Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Measure the raw almonds into a roomy glass or stainless-steel bowl, leaving room for covering water and expansion during soaking.
- Add warm filtered water to cover the nuts by at least two inches. Add the sea salt and stir to disperse it.
- Cover the bowl with a plate or clean towel and leave on the counter for eighteen hours for this almond batch. Keep the nuts submerged and note the starting time.
- Drain in a stainless-steel colander. Rinse if you want to remove surface salt, then allow the loose water to drain away.
- Spread the nuts in one layer on parchment-lined baking sheets. Use additional tray space rather than a deep pile.
- Dry at the oven’s lowest available setting for twelve to twenty-four hours, depending on the nuts and soak, until dry and crisp. Alternatively, use a dehydrator at its lowest setting; below118°F is the low-temperature option described in the preparation guide. Follow the appliance and tray directions.
- Cool a piece enough to handle and break it open. The center should be dry and crisp, rather than damp, soft or leathery. Continue low drying if needed. Cool the finished batch completely.
- Store the cool almonds in a clean, airtight container in the refrigerator and label the preparation date. Measure the finished nuts in the form required by any recipe using them.
Notes
Minimum elapsed timing: Ten minutes preparation plus the default eighteen-hour almond soak and at least twelve hours drying gives thirty hours and ten minutes, with complete cooling additional. Drying can take twelve to twenty-four hours, extending the plan to forty-two hours and ten minutes or longer if the nuts still need drying. Cook Time represents minimum drying; Soaking Time is separate.
Amount: Start with four measured cups of raw almonds. This is one prepared batch, without a fixed finished volume or weight. Measure the finished nuts again for another recipe.
Water and salt: Warm filtered water covers the nuts by at least two inches. The tablespoon of salt goes into that soaking water, which is drained afterward. Rinsing to remove surface salt is optional.
Pecans: Four cups of pecans are a supported nut choice with the same tablespoon of salt and eighteen-hour soak, followed by low drying to a crisp center.
Cashews: Their soaking guide is one to three hours, with six hours the maximum. Keep them separate from the eighteen-hour almond soak. The card’s default elapsed-time plan is for almonds.
Other nuts: For those preparations, follow the separate salt-soaked crispy walnuts or prepared macadamia nuts recipe.
GAPS: Full GAPS after nuts in this form are introduced. Plain soaking and drying is distinct from a cultured, ground flour or butter preparation. Contains almonds; no dairy or egg ingredients. Not an Intro or No-Plant recipe.
Scaling: At 2× use eight cups almonds and two tablespoons salt, with enough warm water to cover by at least two inches. Keep that covering depth, use sufficient bowl/tray space, and dry to the same cooled-center cue. Do not double the water depth or automatically double the drying clock.
Storage: Cool completely, close in a clean airtight container and refrigerate. Label the preparation date.