Candied Almonds from {Life Should Be Delcious}

Hi Taming of the {celiac} Sprue readers! I'm so flattered that Erin asked me to Guest Post today! Her and I became friends while our husbands were in Optometry school and I love her! She's the most amazing, positive, happy person ever and I feel lucky to call her my friend!  I'm super excited to be sharing a Christmas tradition and yummy GF recipe.

I'm Angie from Life Should Be Delicious. My sisters' and I do this recipe blog just for fun but all the recipes on there are tried and true, and are favorites, feel free to stop on by! Most of the credit for our blog should go to my amazing sister Holly at Scatter Sunshine. You can also check out the service project we do yearly at Calling All Angels, we'd love you to stop on by and see what we've been able to do because of the generous people willing to donate!

There are so many Christmas memories and traditions we had growing up! I LOVE the feeling of the Christmas Season! My favorite Christmas Tradition was the manager we filled with straw for baby Jesus. Starting on December 1st we would draw a name of a family member and throughout that week, we would secretly do something nice once a day for them and leave a piece of straw where we had done the good deed and once they found the straw they would place it in the manager. At the end of each week we revealed who we had and then drew names again for the next week. We had to be super secretive, creative, and sly but by Christmas Eve the manger was full for baby Jesus.

You can't have Christmas without Candied Almonds! I just love love love the smell of them, the taste of them, everything about them! Hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I do! 

Candied Almonds

1 C water
2 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 C whole almonds
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine water, sugar & Cinnamon. Stir until dissolved over medium heat in a non stick frying pan. When boiling add almonds. Stir continually for 4-5 minutes. When the mixture starts to change and becomes thick and almonds are well coated, dump on an ungreased cookie sheet and stir occasionally as it cools to keep almonds from sticking together.

If you like them not as sweet use this recipe:
Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
1 egg white
1 teaspoon cold water
4 cups whole almonds
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250°. Lightly grease a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan. Lightly beat the egg white; add water, and beat until frothy but not stiff. Add the nuts, and stir until well coated. Mix the sugar, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the nuts. Toss to coat, and spread evenly on the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until golden. Allow to cool, then store nuts in airtight containers.