Rosemary & Honey Mustard Roasted Almonds

Greetings from Blizzardville!  After five days at home, I finally went back to work today, only to have the university close early.  So I still did not make it to class.  I’ve only been to one out of four scheduled class sessions in the semester.  County schools are closed for the rest of the week and we have 6-foot-tall piles of snow at the corners of every intersection.  Thankfully, all the days off and missed classes have allowed me to get a week ahead of my homework for this semester!  I’m sure this will help with my stress levels this spring, especially when we reach the end of April and we have four (four!) tech weeks and performance weekends in a row.  Eek!

My gluten intolerance has made me more aware to food allergies than, perhaps, some people without any problems with food.  Working with children, and thus adding health information to countless rosters, I am even more aware of allergies.  Just like more and more schools, nut products are pretty much a no-go during the hours that I am around children or when we have students in our facility.  For years, I have avoided even bringing nuts to work.  Those were sad days since almonds and peanut butter are two of my favorite foods.  Also, with my gluten intolerance eliminating a lot of choices, nut products are a wonderful, nutrient-dense snack.  Recently, I have been carefully bringing nuts back into my meals at my workplace.  As long as I am sure that I can eat my snack away from the students, and I can thoroughly wash my hands afterwards, I have become confident that I can keep my students safe and still enjoy my peanut butter!

In the past few months, I’ve been working to keep our weekly groceries under $50.00 (except for an occasional stock up trip to Costco).  And so we found ourselves with a huge bag of almonds (bulk is so much more economical!)  I want to make more of our snacks, mostly to avoid the added costs that just can’t be squeezed into the weekly budget.  I love stovetop sugared almonds, so I wanted to try a savory option.  I was hoping to make these Honey Mustard Almonds completely on the stovetop, but the honey takes to long to crystallize.  I finished them in the oven without too much added time and these were the result.  The almonds remain a little sticky: they clump together, but are easily broken apart and don’t necessarily leave your fingers sticky.  I haven’t tried the technique, but I bet you could toss the cooled almonds in a teaspoon or two of cornstarch to cut down on the stickiness even further.

Rosemary & Honey Mustard Roasted Almonds

Serves: 15 | Prep time: 2 minutes | Cook time: 35 minutes

• 1/4 c. honey
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
• 2 tsp. ground dried mustard powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground paprika
• 3 c. raw almonds
• 1 Tbsp. fresh* rosemary leaves, finely chopped
• salt and pepper

*Fresh rosemary really is pretty necessary here, as it is added at the end of roasting.  Dried rosemary would be prickly in this recipe, unless it is ground done very small.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and lightly coat the parchment paper with oil.

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, stir together the honey, water, dijon mustard, ground mustard, and paprika.  After a few minutes, when the mixture just begins to bubble, add in the almonds and stir until all of the nuts are coated in the honey mixture.  Cook the mixture, stirring frequently, for about 6-8 minutes.  The mixture will thicken up.  Spread the coated nuts out over the sheet pan so the nuts are in a single layer.  Sprinkle the almonds generously with salt and pepper.  Roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the almonds are browned.  When the almonds start to look golden (around 10-15 minutes) and you stir them before the last round of baking, sprinkle over the chopped rosemary before popping the pan back into the oven.  Once cooked, allow the almonds to cool completely in the pan.  They will be a little sticky, even when cool, but the almonds are easy to break up.  Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks, breaking apart the almonds as needed.

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