Salted Crispy Almonds
Soaked, salted, dried hard. A trail nut you make at home a day ahead.
- calories
- 205
- weight
- 1.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 171
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 15 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Day hike
- Bikepacking
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Raw almonds | 2 cups (280 g) | sprouted almonds work the same way |
|---|---|---|
| Sea salt | 1/2 tbsp | |
| Water | enough to cover | filtered, at home only |
Method
- At home, put the almonds and salt in a quart jar. Fill with water to the top, cap it, and swirl until the salt dissolves.
- Leave the jar on the counter seven hours or overnight.
- Drain and rinse. Spread the almonds in a single layer on dehydrator trays.
- Dry at 105-115°F for 12 to 24 hours. They are done when one snaps clean instead of bending.
- No dehydrator: use the oven at its lowest setting with the door cracked, and check every few hours so they do not scorch.
- Cool completely before bagging. Warm nuts sweat and the bag fogs.
- On trail, open bag, eat.
The soak is the whole recipe. Salt water overnight softens the nuts and starts them germinating, which is fine at home and useless on trail, because a damp almond is a mold problem in a ziplock. Drying them back down to hard is what makes them carryable.
Low heat matters for texture as much as anything else. Dried slowly, the nut goes brittle all the way through and snaps. Roasted hot, the outside browns before the inside gives up its water, and a week later the bag tastes stale. Salt is the only seasoning that survives the soak, since everything else washes out with the drain.
Packing
Portion into 1 oz bags once fully cool, or carry the batch in one bag and pour by hand. Fat goes rancid in heat, so keep them out of the top lid on hot days and eat the batch within a month.
Variations
- Toss the drained almonds with smoked paprika and cayenne before drying.
- Chop the finished nuts into granola or a bar mix.
- Same soak and dry works for cashews and pecans, which need less time.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/yummy-recipe-crispy-almonds