^{by Sharon Querioli}

Almonds have always been known as a healthy snack for people who need a middle-of-the-day energy boost but are watching their carb intakes. It’s more than just about watching your carbohydrate intake, however. Almonds are healthy, taste great, are incredibly versatile, and can be incorporated into your breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert—not just as a snack.

Almonds Are Jam-Packed with Nutrients

Just how many nutrients? Well, check out this extensive list. One serving of almonds is around a fourth of a cup. In that fourth of a cup, you can find:

• Calcium: 251mg (25%)
• Iron: 3.5mg (20%)
• Magnesium: 255mg (64%)
• Phosphorus: 460mg (46%)
• Potassium: 670mg (19%)
• Zinc: 2.9mg (20%)
• Copper: 0.9mg (47%)
• Manganese: 2.2mg (109%)
• Selenium: 2.4mcg (3%)
• Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol): 24.9mg (125%)
• Thiamin: 0.2mg (13%)
• Riboflavin: 1.0mg (57%)
• Niacin: 3.2mg (16%)
• Vitamin B: 60.1mg (7%)
• Folate: 47.5mcg (12%)
• Pantothenic Acid: 0.4mg (4%)

Almonds Can Improve Your Blood Fats

If you experience some problems with your levels of fat in your blood, you may need to keep away from foods and snacks that are high in fat content—except for almonds. Some research done at the University of Toronto concluded that almonds can reduce your level of LDLs and can raise your blood HDL, even more than a whole wheat muffin. This may also be due to the number of antioxidants that are found in almonds.

Almonds Can Help You Lose Weight!

Since almonds are so low in carbohydrates, choosing almonds instead of other (higher carb) snacks can help you lose weight (in conjuncture with a lower carbohydrate diet). This, of course, does not mean that you should eat NO carbohydrates, but only that choosing healthier, nutrient filled carbohydrates and lower carbohydrate foods like almonds can help you lose weight.

My Favorite Almond Recipes

Okay, so even I get a little bored of snacking on plain almonds! I love toasting almonds and dusting them with cocoa powder for a sweet touch. I also love trying out different flavors to dust it with (cinnamon and sugar, matcha powder, etc.). But even eating flavored almonds can get tiresome. Because of that, I’ve begun trying out different almond flour recipes. A couple of my favorites includes these two recipes for: Almond Flour Crackers and Bacon Jalapeno Cheddar Almond Flour Biscuits.

Almond Flour Crackers

The things you’re going to need:

• A cup of almond flour
• Three tablespoons of sesame seeds
• A fourth of a teaspoon of baking soda
• A fourth of a teaspoon of salt
• An eighth of a teaspoon of pepper
• A large egg (beaten in a small bowl)
• salt and pepper or other seeds to use as toppers for the crackers

What you’re going to do with those things:

• Preheat the oven to 350 and move the rack to the middle position. Cut two pieces of parchment to fit a large sheet pan, mine is 18 by 13 inches (46 by 33 cm).
• Into a medium bowl, measure and mix all the dry ingredients. Add the egg and work the egg into the ingredients to form a dough. Cut the dough in half.
• Put a fitted piece of parchment (the size of the baking tray you will use) onto the counter. Spray it with baking spray. Lay half of the dough in the center of the parchment. Spray the other piece of parchment and lay it spray-side-down onto the piece of dough.
• Roll the dough into a large rectangle about an eighth of an inch thick. Remove the top piece of parchment and cut the dough into 20-30 pieces with a large sharp knife or a pizza cutter. Leave the cut dough in place. While they may still bake together, you will be able to split them apart fairly easily when they are baked and have cooled.
• Salt and pepper (or add any extra seeds) the crackers. Slide the parchment onto a cookie sheet.
• Bake the almond sesame crackers until they brown around the edges or are a little toasted on the top…probably around 15- 20 minutes. Let them cool for a minute before putting them on a cooling rack to cool completely. Break apart when cool.
• Repeat the procedure with the other half of the dough.
• Store in an airtight container. Makes about 40 crackers. Serving size is 10 crackers each, or a quarter of the recipe.

Bacon Jalapeno Cheddar Almond Flour Biscuits

These are my absolute favorite almond flour biscuits. The jalapeno, bacon and cheddar are not required for this recipe. Feel free to change them out for different alternative ingredients. You can also not use them, but they do add a different texture and dimension to your biscuits.

The things you’re going to need:

• A cup and a half of almond flour
• A teaspoon and a half of baking powder
• A fourth of a teaspoon of salt
• A fourth of a teaspoon of pepper
• A fourth of a cup of shredded cheese (try out different cheeses, my favorite types are cheddar and mozzarella—this is optional if you are cutting back on dairy from your diet)
• A fourth of a cup of small pieces of bacon, or Canadian bacon (optional)
• About eight-ten slices of jarred jalapenos, or 1 fresh jalapeno, diced into small pieces. (This is also optional.)
• A fourth of a cup of heavy cream
• Three tablespoons of frozen butter
• One egg (beaten in a small bowl)

What you’re going to do with those things:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Whisk together dry ingredients. (Almond flour, salt, pepper and baking powder)
• Smush the butter into the almond flour until it’s crumbly sandy mix. I use a cheese grater to shred the frozen butter. This way it mixes evenly with the dry ingredients.
• Dig a well in the center, and add the cream and egg.
• Mix the almond flour in with the wet ingredients. Be careful not to overwork it.
• Fold in the cheese, jalapenos and bacon, if you want to use them.
• Form dough into 4 big balls if you want to use them for sandwich bread. You can form smaller, six-inch rolls for regular-sized dinner rolls. Then lay them on parchment paper. Alternatively, you can make them a little smaller and put them in a small muffin tin.
• Put them in around twenty minutes, but watch the oven to make sure that they browned well on the outside. Depending on your oven, you may need to change this time a bit.