Easy stovetop sugar free candied almonds which use just three ingredients and with no sugar, sticky sweeteners or any additives! A simple one pan/skillet recipe perfect for the holidays, gift giving, or anytime snacking! It’s also completely paleo, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and sugar free!
I’d like to invite you over to my apartment, and we’ll be enjoying almonds.
Lots of almonds.
Lots and lots of almonds.
In the past month, I went through way too many batches of almonds, I should seriously have a plantation in my backyard.
It’s not that I had a recipe fail, or that I’m absolutely besotted by almonds.
It’s not that I was planning on fending off almonds to everyone for Christmas, nor was I planning on coating them in sugar and handing them out my friend’s Wedding.
NO.
It’s because of you, dear reader.
Yes, you.
See, two years ago, I shared this delicious recipe for stovetop caramelized nuts. It’s been a pretty popular recipe, but also one which has received a flood of questions. The two main ones being if a different sweetener could be used (the original recipe uses a monk fruit stevia blend) or if it could be made in the oven.
Let’s discuss the overall recipe first before going down into details!
These sugar free candied almonds are perfect for the festive season, gift giving, or even for every day snacking- I mean, I do! It’s perfect sprinkled over cake batter oatmeal, crushed and mixed in these almond joy cups, or used in my favorite granola! It’s a simple three ingredient recipe (if you stick to the base ingredients!) and literally take minutes to whip up! They also make your kitchen smell incredible, and the hard part is waiting for them to cool and break apart! While I used natural almonds in this recipe, you can use any nut you like- I’ve made it with these whole walnuts, these unsalted cashews, and these Brazil nuts too!
If they are to be used as gifts or sent away (they travel well- I sent some to family friends overseas), they can stay fresh for at least 2 months, provided it’s in a sealed container. It’s best to make them the day before you plan to send them off, to maintain freshness! They are also suitable for those following a paleo, vegan, gluten free, sugar free, dairy free and grain free lifestyle!
So let’s talk the original VS the tested options!
The original version (pictured all above here) is the classic version I use, and the easiest. Instead of using white sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup or other caloric sweeteners, we’ll be using a natural zero calorie offering- Monk fruit sweetener.
Long term readers (especially those who have made many of my recipes before) would be familiar with this granulated sweetener, but for those of you who aren’t, it’s essentially from the same family as stevia- A natural zero calorie sweetener. What I love about this monk fruit sweetener is unlike most stevia blends I’ve tried, it doesn’t taste like metal. Not only that, it resembles white table sugar pretty accurately.
Now for the second part of this….can it be made in the oven?
Yes and no.
Yes, it can still be made in the oven, however, you really need to watch it like a hawk- I found that leaving it too long without keeping an eye on it made it turn stringy and almost burnt in a short period of time. You’ll also want to remove it from the oven when they are ‘just’ done, and one extra step- Once cooled slightly, stir through an extra tablespoon or two of monk fruit sweetener for it to cluster beautifully.
However….if you aren’t following a vegan lifestyle, check out a secret hack below to achieve the sugary shells.
Now, the alternative sugar free option. I used a generic sucralose based zero calorie sweetener and the pictures below are the result-
As you can see, it doesn’t maintain any sugary crust and seems almost wet. Once allowed to cool completely, it hardened and caramelized really nicely (you can see some clusters throughout). I also found these WAY too sweet, but then again, I don’t really eat anything with sucralose in it, so it might just be my palate.
Can THIS be made in the oven?
Yes! It still won’t have the crusty, sugar exterior, but it will still be sticky and caramelized.
BONUS!
As mentioned earlier, if you don’t follow a vegan lifestyle and can tolerate eggs, you CAN achieve the sugary clusters in the oven version (using monk fruit sweetener). To do this, you’ll need to whisk the water with a single egg white and coat the almonds with it.
WHAM. BAM. THANK YOU, MA’AM.
Make these healthy stovetop sugar free candied almonds and seriously…
Come over for almonds.
Lots of almonds.
Want to see a STEP-BY-STEP video of making a similar version, but with pecans? Check out the candied stovetop pecans video below- It is SO easy!
