I discovered these unassuming almonds one day while shopping at the drugstore. Sweetened almonds are usually jam packed with sugar in the form of a hard candy coating and are not an ideal snack food (delicious yes, but just try limiting yourself to the serving size - not easy!). These so-called natural chocolate dusted almonds looked different. And they are! Totally snack friendly.
Although the second ingredient is evaporated cane juice (duh, sugar!), these are only lightly sweetened, with just the perfect dusting of cocoa and sugar. Always on the look out for low sugar snack foods, I was surprised to find sweetened almonds that weren't identical to candy or coated with sugar substitute. Not these almonds! Nothing funky, just less sugar - a nice surprise from a mass brand like Blue Diamond.
Diamond's natural line also comes in a few other flavors, including cinnamon brown sugar, and the containers have a handy serving size guide on the side so you can tell how much you've eaten. I, of course, found this guide after noshing my way through several servings in one sitting.
Do you have a favorite low sugar (but still sweet) snack?
• Find them: Blue Diamond Dark Chocolate Oven Roasted Almonds $22.98 for 3 8-ounce packages on Amazon
Related: Recipe: Sweet and Salty Cinnamon Almonds
(Images: Stephanie Barlow)
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These are so delicious, love them.
Sorry, I do not like these. All I taste is the overwhelming flavor of the stevia extract. My co-workers enjoyed eating them up for me though.
RondaK, you might be thinking of the Emerald brand cocoa almonds. They are gross. The Blue Diamond are quite different.
Almonds are already pretty sweet, and I found these to be just a bit too much. I did, however, enjoy pilfering their idea and roasting some raw almonds in cocoa powder. Delicious!
Blue Diamond is possibly one of the best big nut brands. love them.
Thanks for posting about these! I had only tried the Emerald brand cocoa almonds which contain sucralose and leave a really gross aftertaste.
Good to know. I've only had the Emerald ones as other people said I could really taste the sucralose aftertaste, which normally doesn't bother me. I do like the Emerald Cinnamon Almonds where the cinnamon hides the sucralose taste better. I will give the Blue Diamond ones a try though!
I haven't tried the Blue Diamond almonds, but I've made this recipe for spicy cocoa roasted almonds a few times and it never disappoints. It's fast and easy, and I like that I can cut the sugar or play around with different spices to suit my taste/mood. They also freeze beautifully which helps keep me from gobbling them up too quickly after making them.
http://www.mykitchenaddiction.com/2010/01/spicy-cocoa-roasted-almonds/
anyone know how to make these at home?