Vegan and Gluten-Free Mayan Chocolate Almonds

When I first started this blog, I had every intention of getting into gluten-free baking as well as vegan. I somehow wandered too far over to the vegan side and now I have no desire to do gluten-free. I mean, let's face it; it's intimidating! There's about a billion types of non-wheat flours out there, all of which are extremely pricey, and the proportions of flours to binders (also equally expensive) blows my mind.



I'm starting to realize, however, that gluten-free is the newest diet craze, and that while vegan is unique, it's not as niche of a market as it was five years ago. Just yesterday, while at a farmers market, I was asked if any of my stuff was gluten-free by about four people! My lame answer was that I was working on a vegan and gluten-free recipe (even though that's a total lie!).



So I've been racking my brain to make something that's gluten-free, vegan, salable at a farmers market, AND somewhat inexpensive and easy to make. This is my first attempt, which I think is pretty good. I'll need to come up with a few more experiments before I start providing the masses with gluten-free goodies, though. If you have any suggestions or references on gluten-free, please leave them in the comments! Thanks!



Recipe below!!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup raw whole almonds 1 Tbsp chili powder 1/4 tsp cayenne 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp black pepper 1 1/2 tsp salt 2 Tbsp olive oil 6 oz. chocolate

Directions:

Mix spices together in a medium bowl. Add olive oil and almonds. Stir until the almonds are coated. Pour into a baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until fragrant.

Let cool completely on the counter. Once cool, spread out on a sheet of wax paper.

In a small sauce pan, melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly to keep the chocolate from burning. Drizzle over the cooled almonds, then sprinkle coarse sea salt over the top, if desired. Enjoy!