9 Candied Cinnamon Almonds

I went to my mother-in-laws house shortly after Christmas and noticed some almonds in a gift wrapped dish. This was one of the neighborhood gifts that had been given to her.

Once I tried them, I fell in love. Deeply in love. Addicted. I couldn't stop eating them! One after another, savoring the crunchy cinnamon-vanilla flavors......mmmmm. Just thinking about them made my mouth water and ache for more!


Fortunately, my father-in-law recognized the need to have these in the house and acquired the recipe. He made another batch, which I nibbled on until they were almost gone....and copied a recipe for me. Ahhhhh.......

Candy is not my forte, but these were very simple and easy to make. I used parchment paper instead of a greased baking sheet, which made clean up very easy. I also made sure I used a heavy-bottomed pan and stirred the mixture constantly, to prevent burning.




Put 1 c. sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan.



Add 1/2 c. water.



Add 1 t. cinnamon



Add 1 t. vanilla. The good stuff.  Not imitation!




Get it to a nice rolling boil...



Put 2 c. almonds in....



And stir, stir, till it gets boiling again...

And cook for 10 minutes or until it reaches crystallize stage.

Hmmm....it's hard to see through the steam.

It's starting to crystallize on the sides. Maybe it's ready.

Maybe not.



Let's check it.

Nope.

Not ready.

Stir some more.

Boil, boil, boil. Stir, stir, stir.

Aaaack! It began to crystallize VERY quickly!

(it only took 8 minutes, not 10)


It says to 'spread' the almonds on a greased cookie sheet. I used parchment paper.

It doesn't really 'spread.' It's more like...dump them out and
chop them apart.


Put them in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Mix (more like chop them apart) and bake for 5 more minutes.


Here they are....in all their glory.

Can't wait to eat them....

It's best to let them cool.


Let's get a close-up...

Nope, can't wait...

I'm addicted.



Candied Cinnamon Almonds

INGREDIENTS

1 c. sugar

½ c. water

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

2 c. raw almonds

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix and bring to a boil the water, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  Mix in the nuts and boil for approximately 10 minutes or until mixture reaches crystallize stage.  

Spread on greased cookie sheet. 

Bake 10 minutes at 300°.

Mix and bake 5 more minutes.