Smoked Almonds

[tjohnson]

I decided to make some smoked almonds, and used Ecto1's recipe, with a little twist of my own.

SMOKED ALMONDS

1/2 Cup Honey

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

3 TBS Melted Butter

1 TBS Sea Salt

1 TBS Ground Cinnamon

8 Cups Unsalted Almonds

Place butter in a large bowl, and microwave for 30 seconds, to melt

Add honey, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon to the bowl, and mix well

Add unsalted almonds and mix thoroughly, to completely cover the almonds

Optional:

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 TBS Garlic Powder

Walnuts, Pecans or Other Nuts

I use Frog Mats, but you can use aluminum foil or cookie sheets, sprayed with PAM

Spread nuts evenly over Frog Mats or lightly coated pans

Smoke at 100°(Low Temp) for 2+ hours

Raise temp to 250° for 45 min. - 1 hr to set the coating on the nuts

While they are still warm and coating a gooey, sprinkle some additional Sea Salt on the nuts.

Wait until they cool and break them apart

Smoking at low temps for 2 hours added a great smoke flavor to the almonds, and a light sprinkle of sea salt really enhanced the flavor. 

I brought some over the the neighbors, and we all enjoyed them with a couple beers.

I left them out overnight, in the pan, and as gonna vac pack them this morning. 

The whole pan of nuts was gooey again!  WHAT!!!!

The Honey must have absorbed moisture from the air last night.

Rather than throw the whole batch out, I put about 1/4 cup of sugar in a bowl, and threw in a handful of my now gooey nuts.

OMG!!!

I added more sugar, and the rest of the gooey nuts, and was able to turn my failure into some of the best Smoked Almonds We've Ever Had!!!

Next time I'll use 1/4 cup Honey and 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar, and definitely coat in sugar

Enjoy!

Todd

Ingredients

All Mixed Together

Smokin' on My Frog Mats

Finished Smokin' and Lightly Coated With Sea Salt

Finished Almonds Coated with Sugar

The Money Shot!

 

[scarbelly]

Those look great Todd. 

 

[bmudd14474]

Looks awesome Todd.

 

[gotarace]

Wow those are a great looking snack right there!!! They look like a awesome snack for work around christmas!!!

 

[realtorterry]

 

[thoseguys26]

Yah! Nice money shot.

 

[kadoka]

Very nice looking Todd! Were your almonds raw or roasted before you started?

 

[tjohnson]

Almonds were raw to start.

Smoked at low temp for 2+ hours

Next time I would roast longer at 250°

 

[BGKYSmoker]

MMMMMMM

I like me some dem.

 

[bluto]

Those look fantastic! I may have to try these. Did the final flavor end up being more sweet or more salty? And what wood did you use for smoke?

 

[bluebombersfan]

great job!

 

[chef jimmyj]

Looks like they turned out great...Salt, Sugar and Honey are all Hygroscopic and are very efficient at sucking water out of the Air. So to avoid the Gooey mess they need to be kept in air tight containers or keep adding more Sugar!...Yum...JJ

 

[roller]

Those look great Todd !

 

[tim202]

WOW!!!! I'm gonna have to give that a try!!!!

Tim

 

[flareside92]

Wow! those look great! I especially like the money shot!

Might have to try those with pecans.

 

[jpenny2525]

Great Pics! I for sure will give this a try with your successful failures as my goal for success!

 

[tjohnson]

I learned my lesson, not to keep them out overnight, especially when it's humid out.

But....If not for my stupid mistake, I would not have had the cool results.

Next time, I may add 25% salt to my sugar mix, to give it a "Salty/Sweet" flavor

I used my new "Pitmaster's Blend" Pellets for smoke.  For whatever reason Almonds do not take smoke very well, so a stronger wood like Hickory would work better.

The Honey added a nice flavor, but I think added to the sticky outside.  I wonder if corn syrup would work as well to coat the nuts, for the spices to stick to?? 

I've also read that "Egg Whites" work well to hold the spices to the nuts.  Some recipes call for the spices to be mixed into the egg whites, and other recipes call for the nuts to be coated with the egg whites, and then rolled into the spices and sugar.

TJ

 

[africanmeat]

man it looks wicked

 

[austinl]

Smoked almonds are great!  I have another cooking method I'd like to share.  I cook them at regular BBQ temps, stir them around on the tray every 15-20 mins, and pull them after about 100 mins.  After cooking I put them right in the fridge and the next day they are crisp and delicious.  Oak wood seems to give the best taste in my opinion but I have not tried anything other than pecan, oak, and a mixture of mesquite/pecan.  Great looking almonds you have there.

 

[sumosmoke]

Excellent post, Todd. This is now on my list of things to make!