Whenever i visit a mall - especially during the Holidays, I have to stop into See’s Candies to buy a nut and chew candy and an almond nut cluster. The nut and chew candy is a nougat, caramel, and almond covered chocolate candy that is so satisfying to bite into. It’s of course chewy and crunchy and chocolatey at the same time! The almond nut cluster is simply roasted almonds covered in dark chocolate. Sounds simple enough to make, so I decided to make some this year!
I posted a story of my candy making on Instagram Stories and got so many DM’s asking for the recipe, so here it is! You won’t believe how easy it is to make this.
So as simple as it is to make these, there are a few techniques and tips that I have to give:
1) buy high quality chocolate to melt. This is sort of a no brainer - I recommend chocolate from a bar that you melt down, and the higher the cacao content, the better. I tend to like 70% but anything over 60% is great. I like using Ghirardelli or the Trader Joe’s chocolate plus bars that you find above the freezers. Those melt so surprisingly beautiful for being so cheap!
2) Get unsalted almonds already roasted. You could find these also at Trader Joe’s, or Sprouts and Whole Foods in the bulk bins. I find that already salted almonds are too salty and I like controlling the amount of salt that I put on to balance, hence the finishing salts at the end.
3) This ties in with the first tip - do not use chocolate chips. Whatever you do, just don’t. Chocolate chips have fillers in them and while they do melt, once they dry, you end up with white streaks and they just don’t taste right.
These make the best edible gifts for friends / coworkers. Make sure you tune in to my Youtube Channel on Monday to see the other treats I packaged up!
Dark Chocolate Almond Clusters
Recipe:
2 cups high quality dark chocolate
3-4 cups unsalted roasted almond
himalayan pink salt
In a sauce pan over medium heat, boil water until it starts to steam. Turn off heat.
Place a heat safe bowl (stainless steel or glass works great) on top of pot and add chocolate into bowl. Stir in one direction as the chocolate melts over the soft heat.
Once chocolate has melted completely, pour almonds into the chocolate and mix well. Feel free to add more / less almonds depending on your chocolate to almonds ratio preference.
Use a spoon to scoop up the almond / chocolate mixture and drop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Once completed, sprinkle a hint of sea salt over each chocolate cluster and let dry completely, about 1 hour.
