Salted Chocolate Almond Clusters

I have a slight addiction to chocolate covered almonds. Whenever I get a tub from Trader Joe’s, it doesn’t last long. Sure, they’re somewhat healthy with almonds, but I could put them away like they’re their own food group. Besides, they cost way more than chocolate and almonds should.

This was my effort at making my own. These clusters were incredibly easy to make and tasted just as good as the store-bought ones. I would recommend using a good tasting, high-quality chocolate like Scharffen Berger of Valrhona since the flavor really matters when there are so few ingredients. The salt on top was the perfect added punch of flavor.

For a different flavor, add coarse turbinado sugar on top, or mix a flavor like cinnamon or chile powder into the melted chocolate.

Salted Chocolate Almond Clusters

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes(allow 30 minutes to cool)

Ingredients(Makes about 10 clusters):

• 6oz good quality semi-sweet or bitter-sweet baking chocolate
• 5oz almonds, raw or roasted
• Coarse sea salt

Method:

1. Carefully melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler.
2. Add in the almonds and stir them in.
3. Drop a tablespoon of chocolate almonds into a small cupcake tin. You could also make these flat like bark by laying it onto non-stick parchment paper.
4. Sprinkle course sea salt on top of the almonds.
5. Either let these harden at room temperature or—for a faster method—harden these in the refrigerator.
6. Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.