Gebrannte Mandeln (roasted almonds)

Ok so, Chris wanted something done with his nuts (the EATING kind!!) and of course his first thought went to the sweet, sugary roasted nuts you can get at the german christmasmarkets and sometimes over her at fairs. So I researched found a recipe or two, tried out and tweaked until I came up with a combination that I like and that truly tastes deliscious, not to mention it is easy to make!!. You can replace the Almonds in the recipe as you wish with Pecans, Walnuts and so on.

The Goods:

4 cups of Almonds (or whatever nut you wish)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/8 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 packet vanilla sugar (found at the commissary in the german food section around xmas if you have the option)

The works:

mix the sugar, cinnamon and water in a large, deep pan. Set over high heat and let boil. Once it boils, pour in the nuts and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture looses the liquid. The sugar will dry back up and make it all a gooey sticky mess. Turn heat down and stir for another 5 minutes (usually comes out to around 20 min of stiring total). On a Large flat cookiesheet covered with parchement paper spread the nutmass out thinly (to avoid later clumbing together) let cool and enjoy. Really, let cool first for a bit, cause just done they are hot enough to burn the skin of your fingers!!!