Candied nuts are not difficult to make but when making them on a stove top, they do require a little extra monitoring so you don’t start to burn the liquid. But don’t fret–this is totally doable! You can use this same technique with pecans, walnuts or really any nut you like. When following a ketogenic diet, check your nuts because some contain massive amounts of carbs. The nuts with the lowest net carbs are pecans (4g), macadamia (5g), walnuts (7g) , brazil nuts (4g), hazelnuts (7g) and almonds (9g) per 100 grams.
But I must warn you that these are really delicious so you must control yourself!
Ingredients:
1 cup almonds
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup swerve brown sugar
2 tbsp swerve granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Let’s talk sugar alternatives. I have personally found swerve to act and taste the closest to regular sugar. The package says swerve is a one to one sugar replacement ratio but I find it is more of a 1/2 to 3/4 to one replacement. If I use too much swerve, I can really tell. Also, since going on Keto, I am much more sensitive to sweetness. So for me, a little goes a lot. Normally for a cup of candied nuts, the recipe would call for 1/4 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar but this would be way too much sweetener for me so I used 1/2 cup of swerve brown and 2 tbsp swerve granulated and I really enjoyed the end result.
Using a heavy bottomed pan, add the sugars, spices and water. Bring to a boil over medium low heat, stirring constantly. Watch your flame, do not crank it. This is a slower process so just be patient.
Add the almonds and keep the liquid at a simmer, stirring constantly and coating the almonds in the liquids.
Continue cooking the almonds into the sugars until most of the liquid is gone. You need to keep an eye on this because you don’t want it to burn. If it seems like the liquids are browning too quickly, turn the heat down. You want the almonds to toast so don’t rush this. The sugar alternative will begin to brown but it can quickly go past the point of no return. Normally when making candied nuts you can cook them until pretty much all of the liquid is gone but i stopped short of that because as you can see, it was getting very dark. This took about 10 minutes.
Spoon the almonds in a single layer onto wax or parchment paper. Season with another pinch of salt over the top of the nuts. This is totally optional, I like my nuts on the salty side but you can totally omit this step. Let them cool completely.
Carefully remove the candied nuts from the paper. You can store them in a jar for a couple of weeks.
I took about 8 nuts and smashed them and tossed them into a french-style salad and they added a sweet nuttiness and crunchy texture to the salad that was just divine.
Keto Candied Almonds
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2` cup swerve brown sugar
- 2 tbsp swerve
- pinch cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add all ingredients except for nuts in heavy bottomed sauce pan. Bring to boil over medium low heat, stirring constantly. Add almonds and continue to cook, coating nuts into sugars and stirring constantly until most of the liquids are reduced. Watch that liquids to not brown too quickly and burn. This should take 10-15 minutes depending on your stovetop. You may still have some liquid that didn't reduce which is fine. Scoop nuts onto parchment or wax paper in a single layer and allow to cool completely. Store in jar for up to 2 weeks. S
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