the amount of nuts.

Once everything is all lovely and coated in flavour, spread the nuts evenly across a lined baking tray and stick them in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Make sure you keep a close eye on them towards the end so they don’t burn. Leave them to cool on the tray then store them in an airtight container. They should be good for a few weeks after you’ve made them (if you don’t eat them all first).

Today I’m using this post to participate in an online ‘party’ called Fiesta Friday which seems like a cool way to network with other food bloggers, and find fun new recipes.

Ingredients

• 1-2 cups of raw almonds (cashews or peanuts would also be nice)
• 1 1/2 tsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp of minced garlic
• 1 tsp of paprika (preferably smoked)
• 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp of ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp of salt or to taste
• pinch of jalapeno salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Mix everything together in a bowl until the nuts are thoroughly coated. I like the coating to be quite chunky and flavourful so I only use 1 cup of nuts for this amount of spice, but if you want you can have the amount of spice or double the amount of nuts.
3. Spread the nuts evenly across a lined baking tray and stick in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Keep a close eye on them towards the end so they don’t burn.
4. Leave them to cool on the tray and then store them in an airtight container.