How to make an incredible snack or last minute gift in under 60 minutes? You have come to the right place: Give this Orange and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds recipe a try!
We’re here today to address an immensely important topic:
Why do we always need last minute Christmas gifts?
Take any random year and you’ll have me sitting on the floor on Christmas eve, mixing bath salts or flavored oils in a panic-driven mode. Also, rewind 60 days and you’ll hear me swear I’ll start with presents by the end of November this time.
And then what happens? 60 days just fly by and I’ll end up losing my mind over some finicky DIY I found somewhere online. Like yesterday when I was trying to wrangle my toddler’s hand into wet clay. At least I was a day early, so that’s a plus?
This leads me to my next question:
Why do DIY Christmas gifts always have to be so impossible to make?
Let’s face it, I can’t wait 30 days to allow the vanilla to infuse. I can’t afford to spend 100$ on a DIY gift either. And I definitely don’t think anyone would appreciate a fabric tote lovingly drawn on by a 16-month-old, apart from the grandmas of course.
Almost a quarter of a century and I still haven’t found my magic solution.
Though maybe chocolate covered almonds solve everyone’s problem.
Give people food and they’re happy. Give people chocolate and they’ll love you. Forever. This is of course an entirely scientifically-proven and researched statement. (It’s not.)
But from what I’ve gathered over the last few years, it’s always the homemade food my family loves the most.
Not the cookie mix in a jar thing, because that’s something requiring effort to get to the eating bit.
A bit of stirring-spices-into-juice is OK, but nothing more.
But it’s best to stick to chocolate. And remember:
Make it dark and salted.
People will think you’re such a foodie and oh-so-fancy.
They’ll never guess you made these Orange and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds in your best yoga pants wearing cozy plush-lined pink Crocs you ordered on Amazon* (because FUR AND SOFT AND AWESOME) and dancing to Michael Bublé.
For good measure, don’t call them chocolate covered almonds but Almond Rochers because that sounds so posh. And will probably do away with the fact that there’s chocolatey toddler fingerprints all over the bag.
And use Maldon sea saltM
*, if at all possible.
If people ask you why, just explain that I told you so. The reason I’m telling you is that you can then explain to them how much you paid for the salt (for the salt!), which will make them think your gift is better than getting a Prada purse.
Almost.
Whatever you do though, don’t leave out the orange.
Just don’t leave it out.
Thank you.
Have a wonderful and stress-free (as if ever!) Christmas!
And if you get started on these little fancy Orange and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds aka Orange Salted Dark Chocolate Almond Rochers aka your Christmas saver right now you can give them to your entire neighbourhood tomorrow morning. Promise.
P.S: If you want to make these for young kids, please take into consideration that there’s a large amount of salt in the recipe. Make them without the salt for children, even if you lose the fancy-factor. And don’t feed them to very young ones as the slivered nuts are not safe to be consumed by them.
Here’s the printable recipe for your new favorite chocolate covered almonds:
Orange and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 ounces slivered almonds 140g
- zest of 1-2 large oranges finely grated
- 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes (I used Maldon; Fleur de Sel works well, too) plus extra for sprinkling (optional)
- 3 ounces dark chocolate 90g
Instructions
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place the almonds in a large skillet over medium-high heat and toast them until they're staring to brown. Mix with the orange zest and sea salt and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In the meantime, bring a medium pot of water to a boil, then reduce to a slight simmer. Break the chocolate into pieces and place them into a metal bowl. Place this metal bowl on top of the simmering pot (the water doesn't have to touch the bowl and there should be absolutely no leakage!) and store the chocolate until melted. This is called a bain-marie and a good method to prevent the chocolate from getting too hot.
- Once the chocolate is melted, quickly stir in the cooled almond mixture until everything is evenly covered. With the help of two teaspoons, scoop out the mixture and drop them into small piles on the prepared cookie sheet. Allow the chocolate to cool and harden completely before peeling off the paper and packaging.
Notes
Here's what you need to make Orange and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds. Click the images to view the items now.
Nutrition (this is an estimate)
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Medha @ Whisk & Shout
These almond clusters look incredible! Pinning!
Nora
Thank you, Medha! I appreciate the pin!