Almond Roca, super similar to English toffee, is one of our favorite buttery-toffee treats; it’s something we love to have around the house on holidays, special occasions, or to give out as gifts. But we can also make this beloved sweet at home, and the results are beyond delicious. If you’ve made toffee like this before, then you know just how easy it is to whip up a batch to share with friends and family (and of course stash some away for yourself!). When we want to put together a gift basket or a thank you to a teacher or a coworker, then this is one of our must-haves in any goodie bag.
Supplies are quite simple, with the only “specialty” item being a candy thermometer, as the butter-sugar mixture needs to get to a certain temperature in order to get the right consistency. We stir in a few chopped almonds and pour the mixture onto a prepared baking sheet to cool. Next, the chocolate. Depending on your preferred tastes, you can use dark, milk, or semi-sweet chocolate, and we like to add a little bit of oil for texture and glossiness. You can cook this on the stove, but we took a little shortcut and chose to melt the chocolate in the microwave instead.
The hard part is over once the chocolate is poured over the slightly cooled toffee mixture (of course we have to test the chocolate for quality, so we’ve been known to sneak a few licks from the spatula and bowl). Now we have to turn on a little bit of patience. This needs to completely set before we can break it apart, so some time in the refrigerator is necessary to really bring this sweet treat together. Once set, we can break it into chunks and sink our teeth into chocolate-nutty-toffee deliciousness.
If there’s a perfect candy combination then it has to be buttery, salty toffee with chocolate and nuts. We love these toffee-chocolate-nut bars and they’re beyond easy to make. They make for the perfect gift at any season, but they’re also great served alongside a cup of coffee or tea. Any season is the right season to whip up a batch of these delightful treats!
Homemade Almond Roca Bars
Yield(s): Serves 16-20 servings
1 hour + cooling
Ingredients
- 4 sticks butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped almonds
- 2 cups chocolate chips, milk, dark, or semi-sweet
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Preparation
- Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and grease with cooking spray, set aside.
- Combine butter and sugar in a large saucepan over high heat. Attach a candy thermometer to side of saucepan. Stir until mixture comes to a boil. When mixture reaches 290°F, remove from heat and immediately stir in ¾ cup of chopped almonds.
- Pour mixture onto cookie sheet and spread evenly.
- As caramel mixture cools, microwave chocolate chips with oil in short increments of 20 seconds, stirring after each increment of time, until chocolate is completely melted. Pour melted chocolate over top of slightly cooled toffee-nut mixture.
- Sprinkle reserved chopped almonds over top of chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours or overnight before breaking into pieces to serve.
Recipe adapted from Suburban Simplicity.