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Cinnamon Almonds
Do you know those delicious cinnamon almonds at the mall? Well these are SO much better! And you can make them for about the same price you pay for one of those tiny bags. I LOVED the way this made my house smell! It seriously makes me want to make a batch daily. The brown sugar and cinnamon mixture gives an AMAZING flavor and the perfect crunchiness…. I almost think that the ones at the mall are a little too crunchy. And how perfect are these for gifts for the holidays? I feel like I have to spread the deliciousness of these and give them to all my friends and family!
These are super easy to throw together and let the slow cooker work it’s magic. You do have to stir the almonds every 20 min or so, so don’t set it and forget it. But it’ll be so worth it as you eat these cinnamony little devils. Be careful not to eat them all in one sitting, it’ll be tempting. Trust me.
Cinnamon and Sugar Almond Ingredients
Simple ingredients come together to make a easy treat! These are a MUST make!
- Sugar: White sugar
- Brown Sugar: Helps with caramelization and deep rich flavor.
- Salt: Balances out the sweet.
- Almonds: Raw unsalted plain almonds.
- Cinnamon: The star in the spice combo
- Egg White: Helps the cinnamon and sugar stick and creates crunch
- Vanilla: Flavor enhancer
- Water: Creates the caramelization at the end.
How to Make Cinnamon and Sugared Almonds
Despite it being the slow cooker you don’t want to necessarily walk away! It will need stirring.
- Mix: In a large bowl mix together the cinnamon, sugars and salt
- Whisk: In a separate bowl whisk the vanilla and egg white together till good and frothy.
- Stir: Pour the almonds into the egg white mixture and stir to coat thoroughly.
- Coat: Dump the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the almonds and stir to coat.
- Slow Cook: Spray your crockpot with cooking spray. Place the almonds inside and stir again to make sure all the almonds are covered. Cook on low for 3-4 hours stirring every 20 minutes
- Water: Drizzle the water over the almonds and stir. Cook for another 30 min.
- Cool: Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper. Pour the almonds on the cookie sheet and spread out evenly. Allow to cool completely before storing.
Why Egg Whites and Water Work
You might be wondering why you need egg whites and water for roasted almonds.
- Egg Whites: The egg white acts as a binder for the flavor to the nuts. It also acts similar to merguine when it hits the heat, creating a fine crunchy coating. It helps prevent an oily vibe from the nuts as well.
- Water: The water creates another binder as well as a sticky shiny coating at the end. You can actually leave out the water if you desire. They’ll still be crunchy, but the coating will be more powdery then sticky.
Tips and Variations
- Nuts: You can substitute out the almonds and use pecans, cashews, walnuts or other nut of choice.
- Add ins: Try adding in flaked coconut, sprinkles, crushed candy cane or anything else that tickles your fancy. Add these right after you’ve removed them from the slow cooker so they’re still warm and it’ll stick.
- Cooling: The longer you let the almonds cool before bagging or storing the crunchier they’ll stay. Don’t bag or store while warm, they’ll sweat ruining the crunchy cinnamon coating
- Stir: Remember you need to stir these every 20-30 minutes. Keep covered during cooking process
- Leftovers: Chop up leftovers for granola, yogurt, and dessert topping. YUM!
Storing and Gifting!
These are so easy to store and keep, if you can! They are so fun to snack on and munch on while wrapping gifts or enjoying family and friends over. This year give the gift of almonds to all your friends, family and neighbors. It is the perfect treat to share and easy to drop off on a doorstep or add to a gift basket. So many options for these easy cinnamon almonds.
- Giving: Pick up some fun gift giving bags to use for gifting for family and friends. About 1 to 2 cups per bag will make everyone holidays better!
- Storing: It is best to keep them in an air tight bin or bag that is stored in a cool, dry place.
More Slow Cooker Recipes to Try
From dessert to main dishes you can do so much in a slow cooker.
- Slow Cooker Cherry Chocolate Hot Fudge Cake
- Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili
- Crack Chicken in a Slow Cooker
- Slow Cooker Peach Cobbler
- Mongolian Beef in a Slow Cooker
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Slow Cooker Cinnamon Almonds
Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix together in a large bowl sugars, cinnamon, and salt.
- In another bowl with a whisk, mix together the egg white and vanilla until it is frothy. Add the almonds and coat thoroughly. This will help the mixture stick to the almonds during the cooking process.