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Easy Stovetop Sugar Free Candied Almonds
Ingredients
- 3 cups raw unsalted almonds
- 1 cup granulated monk fruit sweetener see notes above for alternative granulated sweeteners
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch sea salt
- Pinch cinnamon optional
Instructions
Stovetop version
- Heat a large frying pan or skillet pan on medium heat. When hot, add the monk fruit sweetener, water, vanilla extract, sea salt and optional cinnamon and mix until fully combined. Allow to heat up, stirring occasionally.
- When the monk fruit has completely melted, add the raw, unsalted almonds. Watch over the pan and continue stirring often until most of the monk fruit sweetener has been coated and beginning to crystallize.
- Remove pan from the heat and allow to sit for 1-2 minutes, before using a wooden spoon to stir almonds together to avoid immediate, overlarge clusters forming. Allow to cool completely before breaking up properly.
Oven option
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- Follow directions as above then spread out almonds on a single layer. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once almonds have just begun to crystallize, remove and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes, before stirring once again to avoid immediate overlarge clusters forming. Allow to cool completely, before coating in an extra tablespoon or two of monk fruit sweetener.
Notes
For large clusters, allow to cool for 10 minutes, before breaking up
Nutrition
Want to use these almonds in some delicious recipes? Gotcha covered!
Take this chocolate cake oatmeal up a notch with some of these almonds on top!
Nothing beats a muffin-like mug cake with some candied almonds throughout!
Make some paleo granola cups with these chopped through!
These cookies are already loaded with almond flavor, and now? Even more so!
Take your cheesecake torte up a notch with these candied almonds!
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Every time you mention monk fruit, I think of an old monk in a habit holding a Bible in one hand and a fruit in the other. Isn’t that what monk fruit is? Anyways…love the candied almonds! Save some of these for me, please. Candied almonds (and nuts of all kinds) are totally the best snack during the holidays!
Haha well…yes. Yes it is 😀
Mmmm this is making me think of the warm candied nuts I got from a street cart in Central Park. Not nearly as healthy as these, but that rarely makes a difference for me haha.
This is too funny, Charlotte and I bought some when we met up in New York- Nuts for Nuts- The smell was like..our version of perfume!
Can I buy the monk fruit sweetener in Australia or will I use castor sugar…..
Hi Pauline! You can, but standard white sugar works great 🙂 Castor sugar is a little bit too light for this
Am I able to buy monk fruit sweetener here in Australia or could I just use castor sugar. I don’t like the after taste of sweeteners…..
Hi Arman, from the very chilly U.K., I’m just drooling over the candied almond recipe, and I wanted to say A Huge thank you ,and to let you know that I’m currently an immensely happy newly diagnosed Type 2diabetic. As I’m still going to be able to have candied almonds for Christmas. xx Linda
Hi Linda! Thank YOU so much for your kind words- I hope things are heating up for you over there, although I must admit, I love the UK during November/December months- The Christmas atmosphere is beautiful. 🙂
If I come over for almonds I’ll be bringing almonds as well since I just made a batch of my oven roasted ones last night. I made them because I needed a nut on my cheese board last night. 🙂
Hi there! Does it take a bit of time for the almonds to get that lovely flaky exterior? I just made these on my stovetop and the monk fruit mixture crystallized when it was on my spatula, but the almonds just look wet!
Hi Emily! It should be like that when it’s in the pan- If it becomes wet, it means you’ve overcooked it/cooked it on too high heat- You can rectify it by spritzing it with cooking spray and rolling it in more monk fruit 🙂
Tried again without cooking as long and the flakiness level is PERFECT! Thank you so much!!
I stumbled across your website via pins on pinterest- this page is EXACTLY what I’ve been longing for! My food lifestyle is low carb, alkaline and sugar free- and you have so much here with simple ingredients that are easy to find (I’m an expat in the Philippines – noticed that’s one Asian country not on your travel list- and so many websites have complicated recipes with specialty ingredients that we can’t get here).
Melissa! This makes me so happy and you BET Philippines is on my bucket list- I have family there I need to meet! 🙂
So would truvia sugar still work or does it have to be the monk fruit kind?
Truvia should work- Just keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn’t burn 🙂
Can you substitute another sweetner like Splenda or Stevia instead of Monk Fruit? I’ve never used Monk Fruit before.
Sure can, Debi! Splenda would be best!
Can I use coconut sugar in this recipe?
Absolutely! 🙂