How to Roast Almonds
Roasted almonds? Yes, one of my favorite foods and an important part of my eating plan.
What about my family's eating plan? Well, my husband is one of the main reasons I cook and bake as religiously as I do; he comes from a family of excellent cooks who love to eat. However, recently, he went on a diet (I had no one to critique my desserts!). Then he sent me this email:
"Was thinking you might want to do a post on how I have used the Abs Diet to get in shape and that you and I now eat the same; and then link to them and mention that almonds are their #1 food too."
So, there you have it. Now we eat the same --tons of veggies, protein, some nuts, the occasional piece of fruit. OK, so our diets are slightly different. I'm on the Elana Diet and he's on the Abs Diet. However, we both eat almonds and not a lot of dessert (not even my desserts).
We do enjoy eating fresh roasted almonds and here's how you can make your own to snack on at any time of the day.
How to Roast Almonds
- 1 pound whole raw almonds
- 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
- Spread the almonds out in two 9x13 inch Pyrex baking dishes
- Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes, until a nutty aroma wafts out of the oven
- Remove almond from oven and sprinkle with salt
- Cool for 1 hour
- Serve
I've been roasting a lot of almonds lately. I explained to my husband that they taste much better purchased raw and roasted fresh at home (rather than purchasing them already roasted). After one batch of my roasted almonds he was sold!
Almonds are a superfood. This ultra nutritious nut is high in antioxidants and full of beneficial fats that raise good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol. Further, studies have shown that almonds curb hunger. I think they taste delicious and keep a little jar of them in my car for when I get a snack attack on the road. Just a few do the trick.
Check out all of my recipes that use almonds.
If you love whole almonds for snacking, you may also want to try blanched almond flour. Honeyville (one of my favorite brands) is running a special right now until Tuesday, February 23 6pm (PST). Just enter coupon code PRESIDENT during checkout to receive 10% off your entire order. Their blanched almond flour is of very high quality and I have had good experience with their customer service.
I'm really happy to introduce a super fun and captivating new site called Lilian's Test Kitchen. Check out Lillian baking my gluten free coconut flour carrot muffins in this video.
The winner of last weeks Friday Freebie, a the half pound of Chardonnay Grapeseed Flour from AprèsVin, is @jenleitch!
Have a great weekend everyone.
More how to you might enjoy:
This looks great...my husband and I have been going through tons of raw almonds recently since we both take trail mix several times a week as a snack to work/school. Have you ever tried soaking them whole and then roasting them? How much longer would they need?
For ~M, I couldn't resist replying to your question about soaking your nuts first.....YES YOU SHOULD!!! Acording to Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, "sprouting (soaking) increases vitamin B content, especially B2,5 and 6. Carotene increases dramatically. Even more important, sprouting neutralizes phytic acid, a substance present in the bran of all grains that inhibits absorbtion of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc and neutralizes enzyme inhibitors present in all seeds. These inhibitors can neutralize our own precious enzymes in the digestive tract."
I soak all my nuts. 4 cups of nuts with 1 Tbs sea salt and fill up the container with water to cover the nuts. For almonds, soak for at least 7 hours or overnight. Drain and spread on baking sheet. Bake at 150 degrees for 12 to 24 hours until completely dry and crisp. I dehydrate mine for the same amount of time. You can double and triple etc. the recipe.
My husband and I also love almonds. I roast them the same way you do, but instead of using salt, I sprinkle the cinnamon on the almonds before placing the baking sheets in the oven.
That looks very simple and delicious. I love almonds. Thanks for sharing.