- Prepare your slow cooker by spraying it with cooking spray. I used a 4 quart. Add the cinnamon almond mixture to the almonds and turn it to low. Stir until the cinnamon sugar mixture is coated well on the almonds. Be prepared for your house to smell amazing!
- You want to cook for about 3-4 hours. Mine took about 3. Stirring every 20 minutes. In the very last hour, add 1/8 cup water and stir well. This will ensure a crunchy coating and help the mixture to harden.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the almonds onto the sheet to cool. The almonds should be pretty sticky so be sure to separate them the best that you can and let them cool!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can I make these almonds without a slow cooker? Any ideas as to how would be appreciated!
I’m sure it world work great cooking them on the stove. The process is just faster that way.
I made this recipe 2 days ago for a party. I added 1/4 coconut to the recipe. It was a hit. They are delicious. I will be making this again for sure. Especially at Christmas
so I messed up and did not have a 1/4 cup, so I eye balled a 1/4 cup using a 1 cup measuring cup, the mixture came out still gooey and did not get hard after an hour of sitting out, so I put them in the freezer over night, mixture got a little bit harder but was not crispy, so my mom gave me the idea to spread the nuts out on a cookie sheet and bake for an hour at 200 degrees and the nuts came out perfect. Now I know next time to use the correct amount of water and I think I am going to do 2 cups of almonds and 2 cups of cashews.
Ok, Christmas presents for everyone I know. lol….these look amazing!! I love that they are an easy ‘Food” gift, everyone loves that, right? I work in an office setting, so this is a no brainer gift idea! awesome!! I think I will do the mixed nut variety.
I like to add a little cayenne pepper or cajun spice to mine. Spicy and sweet.
I made this with 2 cups of almonds and 2 cups of pecans. It came out pretty well. I thought the almonds were a little overcooked (I did 4 hours), but the pecans were delicious! The pecans also seemed to hold thier coating better with the crevasses in them. To people who aren’t getting a sugary finish, watch your water. It should turn to dark brown goo at first but dry out before you put it on the paper. If not, I recommend trying to evaporate the water out by removing the lid. Also, I had a fair amount of sugar base leftover. Could have probably made more with the listed portions.
can you double this recipe for the same amount of time?
Just made these. They are awesome. The only thing I did different that worked out wonderful was I saved the extra sugar mixture and after I added the water I put the nuts and left sugar in a ziploc bag and shook it until there was no more sugar left. Then laid them out on wax paper.
I did a test batch like that too because I thought it would make a nice coating for the sugar to stick to. While it did taste good, I felt like the original recipe was better, however the sugar does tend to flake off. I also just sprinkled them with the sugar mix do they didn’t get as coated. Maybe that is the difference.
How do you think this recipe would be with cashews? I have some cashews that are not roasted and salted. I think this just might work, but would like a second opinion.
Mine were not like the picture that’s for sure! Mine turned out glossy and not very sugar like, next time I would not add the water!
Yeah my picture had a lot of light in it and they will turn out a little bit darker but other than that it should look the same. 🙂
I made these today but the sugar didn’t melt down & when I added the water I continued to cook for another hour making it 4 hours total cook time, the sugar was soupy and did not cook down. I now have soupy almonds not crunchy ones. but still good can I put them back in my crockpot or did I ruin them? please help. thanks
Oh no! Ok so I would just lay them out on parchment paper and they should harden. Maybe not as much because your mixture was a little runny but they still will be delicious. 🙂
Can you substitute the almonds with pecans?
Yes you can! Let me know how it turns out!
Have these going on my cooker for the last hr. or so. Have noticed that they are darker. Have a few thoughts on this: 1) Roasted, salted almonds are already darker than raw, natural almonds, 2) Used dark vanilla…would be lighter, I think, with clear vanilla, 3) More cinnamon, darker color. I only used 1 heaping tbsp., but they are still fairly dark. Don’t care what color they are, they’re delicious! 😀
Yes they will be darker!! For some reason they photographed very light in my picture. But don’t worry they will be very dark in color! 🙂
Thanks, will do!!
Could you use pecans?
Yes I am sure they would also turn out fantastic! I have been wanting to try something other than almonds! Let me know how they turn out! 🙂
how would you change the recipe for cocoa Almonds instead cinnamon?
Hmmm I’m not sure but that sounds yummy!