Sweet and crunchy slow cooker cinnamon sugar candied almonds are just like you get from the mall or a festival but made right in your slow cooker!
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Over the weekend I was browsing through Pinterest and saw this recipe for slow cooker cinnamon sugar candied almonds in my feed. I had other things to do but I knew I wanted to try it out immediately.
Once in a blue moon, I like to get the warm sugared almonds from the mall or in the little paper cone at a festival so how cool would it be to make them at home?
SLOW COOKER CINNAMON SUGAR CANDIED ALMONDS
While you’re making these almonds, you may have your doubts that they’re going to turn out right. For awhile, it will just seem like you’re stirring around some almonds in a pot of sand.
But, like magic, in that last hour, after you pour the water in, they come together and you get perfectly candied almonds.
Though the process is a little time consuming, you’re not actually doing much, you just need to stir them every 20 minutes. I prepped them then made baby food and dinner while they were cooking. Your house will smell amazing.
I got the almonds from Sam’s Club and they were just under $13 for 40 oz/2 lbs. You can also get them on Amazon for a few dollars more, but it’s convenient if you don’t have a Sam’s membership.
If you bag these up for gifts, you could give 9 people a half a cup with that $13 worth of almonds. I think it’s a cute gift – especially if you wrap them up in holiday packaging.
CANDIED ALMONDS INGREDIENTS
- Almonds – Of course. You’ll want to use raw almonds, not roasted. Like I said, I got mine at Target and they were slightly cheaper at Sam’s Club. If you have time, Amazon is convenient and comparable.
- Sugars – You’ll use a combo of both granulated white sugar and light brown sugar.
- Cinnamon – I say this all the time but get a good quality cinnamon, especially when its a key ingredient.
- Salt – To balance the sweetness.
- Egg White – The egg white acts as a glue to hold the sugars to the almonds.
- Vanilla – Again, I know vanilla is expensive, but you a good, quality pure vanilla extract and not imitation. I get mine in bulk at Sam’s Club.
- Water – Adding water is one of the final steps and it helps create the crunchy coating.
HOW DO I MAKE THESE VEGAN?
If you want to make these almonds vegan, you can swap out the egg whites for chick pea juice (aquafaba). 3 Tablespoons of aquafaba replaces one egg white.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 2019
I first published these sugared almonds in 2014 and they’re always popular around the holidays. What is strange is about 80% of you say they’re amazing but the other 20% say they’re terrible and yell at me for wasting their almonds.
I’ve made them successfully many times but I wasn’t sure why some of you were having issues, so I wanted to test. I went back in, tweaked some of the measurements, and I’ve made another version that works really well.
I’m sure there are variations in slow cookers (including age), which I can’t really guess or accommodate for.
I will put the modified recipe below the recipe card (below) if you want to give that one a shot. The recipe in the card is the original. Both work really well for me!
TOOLS TO HELP YOU MAKE CANDIED ALMONDS
- Slow Cooker – Whether you have a Crock Pot brand or different slow cooker, you’ll need one for this recipe. I’ve had this Hamilton Beach version for years and love it.
- Holiday treat bags – These almonds make really cute (& delicious gifts) when you portion them out into pretty little bags!
- Whisk – You’ll need to whisk up the egg white with the vanilla until it’s frothy.
- Large Mixing Bowl – I talk about these mixing bowls all the time because they’re my favorite. They make a great gift.
- Baking Sheet – Once the almonds are done in the slow cooker, you’ll need to spread them out onto a baking sheet to separate and cool. I like baking sheets with lips so nothing slides off the edges, especially when you’re dealing with almonds.
NEED MORE CINNAMON TREATS IN YOUR LIFE? TRY THESE:
- Chocolate Stuffed Cinnamon & Sugar Pull Apart Bread
- Cinnamon Quick Bread
- Apple Cinnamon Swirl Bread
- Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls
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CANDIED ALMOND RECIPE:
Slow Cooker Cinnamon Sugar Candied Almonds
Ingredients
Instructions
- Spray your slow cooker with non-stick spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk together.
- In another large bowl, add the egg white and vanilla and whisk until frothy.
- Pour the almonds in the egg mixture and toss them around to coat thoroughly.
- Pour the coated almonds into the sugar mixture and toss to coat.
- Pour the entire mixture into the slow cooker and turn to low.
- Cook for 3-3.5 hours, stirring every 20 minutes. It will look like not much is happening for a long time but your house will smell good!
- After 3 hours, pour in 2 Tablespoons of water and stir well. If they look dry, add another 1 Tablespoon of water. This is going to make the crunchy coating and things will start looking right.
- Replace cover & cook for another 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- When done, pour the almonds onto the prepared baking sheet and separate any that stuck together. Let them cool slightly to harden then enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published November 18, 2014
Here are the modified measurements, in case you were part of the 20% that had problems & want to give this a try:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg white
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4.5 cups raw almonds
- 2-3 Tb water
How long will the almonds be good for if they are in a sealed container? Because of egg white do you refrigerate?
