Rum Cinnamon Almonds or Maple Cinnamon Pecans

In case you missed this post over at KOJO designs, here it is!

I’m not going to lie–when they asked me to participate, I was really stuck.  I was trying so hard to think of something I could craft that would be useful to my hubby.  I thought about a guitar strap since he’s in a band, but generally speaking a lot of guys wouldn’t need that (unless your hubby rocks out on Guitar Hero).  I thought about a tool belt because he’s always complaining that they don’t make them tough enough (he’s a general contractor and wears a tool belt all day).  Well, my little machine was not going to be able to sew anything tough enough to last him in his profession!

But what guy doesn’t love food?  My husband really loves rum flavoring and maple flavoring, so I decided to incorporate that into a recipe for Rum and Maple flavored nuts.  Candied nuts with a harder outer shell normally call for an egg white, but other than that, I added what I thought would taste good!

The only thing you have to interchange is the rum extract and maple extract.

Rum Cinnamon Almonds or Maple Cinnamon Pecans

1 egg white

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. rum extract or maple extract

3 cups natural whole almonds, or 4 cups whole pecans.

**If using almonds, toast them at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.  This will allow for a crunchier almond.**

You can click here for a printable recipe.

Directions:

Beat the egg white until foamy and frothy as pictured.

To that, add the rest of the ingredients minus the nuts, and mix.

Mix in your almonds or pecans.

Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray generously with non-stick cooking spray.  For the almonds, I used a slotted spoon to remove from the coating, and with the pecans I just dumped everything onto the sprayed foil. I like that they are a little different from each other, but do it however you’d like.

Spread them in a single layer on the sprayed foil.  Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes, stir, and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes.  The pecans bake faster than the almonds, even with pre-toasting the almonds.  I sprinkled the almonds with sugar once removing from the oven.  I didn’t do that with the pecans, but again, do what you feel would be yummy!

Bag or place in a cute container and gift to that special guy in your life!

Click here to download the labels for the nuts.  I mixed and matched them as well, so you can make Maple Cinnamon Almonds, or Rum Cinnamon Pecans.