Almond Joy Clusters
Sometimes I’m an amazing wife and I create a treat out of Matthew’s favorite candy bar. Other times I just buy him the candy bar. Over the weekend, I decided to be the amazing wife.
Almond Joys…really anything with chocolate and coconut, are Matthew’s go-to when it comes to a sweet treat. He even loves to add coconut syrup to his Dr. Pepper. So when I was hurrying through the grocery store last Saturday to pick up last-minute items for dinner, and I ran right past a huge vat of raw almonds, inspiration struck. Isn’t it funny how inspiration just does that at the most unusual times?
In my rush to get out of the grocery store, I made a quick detour to the baking aisle and grabbed sweetened coconut flakes, dark chocolate chips (because dark chocolate is the best), and restocked my pink Himalayan salt flakes.
This recipe has so very little ingredients, that each one has to be the star in its own way. While roasted, salted almonds are super yummy for a snack, they have no place in this recipe. Raw almonds, that you roast yourself give the clusters WAY more flavor and you can control just how much salt the recipe has.
Place the whole almonds on a baking sheet, with parchment paper, or a silicone pad. Spread them out evenly and place in a preheated oven at 375°F for approximately 15-20 minutes. You will be able to tell when the almonds are done roasting when a pleasant nutty aroma comes from the oven.
The great debate on which type of chocolate is the best has become almost as controversial of a topic as the holy 3…politics, religion, and whether or not the White Sox or the Cubs are the number 1 baseball team in Chicago…it’s the Cubs, by the way.
Personally, I prefer dark chocolate, milk chocolate is a close second. White chocolate’s only place in my life is in hot drinks…like Starbuck’s white hot chocolate.
Whichever way you swing in the chocolate debate, it’s all melted the exact same way…in a double boiler on the stove. If you have never heard of a double boiler, it is a sauce pot with water in the bottom, boiling away while a glass bowl is above it filled with chocolate. The steam from the water rises and melts the chocolate. There are 2 major tips to successfully melting chocolate in a double boiler…#1: keep slowly stirring the chocolate. If it sits, it will burn on the bottom. #2: the boiling water underneath should not be actually touching the glass bowl, only the steam rising should be touching the bowl. If the boiling water is touching the bowl, the chocolate will burn.
Before you know it, the chocolate will be silky smooth and almost too good to use for anything, other than dipping your finger into and eating it like a savage.
Ingredients
- 1 lb raw, whole almonds
- 1 lb dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
- Pink Himalayan Salt
Instructions
- Roast the almonds as directed above. This step can easily be done days in advance or as the first step in the recipe. If the almonds are roasted in advance, place them in your refrigerator after they’ve cooled off. If you roast nuts in bulk, as I do, then place them in your freezer to be used whenever youd like. Make sure to take the almonds out of the freezer and let come to room temperature before going on with the rest of the recipe. If you put cold almonds in the melted chocoalte the chocolate will seize up and you will not be able to make clusters.
- Place the chocolate, heavy cream, and vanilla extract in the double boiler (as described above), stir until the chocolate has combined with the cream and extract and is completely smooth. Take off the double boiler and let rest for 2-3 minutes on the counter. Add in the roasted almonds and stir to combine.
- Take a fork and scoop out a cluster of almonds covered in chocolate, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone pad. Do this over and over until all of the almonds are in clusters on the baking sheets.
- Top each cluster with a pinch of the sweetened coconut flakes and if desired sprinkle a tiny amount of the Pink Himalayan Salt on top of each to make for a nice salty-sweet contrast.
- Once the clusters are topped with the coconut and salt flakes; place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, and up to 24 hours. Then store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition
While there is still sugar, fat, cholesterol, salt…all still in this homemade version of Almond Joys; I have created the recipe to be more health-friendly. This is a great alternative to downing a candy bar. Eating 1, 2 at the most, for a serving and a quick sweet treat will be much more beneficial for your health than the store-bought kind. This recipe can be considered vegetarian, heart-healthy (in moderation), and because there is no added sugar it can also be a Keto treat…as long as you stick to the 1-2 cluster serving.
Hope y’all have an amazing week!