I'm all for healthy and delicious recipes and healthy eats however to pick a nit, cholesterol is a single molecule it has single chemical structure. There are no "good" and "bad" versions as it is a single molecule. High and low density lipoproteins are, well, proteins, they are two different carrier proteins for cholesterol. The Framingham study evidence underlying the “lipid hypothesis” was never strong to start with. Since then a massive lipid lowering campaign has shown no effect on heart disease rates. While an elegant and seemingly intuitive hypothesis, more and more openly people are rightly questioning the wisdom of the cholesterol lowering campaign. Not to even mention the myriad and serious side effects often seen with statin drugs. I'm all for healthy and delicious almonds but there is no need to sweat the cholesterol.
http://healthjournalclub.blogspot.com/
Okay - I'm going to have to reread your post when my brain's more alert! In the meantime, I've been eating macadamia nuts to lower my cholesterol. Just started, so we'll see if it works. Rumor has it 1-1/2 oz a day (about 17 nuts) lowers your cholesterol. Elana, I'll have to search old posts for good mac nut recipes, now!
I love all your recipes. Thanks for forward Lillian's video...My daughter and I enjoyed it ;)
I definitely think soaking and dehydrating nuts is the way to go most of the time. By heating them at 150 degrees or below, you retain all the enzymes and nutrients in the nuts. Roasting them at high temps kills the enzymes. The result of soaking and low-temp dehydration is a crispy, slightly salty nut. Delicious and good for any number of things. In addition to snacking, I rough grind them with flax seeds, top with yogurt and berries for breakfast. Or chop and add to a salad.
Thank you, Elana. I love your site!
Ok the Lillian's videos are hilarious! Those recipes look absolutely delicious. Its so much fun seeing those from the test perspective. Thanks for showing the almond roasting - I've been trying to stick to raw almonds, but this will be really nice for those days when I want something kicked up a notch.
Elana, This is one of my favorite posts!! I love it... The Abs Diet and the Elana Diet!!
Your website and cookbook have inspired me and have changed the way we eat!!
Thank you,
Jeanne Marie
I found another source for Blanched Almond Meal and have had pretty good luck with it. Country Life Natural Foods out of Pullman Michigan. http://www.clnf.org Their almond meal is also more reasonable than Honeyville. $17.50 for 5# versus $28.99 at Honeyville.
I noticed that for orders less than $25, there is a $3.00 fee, plus the customer pays regular UPS shipping rates (Honeyville is a pretty good deal for $4.49), plus .75 cents handling fee per box. So, bottom line, what does the 5 lb. bag of their almond flour end up coming out to just for comparison sake to the Honeyville?
We order from clnf every couple months. They have a lot of products we purchase through our local buying club. To save on any shipping charge, see if you are in their delivery area and ask them to find a local group for you to join. I've only ever ordered their regular almond meal; next month I'll try their blanched and see how that works out. Love their products and prices!
Question: Can you substitute even amounts of Almond Flour for a recipe you have at home Ex. 1 c. "traditional flour" for 1 c. almond flour.
and if you have 1/2 granulated sugar .... Or 1/4 oil what is the conversion to agave or grapeseed oil?
I just started out trying to eat gluten free and tried the Cinnamon Coffee Cake ...THE way the "cake" texture was OK .... but the topping was just "FLAT"
I need help. I've been without sugar for months and sorry .... either brand or agave just didn't cut it for me...... suggestions??!!!
J
Many of your questions have been answered on her forum, have you visited there? Or perhaps just repost your questions over there where they have a better chance of getting answered by one of the members.
http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/
Someone did just post over there recently that 5/8 cup of almond flour (1/2 plus 2 Tbsp.) can be substituted for 1 cup of regular flour in traditional recipes. I tried that and it worked for me.
As for oil- I use cooled melted butter instead of the grapeseed oil.
As for the agave- I make a syrup using coconut palm sugar. It's posted here:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/palm-sugar
Hope this helps!
Thanks for posting this! I accidentally bought unroasted almonds and was hoping to find out the best temp to bake them at. Now I'm excited that they may turn out better than what I meant to buy.
I disagree with the temperature you roast your almonds at. Roasting almonds at high temperatures damages the delicate fats in nuts and causes the production of free radicals. Almonds (nuts) should be roasted at a lower temperature; 160-170F for 15-20 min.
THE GLUTEN-FREE ALMOND FLOUR COOKBOOK is a huge positive addition to my cooking habits. We are enjoying the recipes immensely as the flavors and textures are a dellightful surprise of success to the taste buds. Thank you also for all your tips.