Cinnamon Sugar Almonds... Or Really Any Nut Of Your Choosing

So most people during the holiday season think of cinnamon sugar nuts... They are a favorite of mine and I am sure most of you enjoy them well enough too... However... A little secret... I make them all year... What makes something a seasonal food anyhow... If you like it at Christmas or what have you... Why not any other time... I have already discussed how I do not label my foods into breakfast/lunch/dinner blah blah blah.... I too do not agree with seasonal foods... If I want soup in July so be it... I will have my soup... I will just turn the AC a little cooler while enjoying my yummy soup... Food is food and should be enjoyed any time of day and any time of year!!! Rant over! ***By the way this is an old picture and look there is a Christmas tree in the back ground... hahaha That is a rant fail... I should have taken a pic next to a palm tree.***

Ok so I love these little things but I wanted ones that did not use corn syrup... so I found a few recipes that used egg white instead... so this is an egg white recipe... They are not going to taste just like they do at the fair because most of those are made w/ corn syrup... but they do taste great nonetheless.

Cinnamon Sugar Almonds

1 egg white

1 tsp cold water

3 cups whole (raw) almonds

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 F... lightly grease cookie sheet (I line mine w/ parchment instead but you can do what you want).

In a large bowl lightly beat egg and water until frothy... do not over beat it to where it becomes stiff (ayyy watch it)... Toss in the almonds and stir (or toss if adventurous) to coat... Mix the cinnamon, sugan and nutmeg together and then pour into the bowl and mix until all almonds are coated... Spread out onto the baking pan.

Bake for 1 hour stirring occasionally until golden. Allow them to cool and store them in an air tight container.

Danish Butter Cookies

So here I am a year later looking at the recipies I promised and thinking to myself... It is about damn time to deliver... So I found an old picture on my phone of these cookies and the recipe is one I got from another fellow blogger so here we go... These cookies are a hit... They go super fast and melt away right in your mouth... They use a lot of butter so if you are a dieter... Don't make them (BUTTER IS THE KEY DO NOT TRY SUBSITUTION)... In fact if you are a dieter... You probably shouldn't be on this site at all... Just saying.

Real Danish Butter Cookies

Adapted from Gourmet, Dec 2008... Made from Orangette's blog 2009 and tons of times since ;)

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 lb unsalted Lurpak butter- at room temp for at least an hour

3/4 cup sugar

1 lrg egg- beaten

3-4 Tbsp coarse-grain sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 F and place the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven (Middle should have no rack- Come on people!!) Line two cookie sheets w/ parchment paper.

I am all for hand mixing... I do it on a lot of my recipies... This however is NOT one of the ones I hand mix...

In a bowl mix the flour and baking soda and set aside.

In a stand mixerbeat the butter until fluffy (I hate that term by the way... it makes me think of a cat or something... so just mix it until it is smooth and looks good). Add the sugar (NOT THE COARSE KIND) and beat to combine. Now add the flour mixture and beat to combine. ** Make sure you cover the top of your bowl while mixing... towel or plastic cover as the flour will get everywhere if you do not. The dough will seem crumbly but when you take it into your hand and squeeze it should hold.

Divide the dough in half between sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/8 inch thick) transfer (in plastic wrap, to a cookie sheet and refrigerate 30 mins. Remove from fridge and remove top layer of plastic wrap and cut dough into squares... arrange them 1 inch apart on a prepared baking sheet (if the dough becomes soft place in fridge or freezer to harden before transferring so the cookie does not break).

Brush the tops of the cookies very lightly w/ the beaten egg and sprinkle w/ coarse sugar. Bake the cookies 2 sheets at a time, alternating from top shelf to bottom and bottom to top halfway through baking. 12-15 minutes (until pale golden). Let cookie sit on cookie sheet for 5 mins after removing from over before transferring to wire rack to finish cooling. Cool completely. Only re-roll scraps once.