Seeking more of the good fats avoiding more of the bad fats, I took to these Blue Diamond Honwy Roasted Almonds occasionally over the past few weeks. They have some added sugar, honey, and a bit of salt. Yet the sweetness and saltiness together, do not clash. Like Chinese sweet and sour chicken, this particular flavor combo makes this snack food quite satisfying at snack time. You get a sugar fix. Plus, you find a mildly salty flavor that the mind often associates with very filling foods. This I believe quells hunger until you get home and have a real supper.
These almonds are crispy, snappy, crunchy, and chewy. You cannot swallow them without chewing them well first, and this makes them more satisfying to me. By no means are these nuts soggy or bland. Indeed, they’re definitely a healthier, more natural snack than, say, potato chips.
Almonds in fact, are a whole food, and thus, more naturally nutritious than more processed snacks. In spite of the powdery, sugary flavoring, this snack is nonetheless quite nutritious. True, it’d be best to eat pure almonds, without added chemicals and flavorings. But plain almonds taste bland to some people. For them, these flavored almonds are the next best thing. Indeed with this product, you sacrifice some health benefit for a better taste. But at least you’re still getting real, whole almonds. This trade-off makes sense in many situations.
Benefits, Advantages, Pros, and Features
- While the flavor in these almonds is relatively subtle as compared to other snack foods, it’s nonetheless delightful. Nothing overdone about these honey roasted nuts.
- While these almonds have 13 grams of fat and 160 calories per serving, they have no man-made trans fats.
- This product comes from California, which makes it a home-grown, American-made, all-natural, nutty food.
- Almonds are generally considered a healthful snack. But with the added sugar in this product, they omit references to this idea on the can. Apparently, these aren’t as healthful as unflavored raw almonds.
- I’ve found the almonds to be uniform in flavor, color, size, and texture.
- Blue Diamond has indeed refined the art of producing consistently good-tasting almonds into a science. From them, you get medium-sized, chocolate-brown almonds every time you pull open a can, that sport none of the white spots that so often appear on raw almonds, where bits of the skins have peeled off.
- This product keeps for years on the shelf; for years after the best-if-used-by date has expired. So if you’re building a food stash, be sure to stock it with Blue Diamond almonds.
- You need no can opener to get into this can, as it comes with a ring and pull-top lid. So you can dig in as soon as you leave the store with these nuts.
- I need far less almonds to get filled up (in terms of weight) than I would potato chips, cheese corn curls, and so on. Blue Diamond accounted well for the filling effects of the fat in this product, when they decided just how big a serving of it should be.
Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns
- This product contains significant amounts of added sugar and fat.
- It is not a low-calorie food.
- What the Blue Diamond Almond People call a serving of these nuts seems a bit small (one ounce, or 28 nuts). There are six servings per can. But I must eat a third to a half of a can to be satisfied. So it’s best not to snack on this food exclusively in a sitting.
Ingredients
Almonds, sugar, vegetable oil (canola, safflower, and / or sunflower), honey, salt, and corn maltodextrin.
Peanut free, but may contain other tree nuts.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving size: 1 Oz. (28 grams, 28 nuts). Servings per container: 6.
- Calories: 160. Fat calories: 120.
- Total fat: 13 grams, 21% DV.
- Saturated fat: 1 gram, 5% DV.
- Trans fat: 0 grams.
- Cholesterol: 0 milligrams, 0% DV.
- Sodium: 60 milligrams, 2% DV.
- Potassium: 160 milligrams, 5% DV.
- Total carb: 9 grams, 3% DV.
- Dietary fiber: 2 grams, 10% DV.
- Sugars: 5 grams.
- Protein: 5 grams.
- Vitamin A: 0% DV.
- Calcium: 6% DV.
- Vitamin E: 30% DV.
- Iron: 4% DV.
- Magnesium: 15% DV.
Product Rating
I’d recommend Blue Diamond Honey Roasted Almonds as a mid-afternoon nibble. They’ll likely minimize the effects of those pain-in-the-butt two-thirty PM blues far more than candy bars or potato chips. So I’d rate this product at 88 out of 100.
Where To Buy Blue Diamond Honey Roasted Almonds
Look for this flavor of almond in the light yellow can with the bright orange snap-off lid at your favorite bigger grocery stores and online outlets. They’re also widely available on the Internet. I do not typically find these at smaller, locally-based stores.
References
Revision History
- : Adjusted category and tag assignments, fixed typos, and added white space.
- 2012-06-21: Originally published.