Cinnamon Glazed Almonds & Hazelnuts (sugar-free!)

2/26/2014

Cinnamon Glazed Almonds & Hazelnuts (sugar-free!)

To some of you, this may not be a huge accomplishment, but I'm VERY proud to report that I've officially gone two weeks without eating dessert. For a girl who grabs a handful of chocolate chips every time she walks by the freezer, two weeks without chocolate, cookies, or baked goods is pretty major. I've always had a serious sweet tooth, and even though I make an effort to eat really healthy meals and snacks, I always leave room for some delicious treats. Lately, this habit of mine has gotten a little crazy, so two weeks ago (after Becca and I scarfed some chocolate chips without even thinking about it), we made a deal with each other that we'd go THREE WHOLE WEEKS without dessert. Neither of us will dare cheat our way through this deal, especially since we have a calendar taped on the fridge where we check off our dessert-free days. If either of us screwed up during our dessert detox, it would say it right there on the fridge and remind us of our total lack of self control. So yes, absolutely no cheating during these three weeks. Our hope is that we'll have broken our daily dessert habit by the end of this, and moving forward we'll have more control when it comes to our sweet cravings. We'll see how it goes . . . stay tuned. 

But in the meantime with one week left of our challenge, I'm racking my brain for recipes that I can whip up quickly, that are sugar-free, healthy, and satisfying enough for my demanding sweet tooth. SO . . . You know those candied, cinnamon-glazed nuts that they have at fairs, farmers markets, and football games? The ones that smell amazing when you walk by them? I LOVE those. They're so freaking good. I mean, how could they not be good when they're coated in oil, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon? Mmmmm. I decided to make my own version, without the sugar or oil, but still delicious, crunchy, and sweet. Using just egg white, stevia, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt, my hazelnuts and almonds turned out perfectly. If you're looking for healthy, sugar-free and guilt-free sweet, these Cinnamon Glazed Nuts are your new bestie. Here's how to make them:

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup raw hazelnuts (or any other nuts that you love! I'm trying pecans next time)
1 egg white
4 packets Stevia
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 300°. Grease a cookie sheet. Note: You may also place parchment paper or tin foil on the baking sheet and then grease it, but it may be easiest to just use the metal cookie sheet so you can scrape the nuts off if they get sticky without worry of ripping the paper or foil.
• Crack an egg white into a bowl and whip it up with a whisk until frothy.
• Carefully add the nuts into the whipped egg white and mix until evenly coated.
• Add vanilla extract into the nuts/egg white mixture.
• In a separate bowl, mix together salt, stevia, and cinnamon. Then pour over the nuts and mix to coat evenly.
• Pour coated nuts onto baking sheet and make sure they are spread out and not overlapping. Otherwise they will stick together when baking.
• Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, checking them every 10 minutes. When you check, if the nuts are sticking to each other or to the pan, scrape with a spatula and move them around to free them from each other.
• Allow to cool.
• Store them in a cute mason jar!

Wouldn't this be a great gift? I'll have to remember it when the holidays come up!