The Best Roasted Almonds

Almonds are a no brainer snack, and a great on the go food. I keep a tin in the car for road trips, or those times when I run out of the house and have been too busy to actually eat (I try to avoid this, but life happens). My relationship with them has been an on-off one, though. Eating on consecutive days would sometimes cause a stomachache. This always baffled me a bit until I discovered how to make the best roasted almonds ever.

Somewhere a few months ago, or perhaps longer than that, I remember reading that soaking nuts and seeds makes for easier digesting. I regularly soak almonds to make almond milk, but soaking them for eating by the handful felt rather fussy. Soaked almonds need to be dehydrated again in order to eat them (i.e. roasted).

Soaking almonds for making milk? No problem. Soaking almonds to eat? Um, I’m already borrowing hours from tomorrow to make up for today. Here’s the thing, though, once you get into a routine, it really is a no brainer. I soak enough almonds for milk, and some extra to roast every few days. When I wake in the morning, I make fresh almond milk, and pop the remaining almonds in a 300ºF oven. They roast while I’m tending to getting ready, and starting my work day (I wake around 5:30-6:00am every day).

The soaked, and then roasted almonds not only taste amazing—they’re more gentle on my stomach. It all has to do with enzyme inhibitors that affect the way your body processes nuts and seeds in general. You can read more about it here.

After my first taste, I realized that soaking was indeed the secret to making the best roasted almonds.

The flavor is more pronounced, although I’m not sure why this is exactly. The feeling is not unanimous in my house. Virginia was not a fan of the soaked and roasted version (she went so far as to question why would I do that to an almond). Isabella rarely ever eats almonds. As for me, I can’t stop snacking on them. I’m so happy to be able to enjoy almonds again as my healthy go-to snack.

This recipe is now part of my new site Simmering. You can find it here.