Sweet & Smoky Almonds

It's that time of year again... The scarves and mittens have come out of storage, storefronts are being decorated with snow dust, your eager neighbors have already put up their blinky Christmas lights, and one of my work-moms has brought in tins of her homemade, highly anticipated, candied almonds!  Except THIS year, I moved down south, and left behind my annual almond binge fest :(  Well, change is hard. And during these tough, work-mom-less times, I had to pull myself together and attempt my own batch of festive nuts. With a few taste adjustments, of course, to give these almonds more of a salted, smoky flavor. 

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups whole almonds
• 1/2 cup white sugar

Line a cookie sheet in advance with waxed paper. 

Measure out brown sugar, cinnamon, paprika and salt, and dump into a medium sized pot. Add water. Stir to mix over medium-high heat. 

Bring to a boil. 

Add almonds, increase heat to high, and stir continuously until most of the syrupy mixture has evaporated. Keep stirring, even when your arm gets tired. 

When there is just a little bit of liquid left in the pot, add the white sugar, reduce to low heat, and continue stirring to mix. 

Keep stirring until any liquid left has become a sticky, grainy coating, then remove from heat and pour over the prepared cookie sheet. Separate almonds with a fork. 

Let cool completely before transferring to an air-tight container for storage. 

These also make sweet gifts if you package them in festive tins or clear jars decorated with ribbons.