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Have you tried the Blue Diamond XTREMES Carolina Reaper Almonds? To be honest, I haven't tried them yet. However, I love that I can make my own spicy reaper almonds and enjoy them as HOT HOT as I want them to be!
Carolina Reaper Chili Peppers are, at the time of this writing, the world's hottest chili pepper! If you are as enamored with this spicy pepper as I am, then you'll love this easy recipe for almonds spiced up with the hottest pepper in the world!
Jump to:
What Is The Carolina Reaper?
Carolina Reapers were created and bred by Ed Currie (aka Smokin' Ed) of the PuckerbuttPepperCompany of South Carolina.
The Reaper peppers have the distinction of holding the Guinness World Records award for World's Hottest Chili since 2013. These measure between 1.5 million - 2.2 million SHU (Scoville Heat Units) on the Scoville Scale.
From Wikipedia: "The Scoville scale is a measurement of the pungency (spiciness or "heat") of chili peppers, as recorded in Scoville Heat Units (SHU), based on the concentration of capsaicinoids, among which capsaicin is the predominant component." Basically, the lower the number on the scale, the less "hot or spicy" the pepper will be.
For comparison, cayenne pepper, which is often used in spicy nut recipes, measure from 30,000 - 50,000 SHU on the Scoville scale. And jalapeno peppers come in at 2,500 - 8,000 SHU!
🥘 Ingredients
You only need 5 ingredients to make this spicy and perfect snack! They are:
- Raw whole almonds
- Butter (you could use olive oil if you prefer)
- Salt
- Carolina Reaper Powder (I love and used Sonoran Spice Brand)
- Sea salt flakes
All of these ingredients, with the exception of the Carolina Reaper Powder, should be available at your local grocery store.
Making your own Reaper almonds is so amazing, because you can control the amount of chili powder to produce the perfect level of heat to suit you!
Ok, let's move on to making this spicy and great snack!
🔪 Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350F. Place your raw almonds in a roasting tin or on a rimmed baking sheet, in a single layer taking care not to crowd them too much. You can line your tin or baking sheet with parchment paper if you like, but it's not necessary.
Roast at 350F for around 13-15 minutes (tossing halfway through) until they have turned a lovely shade of golden brown.
When you have about 5 minutes left of roasting time, prepare your seasoning. Melt the butter in a mixing bowl (or saucepan and then transfer to your mixing bowl). Add the Carolina Reaper powder and the salt to the melted butter, and then stir to combine.
Combine almonds with the melted butter and seasonings, and stir well.
At this point, I recommend you taste the almonds (after allowing them to cool a bit) to see whether you want to add more Carolina Reaper powder. If so, add a little at a time, stirring to mix everything until well combined, until you reach the heat level you are after.
Allow about 10 minutes for the almonds to cool down to room temperature, and then add sea salt flakes to taste. Now it's time to enjoy your spicy almonds!
Suggestions For Serving
Enjoy this delicious snack with your favorite ice cold beverage! If you are concerned that they may be overly spicy, then you may want that beverage to be an ice cold glass of milk. 😃
These spicy nuts make a great addition to your charcuterie board, and of course they are perfect for game day.
Enjoy them as a cocktail nibble, or they make a great gift for your chili head friends!
Variations
If you want to mix things up a bit, you may want to consider:
- Adding garlic powder to the spice mixture - I haven't tried this but I think it would be delicious!!
- Adding a little maple syrup for a sweet heat!
Also, I have also roasted the almonds after tossing them with melted butter and spices. This also works well, but if you are sensitive to strong odors the smell of the Carolina Reaper when roasting may affect you.
However you decide to enjoy these almonds, I hope this will become one of your favorite recipes for spicy nuts!
FAQ
It's not necessary to soak the almonds before roasting them. According to Healthline.com, soaking them may make their digestibility better and also help you absorb the nutrients better. However, roasting them without soaking the almonds is perfectly fine!
Almonds pack a serious nutritional punch! According to WebMD.com, some of the health benefits of almonds include lowering blood pressure and lower blood sugar levels. They may even help with weight loss (as long as you don't eat too many) as they help you feel full quicker due to the their protein and fiber content!
Almonds are a great healthy snack! Almonds.com states that 1 ounce of almonds, or 23 almonds a day, is the perfect portion, as recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Store roasted almonds in an airtight container on your countertop. These are best enjoyed the day you make them, but they'll keep for 3-4 days (if they last that long!).
Some Other Recipes You May Enjoy!
Here are some other recipes that you may enjoy:
- Easy Carolina Reaper Salsa Recipe
- Mouthwatering Everything Bagel Cashews
- Easy Ghost Pepper Salsa Recipe
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Cheers!
Grace
Carolina Reaper Spicy Roasted Almonds Recipe
Equipment
- Oven for roasting almonds
- roasting tin or rimmed baking sheet for roasting the almonds
- microwave or small saucepan for melting butter
- mixing bowl for combining seasonings, butter, and almonds
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds raw whole almonds, which we will roast
- 1 tablespoon butter you could sub olive oil if you prefer
- ¼ ts salt
- ¼ ts Carolina Reaper Powder can adjust the amount to suit your tolerance for heat
- sea salt flakes add to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Place your raw almonds in a roasting tin or on a rimmed baking sheet, in a single layer taking care not to crowd them too much. Roast at 350F for around 13-15 minutes (tossing halfway through) until they have turned a lovely shade of golden brown.
- When you have about 5 minutes left of roasting time, prepare your seasoning. Melt the butter in a mixing bowl (or saucepan and then transfer to your mixing bowl). Add the Carolina Reaper powder and the salt to the melted butter, and then stir to combine.
- Add the roasted almonds to the melted butter and seasonings, and stir to combine. At this point, I recommend you taste the almonds (after allowing them to cool a bit) to see whether you want to add more Carolina Reaper powder. If so, add a little at a time, stirring to mix everything until well combined, until you reach the heat level you are after.
- Allow about 10 minutes for the almonds to cool down, and then add sea salt flakes to taste. Now it's time to enjoy your spicy almonds!
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