I’m trying really hard to have a handmade holiday this year. I decided to go with edibles for teacher/bus driver/neighbors this year. Almond Roca was my candy of choice.

Almond Roca Recipe

1 lb. butter
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp. corn syrup
6 tbsp. water
1 cup almonds (chopped finely)
1 bag milk chocolate chips

Using a large pot, melt butter. Add in sugar, corn syrup and water. Stir continuously for approximately 10-15 minutes. In this time the mixture will start to bubble and expand. This is why you want a large pot. When the mixture is at 290 degrees F (or is a caramel brown color and starting to thicken), take off the burner and mix in 1/2 cup of the almonds. Pour into a cookie sheet (lined with wax paper is best) and allow to cool for a few minutes. In the meantime, melt bag of chocolate chips. Pour melted chocolate on top of the butter/sugar mixture and sprinkle with remaining almonds. Allow to cool in refrigerator for an hour before attempting to break into small pieces.

I don’t have a picture of any of the Almond Roca outside of the boxes. I thought it best to package it right away to keep me from wanting to eat it all! We did “test” it and it definitely has my seal of approval.

I compromised on the packaging. I could have made the boxes but I didn’t. I know my limits. The boxes were purchased at Hobby Lobby (50% off this week, by the way). They are a piece of cake to assemble (just pop them open) and saved me a lot of time and money. I did punch out a scallop tag to place on the top. That’s why this project gets the “semi-homemade” seal of approval.