The egg white cooks off. They keep for a few days in a sealed container. Ours have never lastet longer than that 🙂
I’m making them today for a bridal shower on Saturday or should I wait?
Personally, I would wait a couple days. Like I said, I haven’t had them last more than a couple days but I wouldn’t want to chance them going stale.
Stupid question, on #6, you say the “entire mixture”, does that include any extra sugars too or just the coated almonds? We always buy these at Cabelas so I hope I can make this correctly!
That’s the sugars too.
Step 4 has you tossing the almonds in the the egg wash
Step 5 has you pouring the egg washed almonds into the sugar mixture you made
then Step 6 has you pouring the whole thing into the slow cooker =)
Hope they stack up to Cabela’s!
I made these today. They turned out perfect. I used 5 cups almonds. They are delicious. I will be making more and am excited to give them out for Christmas gifts. Thank you! I barely had 3 hours to make them. So after I added the water I kicked it up to high for the last 20-30 minutes. Worked out fine. I did stir more frequently that last bit to make sure it didn’t burn.
Yay, thanks for reporting back! Merry Christmas ????????
I was in a hurry and didn’t read the directions good. In added the water with the eggs and vanilla at the beginning. What’s going to happen?
I’m not sure how it’ll affect the process but the water at the end binds the cinnamon & sugar mixture to the nuts so you’ll need to add more water when you were supposed to.
I’m using roasted almonds not RAW hope it turns out ok! I left out the salt and am following everything else.
Let me know how they turn out!
Do they cook on high or low in the crockpot?
Low
I doubled the recipe and put them in my roaster oven at 200 degrees, then when time to add the water I bumped up the temperature about 250-270 and kept stirring until they dried up quite a bit and then pour them on the parchment paper.
These last several weeks, if they make it that long.
Can you use Pecans in place of almonds?
I haven’t tried, but I think so.
Maybe, silly question. Do you oil or grease the crock pot before adding all the ingredients? I’m just thinking that when the water is added at the last, that it would make a “sticky” nut and may stick to the crock pot???
Thanks!
Not silly, step #1 in the instructions is spray the pot with non-stick spray 🙂
Stupid question, if I double the recipe, do I double the time to 6 hours? I need enough almonds for 20 people and do not know how many to get.
No, you don’t have to double the time, just make sure your slow cooker is large enough to hold double. How many are you trying to give 20 people? A small scoop? A cup each?
These are amazing! I doubled the recipe, used a slow cooker. Follow the recipe exactly and they are perfect 3ct! Thank you for this amazingly simple and awesome recipe!
Yay – thanks for reporting back! Merry Christmas =)
Will this still work using a slow cooker liner? Thanks!
I haven’t tried, but I think so 🙂
I had the same problem many had with the nuts being chewy. Cooked them an additional hour in the oven @250F checking every so often. After another hour in the oven they were done. My crockpot is an older one with the stoneware crock. Maybe the pot itself is the variable?
Hmm, I’ve made these in a couple different crockpots & haven’t had that issue…
I had a terrible result. I halved the recipe, and all looked good until I added the water. Looks more like a brittle on my cookie sheet. Too much liquid.
I’m sorry 🙁 it works really well as written
Have made this recipe numerous times. We LOVE it.
Yay, thanks for reporting back!
I doubled my recipe and feel there was way too much cinnamon. I think they taste good but feel that is way too much cinnamon.
Well, they are cinnamon sugar almonds 😉
As I’m stirring I’m thinking I used oof much cinnamon, maybe I added 3 tablespoons when I should have only added 3 teaspoons? But upon checking I did it correctly. But I wish she would have halved the cinnamon since she halved the sugars! Well see if these are any good when I’m all done cooking them🤷🏼♀️
Let me know what you think – I liked 3Tb, but I’ll be curious to know your thoughts.
What changes did you make to this recipe? I make this every Christmas and they always come out perfectly. I’d like to use the original recipe again this year
Hi Pam! That makes me happy to hear 🙂 Here are the original measurements:
1.5 cups sugar
1.5 cups brown sugar
3 Tb cinnamon
1/8 t. salt
1 egg white
2 t. vanilla
4.5 cups almonds
1/4 cup water
Made a double recipe last night. They turned out perfect(except I didn’t stir enough and burnt it a little.) But it still tasted delicious. Thank you for a great recipe!!
Yay, thanks for reporting back, Mindy! Merry Christmas 🙂
I have followed this recipe several times. I have a 6 quart CrockPot brand slow cooker that is fairly new. I think that your older slow cooker must cook at a much lower temperature. If I left the nuts in my slow cooker for 3-3.5 hours they would be burned black. After 2 hours I have to pull them out. Also I want to mention that I have tried a liner in my crock. While cleanup is a breeze, I think it is more difficult to get a good complete stir through all of the nuts and some are missed and get too toasty. Just my opinions and what I have experienced. The recipe is great and super easy! I will continue to use your recipe but with less cooking time as my slow cooker is quicker (or not as slow?) as yours. Merry Christmas from Texas!
Merry Christmas to you!