A few years ago, my family and I celebrated New Year’s Eve with mantinée tickets to see a show performed by Circue du Soleil. We drove to the event location in San Francisco in the late morning, and we spotted their oversized tent in the large parking lot adjacent to the Giants’ baseball stadium, right on the edge of the wharf.
With hardly any traffic, we arrived with plenty of time to spare, so we walked around the area for a bit before joining the queue to enter the performance tent. Dad and I especially enjoyed the statue of Willie McCovey and the tiny baseball diamond for toddlers—and our entire family posed for a picture while sitting on the big baseball statues too!
After entering the main lobby but before finding our seats, the rest of my family made a beeline for the concession stand. While they looked over the various options, I checked out the various posters and displays adorning the walls.
A few minutes later, they came back holding mustard-laden hot dogs and paper sacks of popcorn. As much as I love baseball, I hadn’t eaten a stadium-style dog in 11 years at that point… And I wasn’t about to break that streak! When my stomach started rumbling after the show on our drive back home, I nibbled on a snack pack of cinnamon-roasted almonds to time me over until dinner instead.
Although our New Year’s Eve plans don’t include Circe du Soleil this year, I still love those cinnamon-roasted almonds just as much, so I decided to create my own homemade version with a fun seasonal flavor twist: these Gingerbread Spice Roasted Almonds! They’re super easy to make (ready in just 10 minutes!) and are just as irresistible as the originals!
And with how many I’ve already eaten, maybe I should make a double batch for New Year’s Eve, just to be safe…
To make this healthy snack, you’ll start with unsalted almonds. My grocery store only sells raw (or “natural”) unsalted almonds, and all of their roasted varieties come pre-salted. But not to worry—it just takes a few minutes to roast them in the oven!
Spread your almonds in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet, and pop that in the oven for a bit until the almonds smell fragrant. (You’ll line the pan with foil for easier clean-up so you don’t have to wash it later!)
While the almonds bake, you’ll mix together their coating. It’s a combination of ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. It smells so warm and cozy! You’ll also stir in a hint of salt and stevia. Stevia is a no-calorie, plant-based sweetener that’s clean-eating friendly, and it’s really concentrated. A little goes a long way! I recently tried Wholesome!’s organic stevia, and I was immediately hooked. It’s fine and powdery, making it perfect for this recipe, and I didn’t notice that strange aftertaste that other stevia products can have. You can find it at many mainstream grocery stores (and Target stores too!) or online here. (You’ll use stevia in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Now all that’s left is to toss your freshly roasted almonds in the spice mix and wait for them to cool! How easy was that??
Just try not to eat half the batch in one sitting… Like I was sorely tempted to do! ? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your almonds and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Gingerbread Spice Roasted Almonds | Print |
- 2 cups (240g) raw natural almonds
- 1 tsp Wholesome! organic stevia
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp salt
- cooking spray
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with foil. Spread the almonds across the foil in a single layer, and bake at 350°F for 5-7 minutes or until fragrant.
- While the almonds bake, whisk together the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl.
- As soon as the almonds finish baking, lightly coat them with cooking spray. Shake the pan to move them around, and lightly coat once more. Immediately transfer the almonds to the bowl with the spice mixture, and toss them with the spice mixture until they’re coated. Let them cool completely to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container or zip-topped bag.
I highly recommend Wholesome!’s organic stevia! It’s a no-calorie, plant-based sweetener, and it doesn’t have the strange aftertaste that some other stevia products have. You can use it in all of these recipes of mine too! If you prefer, you may substitute 3-4 teaspoons of powdered sugar instead.
If you prefer, 2 teaspoons of store-bought gingerbread spice may be substituted for the ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
The cooking spray helps the spice mixture better stick to the almonds. You may omit it, but the spice mixture won’t stick very well, if at all.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low calorie, sugar-free, low carb, paleo}
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You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
♥ Cocoa Roasted Almonds
♥ Chocolate Honey Roasted Almonds
♥ 5-Minute Candied Pecans
♥ Cinnamon Roll Almond Butter
♥ Pumpkin Spice Almond Butter
YUM! This sounds SO GOOD! I might just have to make this for Christmas eve snacking!!
Thanks Andrea! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of the almonds if you do!
What type of cooking spray do you use to keep these clean/healthy?
I’d recommend whatever cooking spray you like most! Something like canola oil cooking spray will have a neutral flavor, and coconut oil cooking spray should be pretty neutral as well. (Some people are really sensitive to the taste of coconut and can detect it, but I haven’t had that happen before!) I’d advise against olive oil spray since that can have a much stronger flavor that clashes with the spices. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these almonds if you try making them, Leigh!