December should be dubbed Good Food Month. For, this is the one month where I end up bookmarking the maximum number of recipes. And it’s also the one month where I tell myself I can eat without feeling too guilty because, well, everyone else is (see, this kind of peer pressure isn’t bad).
Given that people are looking for Holiday recipes, I thought I’d get myself into the Holiday baking mood and have some fun along the way, so I made some party nuts – simple and oh, so good – these ginger and honey roasted almonds have a very, very high return on time and effort invested. I made these today and had my colleagues chomp them down in no time.
The brown sugar, ginger and salt make a very potent layer over the honey coated roasted almonds. With this method of making the nuts, the coating sticks so beautifully to the nuts instead of falling off or sticking to your hands instead of the nut while eating.
Because they last for a week, they are excellent to make ahead of time so you can focus on your main dinner when the dinner party date is getting closer. Serve a big bowl of this at your party and be sure that you will have an empty bowl before the night comes to an end (so you should double the recipe). And packed in a cute little box, these would make excellent gifts.
These are supremely addictive. Go make them NOW!
Ginger and Honey Roasted Almonds
Yield 5 cups
Inspired from: Eat Make Read
5 cups almonds
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp water
2 tsp canola oil (or another flavourless, odourless oil)
- Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C
- Place nuts in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets. Toast until nuts are fragrant, 10-15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through cooking. Meanwhile, combine sugar, salt, and ginger in a small bowl and set aside.
- Combine honey, water and oil in a large saucepan. Bring it to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce heat to low and add roasted almonds while still warm. Cook, stirring a few times, until all of the liquid has evaporated and evenly coated with the honey, this will take 3 to 5 minutes. It should look nice and shiny at this point.
- Now, spoon the sugar mixture over the nuts, stirring between every addition of sugar and spice mix and then tossing it thoroughly to coat evenly. Spread nuts in a singer layer on a sheet of parchment paper to cool. Can be kept in an airtight container for 1 week.
Oh and for those of you from Bombay, I’ve put up a post on Baking in Bombay so you know where to get your ingredients and equipments from!