Caramelized Almonds dipped in chocolate
When we entertain, caramelized almonds are always served. Either they will be tossed in a crisp salad or sitting on a cheese tray or simply enjoyed as a snack with a good glass of wine or Belgian beer. Making caramelized almonds is easy and I like to flavor them with all types of seasoning such as cayenne pepper, wasabi and vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom or fleur de sel for snacking etc.
Whether you dip caramelized almonds in tempered chocolate or not is entirely up to you. For simple snacking, I usually dip the caramelized almonds in tempered chocolate since I like the added nutritional benefit. Is it not fantastic that we finally have come to understand that chocolate is good for us? Seeds or beans are usually packed with nutrition and it is superb that chocolate is no exception to the rule.
Caramelized almonds are easy to make and they are always adoringly accepted when you bring them as a gift to a friend’s house. People always remember homemade gifts.
Getting it all together!
No need to make these at the last minute. Once they have cooled store them in an airtight bag and they will easily last a week. If you vacuum pack the caramelized almonds the shelf life is lengthened dramatically.
Caramelized Almonds
| ½ Cup | (4 oz) | Extra fine granulated sugar | 120 g |
| ¼ Cup | (2 oz) | Water | 60 g |
| pinch | (pinch) | Fleur de sel or salt | Pinch |
| 2 Cups | (9 oz) | Almonds, peeled or not | 270 g |
| 1 teaspoon | (1 tsp) | Vanilla bean paste or vanilla | 5 g |
- The almonds do not need to be peeled. If you desire to peel the almonds see the previous post on this site. Toast the almonds in a 350°F (180C°) oven until the center of the almonds is light golden. Do not toast to a deep golden since the almonds will be heated on a saucepan once more.
- In a large sauté pan, bring the sugar, water, salt and vanilla to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and add the almonds. The almonds may be warm or cold.
- Constantly stir the almonds in the sugar syrup until most of the syrup is evaporated. Turn off the heat and keep stirring until a sandy coating forms on the almonds and the almonds “sound” dry when moved around the pan.
- Place the pan back on the heat source on medium heat; stir constantly until the sandy coating on the almonds start to caramelize. Parts of the almonds will remain rough and sandy looking.
- Place the almonds on a silicone mat or very lightly oiled aluminum foil and let cool.
- If desired, sprinkle the almonds with a light dusting of cinnamon, cardamom, wasabi powder, cayenne pepper, anise seed powder etc. Keep in an airtight bag.
- If you decide to go one step further and dip the caramelized almonds in tempered chocolate you will need approximately 12 oz (360 g) of couverture chocolate.
- Temper the chocolate, see tempering methods on this site and toss the cooled caramelized almonds into the chocolate. Very quickly place the almonds on a parchment or plastic food film lined surface or toss immediately into cocoa powder mixed with powdered sugar. (75% cacao and 25% powdered sugar)
I am looking forward to making lots of these – and caramelizing pecans, too – during this holiday season. It’s awesome that this is so quick and easy… the only hard part is not eating them all when they’re done!! Thanks for posting this, Chef Eddy!
Amazing, we’re totally in sync! 🙂 Just yesterday i ate all my mother’s caramelized almonds that she bought at a fair in Italy … so to make it up to her, i decided to make her some this morning. Then i go to check your site since it’s been 4 days since i last visited (was in Germany, so i have a valid excuse :)) and what do you know, toasted almonds! 🙂 Thank you for this recipe, it will most certainly be replicated! 🙂
Amazing! Delicious and perfect for gift giving!
Just wanted to let you know i have now made these three times already, they are perfect for both gifts to others and to myself! 🙂
Maja,
Great! Thank you for letting me know.
Eddy.
almonds with chocolate filling… I never ate it before like this….
How wonderful. This is perfect for snacking this holiday chef. Thank you so much.
I love this recipe, the Number one rule when dealing with sugar and water is not to stir, yet it works so perfectly here when it crystalizes on the nut you use. Many of us enjoy the taste and texture of this sweet nutty treats so letting everyone know how simple one can do it at home make this delicious snacks into an incredible event.
I am going to try these without the coco powder at the end, maybe cinnamon instead
Wonderful recipe! It’s perfect for snacking on, perfect for the holidays, healthy, and the taste and texture is great!
I so love almonds and also cashews and walnuts! I have made caramelized pecans several times, just to add to salad and just to snack on.. This recipe I defiantly follow for Christmas for gift boxes!
I plan on making a few bags of these for mothersday to hand out to my aunts, my mom and her sisters enjoy caramelized almonds. Thanks chef
I will have to try it. I would have never thought of cayenne pepper, how much of a kick does it give? Does it alter the taste since you are using chocolate?
Made these with chef anna the other day and have to say they were a big hit at my house everyone loved them
these would be perfect for a casual get together, everybody loves chocolate dipped almonds! Something that is easy to make is always a good recipe. Is it possible to make them white chocolate dipped? that would be awesome!
Fantastic. Some girlfriends and I are hosting a wine event this weekend and I’ve been looking for a treat to send home without guests. I think these would also be nice in granola.
These look really good. I might try to make these for friends and family one day. But I might do come with just chocolate covered and some with the cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Just to experiment which is a little better for my taste buds. I’m pretty simple.
I honestly wish we would of done this, even though it might not have been in our region for our class. caramelized almonds dipped in chocolate sound like heaven!