Last fall I made my first ever batch of chocolate almond bark, and honestly didn't really know what I was doing. I used cheaper chocolate and didn't chop the almonds before I roasted them -- but even so, friends were texting me going "You made this?!?! I ate it before I even got home from your house. Hopefully my husband didn't want any." So I took that as a good sign and made it again, this time keeping track of what I used and how it tasted better. Which brings me to today's post - Dark Chocolate Almond Bark, with sea salt. Obviously.
If you follow T.J. or I on Snapchat, you may have seen that we went to our local Farmer's Market on Tuesday, which is where I normally buy my favorite chocolates. They're incredibly well made and local and delicious! But at $10/lb its hard to justify buying, like, seven pounds every week. 😂
I hope you'll take the time to try this recipe for yourself! It's so good. And makes enough that you can give some away to your neighbors. (Yes, Kim, I have a bag set aside for you already. Fear not.)
Be sure to tag me in your Instagrams or send me a Snap if you make your own dark chocolate almond bark!!
DARK CHOCOLATE ALMOND BARK
- 2 cups whole, raw almonds
- Oil (I used Olive Oil.)
- 4 cups Dark Chocolate / Measured unmelted / I used a combination of Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate Morsels and Wilbur's Dark Chocolate melting wafers. I like the way the melting chocolate sets up quickly, but the real flavor comes from the Nestle chocolate. Whatever combination you have of various chocolate will do!
- Sea salt
DIRECTIONS
Measure out 2 cups of raw almonds and chop into smaller pieces. Drizzle almond pieces with oil. Stir until coated well. Dump almonds onto a cookie sheet and roast at 325° for 20 minutes... maybe. Honestly, I don't know the exact time. Keep an eye on them. For the longest time it will look like nothing is happening. But all of a sudden they'll look dark and golden and then you'll start to smell the deliciousness of roasted almonds and THAT'S when they are done. Take them out of the oven and lightly sprinkle them with salt. Sometimes I let them cool on the counter for an hour or so while I go do something else. Other times I cool them in the freezer because I am too excited to eat the finished product.
Once your almonds have cooled, start melting your chocolate. I used my own "fake" double broiler set-up. You can also melt chocolate in the microwave. It *can* be tricky if you've never done it before. THIS is kind of how I melt mine - with a saucepan and glass mixing bowl. In between stiring your melting chocolate, line a rimmed cookie sheet foil. (If you want to. I've done it with and without foil.) Once your chocolate is full melted, scrape all the chocolate out of the mixing bowl and into the bowl with your cooled almonds. Mix well.
Spread chocolate mixture onto your cookie sheet quickly - not because it'll cool too fast, but because you've already spent like a hour waiting for those dang nuts to cool, so the faster you spread the sooner you'll get to eat the final product!! If you want your bark to be super thin, maybe line and fill two pans instead of one. If you want it to be super thick, to maybe cut into little cute squares, use a smaller brownie pan instead of a cookie sheet. Its really up to you. Feel free to adjust your almond/chocolate ratio the next time you make it depending on the size of the pan you want to fill every time. This recipe is what works best for my cookie sheet!
Top if all off with sea salt! Place in your refrigerator to cool! Once totally chilled, take it out of the pan and break it up into small pieces! If the chocolate feels like its bending instead of snapping into pieces, it's probably not completely chilled, so just give it a few more minutes. Break it up and enjoy. Yum!
