Learn How To Make Activated Almonds with our recipe to get them more nutritious. Soak almonds in water to start sprouting, and eat delicious, crispy nuts as a perfect food snack. Dehydrate nuts soaked in water further for a longer shelf life.
Enjoy them on their own, add them to your granola, enjoy them in the no-bake cheesecake as a base, make pine cone cheese balls, chocolate covered almonds or store them later.
Once you try eating raw wet almonds, you will never return to an ordinary one. I promise. The flavor and texture are just unreal.
Almond Flour Recipes
In our lifestyle, almond flour is one flour used instead of ordinary flour because of the low carbohydrate content.
Making your flour at home by grinding your almonds is super easy, and you can use it in various recipes.
Almond flour is my favorite of all of the low-carb flour substitutes, and you will find most of my recipes made with it.
What is Activated Almonds?
Activated Almonds are raw almonds soaked in water for 24 hours.
As we know, nuts are plant seeds. In immersing almonds, a sprouting process starts, where the germination process begins, and enzymes break down. Phytate starts breaking down at the same time.
Soaking almonds is not an entirely new concept, as it has been a process in Middle Easter cultures for centuries.
An interest in activating almonds or nuts, in general, started when famous Chef Pete Evans began promoting the process in November 2012. Since then, the process has become very popular and used by many.
How do Activated Almonds Taste?
The best part of activating almonds is the taste. When I made it the first time, I could not believe the difference in taste.
Wet almonds remind me so much of the young walnuts we used to pick and clean from the green shells as kids. We had to take out the skin as it was bitter. It aw always worth cleaning as the taste of actual young walnuts was a dream.
We all had dark hands for a week from the cleaning, but it was so worth it.
They are naturally sweet, and nothing else needs to be added. Once tried, the delicious flavour and texture will get you into soaking them all the time. And soaking your almonds in water for the night brings you the same taste.
The Purpose of Activating Nuts
The whole process starts by immersing the nuts in water.
They begin to sprout, which induces germination, and the enzyme inhibitor that prevents the absorption starts breaking down. They break down phytates, also called phytic acid, which binds the minerals and impairs the absorption of minerals.
Eating lots of raw almonds might cause uncomfortable feelings with symptoms like bloating or feeling of heaviness.
By soaking, you can also dissolve toxic tannin, which makes the skin of the almonds bitter.
What are the Benefits of Soaked Almonds?
There are quite a few benefits of activating almonds, out of which I will mention a few.
They:
- Last longer – shelf life of activated almonds which has been further dried is much longer.
- Taste better – the taste is incomparable to the raw store bough almonds
- Crunchier – once dried, they are much more crunchy
Difference between Activated Almonds and Almonds
The taste is the most significant difference between inactivated raw almonds and activated almonds.
The nutritional values or calories of activated almonds do not change. The only difference is that your body can absorb it much better and more of it.
And that is the primary purpose.
What to do with Soaked Nuts?
After your nuts have been soaked for 12-24 hours, you can continue with a dehydration process to bring them back to dry. In that way, they can be stored the same as usual.
My biggest problem is that I have never gotten to the dehydrating process. Every time I soak a bowl of almonds, I have to eat them. I just can not bare drying them for long.
For my post, I have further dried them the first time. And I have to tell you the secret. I ate half of them in the process. I just can not stop.
How to eat Soaked Almonds?
After you soak your nuts, you can enjoy them as they are a snack. You can go further and dehydrate them. After they become dry and back to normal. Store them as you would use ordinary raw almonds.
You can also coat them with melted dark chocolate and make your own sugar free almond bark.
Make your Activated Nuts
There are already certain stores where you can buy activated almonds, but they are pretty challenging to find.
Making your activated nuts is a super simple process that does not require much.
If you plan to store them further, it is excellent to own a dehydrator, but you can dry them in the sun or the oven.
How to make Activated Almonds?
Simply soaking almonds for a few hours will make them activated.
You can add salt, which helps to deactivate enzyme inhibitors even more and will add a bit of taste.
Then bake or dehydrate further for storage.
How to Activate your Nuts and Seeds?
With just a few easy steps, I will guide you through the whole soaking process for the tastiest and easier to digest nuts.
You can use our guides for any tree nuts also legumes, seeds, and beans.
