COCOA COATED WALNUTS

COCOA COATED WALNUTS
2 ounces walnuts (about 3/4 cup) *
1 egg white
Pinch salt
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
2 teaspoons cocoa, sifted

In a small bowl, whisk the egg white with a fork until frothy. Whisk in all but the nuts until as well blended as possible. Add the nuts and stir to coat them with the egg white mixture. Spread the nuts on a foil-lined baking sheet that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 325?for 15-20 minutes until the coating has set and becomes crisp. Cool then break apart before eating. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes 2 servings
Can be frozen

* You can use any kind of nuts for this but you'll have to adjust the counts.

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 197 Calories; 16g Fat; 9g Protein; 7.5g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 5.5g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 185 Calories; 16g Fat; 9g Protein; 4.5g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 2.5g Net Carbs

I wanted to come up with something similar to the Cocoa Roast Almonds that I bought the other day that would taste as good but wouldn't have any modified starch. I'm pleased with how these turned out but they're not quite the same as the Emerald brand. Of course I used walnuts instead of almonds but that was all that I had on hand. I think that the chocolate flavor is a little weak so I might try a full tablespoon of cocoa next time. It wouldn't affect the net carb count much. It could be though that the strong walnut flavor is overpowering the cocoa. Almonds have a much milder flavor than walnuts. I was very surprised to find that the egg white mixture set up and turned crunchy when baked and I will play around with this formula to come up with some other coated nut snacks in the future. I'm nibbling on my sample batch as I type this and I'm afraid I will end up eating both servings! They're that good. Click the photo to see a close-up.

Here are the counts for almonds and pecans:

ALMONDS:
With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 192 Calories; 15g Fat; 8g Protein; 10.5g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 6.5g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 180 Calories; 15g Fat; 8g Protein; 7.5g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 3.5g Net Carbs

PECANS:
With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 221 Calories; 21g Fat; 5g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 3.5g Dietary Fiber; 4.5g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 209 Calories; 21g Fat; 5g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 3.5g Dietary Fiber; 1.5g Net Carbs

COCOA COATED NUTS VARIATION
2 ounces pecans, about 3/4 cup *
2 ounces almonds, about 3/4 cup *
1 egg white
Generous pinch salt
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
2 tablespoons cocoa, sifted

In a small bowl, whisk the egg white with a fork until frothy. Whisk in all but the nuts until as well blended as possible. The mixture will be very thick and almost dry. Add the nuts and stir with a rubber spatula until they are well coated. Spread the nuts on a nonstick foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 325?for 15-20 minutes until the coating has set and becomes crisp. Cool then break apart before eating. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings or about 4 1/2 ounces

* You can use any kind of nuts for this but you'll have to adjust the counts. I used finely chopped pecans and sliced almonds because that's all I had on hand.

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 204 Calories; 18g Fat; 6g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 3.5g Dietary Fiber; 5.5g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 192 Calories; 18g Fat; 6g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 3.5g Dietary Fiber; 2.5g Net Carbs

This version came out a lot more like the Emerald Cocoa Roasted Almonds. The coating is much drier than my previous version. The extra cocoa really boosted the chocolate flavor too. Because the coating mixture comes out so much thicker with the extra cocoa in it, you'll really have to toss the nuts in it well to get them evenly coated. It won't seem like there is enough coating but there is.

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