Sprouted Almonds
Soaked overnight, dried low and slow at home, carried as trail snack food.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 2.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 168
- protein
- 15 g
- serves
- 6, 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
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Raw almonds | 1 lb | must be truly raw; pasteurized or roasted will not sprout |
|---|---|---|
| Water | enough to cover by 2 inches | filtered if your tap is heavily chlorinated |
| Salt | 1 tbsp | goes in the soak, not on afterward |
Method
- At home: put the almonds in a large jar or bowl, add the salt, and cover with water by two inches. They swell.
- Leave them on the counter 12 hours, overnight is fine. Longer than 24 hours and they go slimy.
- Drain and rinse well. If you want visible sprouting, rinse twice a day for another day or two, but soaked-only is enough for the point of this.
- Dry them completely. Dehydrator at 105-115°F for 12-24 hours, or the lowest setting your oven has with the door cracked.
- Test one by biting it. If there is any give at all, keep drying. Chewy means moisture, and moisture means mold in your pack.
- On trail: open the bag.
Raw almonds carry phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, which is why a big handful can sit heavy. A long salted soak neutralizes a good share of that, and the almond starts the germination it was holding back. The salt also seasons the nut from the inside, which is why nothing gets added at the end.
The drying step is the part that matters for the trail. A soaked almond is a wet almond, and wet food in a pack is mold in three days. Dry it below 115°F so the fats stay intact and the texture goes crisp rather than leathery, then treat it like any other shelf-stable nut. Done right it keeps for months in a sealed jar.
Packing
Cool fully before bagging or they sweat. Store in a sealed jar at home and portion into snack bags per trip. Two ounces is one handful and about the right stopping-point snack.
Variations
- Toss in cinnamon and a little maple sugar in the last hour of drying.
- Same method works for pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds on a shorter soak, about 8 hours.
- Blitz a dried batch in a food processor for trail almond butter, carried in a squeeze tube.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/sprouting-almonds-giving-food-new-life