Kitchen gadgets needed:
- Bowl
- Sieve
- Food Dehydrator
Ingredients needed:
- Raw Almonds
- Water
*Exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO ACTIVATING YOUR NUTS
First step: Ingredients needed
Prepare your nuts, in our case, raw almonds. At the same time, get a bowl with water ready.
Second step: Prepare and soak nuts
First of wash your nuts. I usually wash my almonds under running water using a sieve.
Place your nuts into the large bowl and pour water. This step can be done several times. I found out that the water still gets cloudy from the almond skins.
Once properly washed, place them into a small bowl and add water. Ensure you add much more water as they tend to puff up while soaking. They have to be submerged in the water thoroughly.
Place it onto your kitchen table and let it sit for 24 hours or overnight.
You can also add salt and stir, which helps to deactivate enzyme inhibitors even more and will add a bit of extra taste.
In addition, you can change the water a few times. You will see that the water gets a bit cloudy from soaking the nuts. I do like to change that.
Third step: Dehydrate
The next day, take the bowl and wash the nuts once again.
Do not start eating while they’re still wet because you will not stop. I guarantee this.
Tap dry all of your nuts and spread them onto dehydrator trays.
Dry at a low temperature for 7 to 8 hours until fully dry.
If you do not own a dehydrator, preheat your oven and dry them at the lowest temperature.
Fourth step: Store
Once all of your almonds are completely dry, you can either use them as a snack or store them in a glass container for later.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Salt – you can add salt, which helps to deactivate enzyme inhibitors even more and will add a bit of taste
- Change water – while soaking, from time to time, change the water as it gets cloudy from the skin of the nuts.
- Drying – if you do not have a dehydrator, you can dry them in the sun or oven
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
What to use Activated Nuts for?
Same as any ordinary nuts, you can further store them or use them immediately. They are perfect as a snack in between meals. You can add them to our granola, chocolate clusters or make a no-bake base for our raw cheesecake.
They can also be ground into almond flour as a part of low-carb flour alternatives. You can also prepare activated almond milk following the same steps as I did with our coconut milk. And for the almonds with skin, you can make a pantry flour substitute like an almond meal.
Toasted nuts, either in a savory mixture or brown sugar, are also a delicious idea.
Roasted almonds are delicious and can be done with our recipe. I suggest drying your nuts first and then roasting them in your oven.
How do you Store Activated Almonds?
Your almonds can be stored in the fridge for 5 to 6 days. If you are not planning to dry them, I suggest consuming them straight.
Once thoroughly dried, you can store your nuts in a glass container like any other nuts.
Other Almond Flour Recipes
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Activated Almonds or Soaked Almonds Snack
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Cups of Almonds
- Water
Video
Instructions
- Prepare your nuts, in our case, raw almonds. At the same time, get a bowl with water ready.
- First of wash your nuts. Place them into a small bowl and add water. Place it onto your kitchen table and let it sit for 24 hours or overnight.
- Next day, take the bowl and wash the nuts once again. Tap dry all of your nuts and spread them onto dehydrator trays. Dry at a low temperature for 7 to 8 hours until fully dry.
- Once all of your almonds are completely dry, you can either use them as a snack or store them in a glass container for later.
Notes
- Salt – you can add salt, which helps to deactivate enzyme inhibitors even more and will add a bit of taste
- Change water – while soaking, from time to time, change the water as it gets cloudy from the skin of the nuts.
- Drying – if you do not have a dehydrator, you can dry them in the sun or oven
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Please note that nutrient values are estimates only. Variations can occur due to product availability and manner of food preparation. Nutrition may vary based on methods of origin, preparation, freshness of ingredients, and other factors.
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If you want to add salt – at which step do you add it?
It is good to add salt when you are soaking them. Later on you can taste and if more needed, add as well.
I’m interested in trying this but what are the benefits of going through this step? Also, how can I dry them in the oven? Thank you for your recipes.
There is much more written in the article, but by soaking, you can also dissolve toxic tannin, which makes the skin of the almonds bitter. The enzyme inhibitors in the raw nuts add more pressure on your digestive system, causing bloating. If you do not have dehydrator, oven will work great as well for drying. Just place almonds on a baking tray and bake on the lowest temperature for 3-4 hours or until fully dry.