Homemade Chocolate Almond Candy, 2 Ways | A great DIY holiday gift!

Chocolate Almond Candy: it's a DIY gift your friends and family will actually want to receive! And I've got 2 variations for you to choose from!

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DIY Gifts: Chocolate Almond Candy, 2 Ways

I recently did a poll in my Instagram stories and you guys indicated that you wanted more DIY holiday gifts. So I've got you here with a double doozy! By the way, if you don't follow me on there already, you totally should. If not for any other reason but the fact that my stories show all the parenting hot-mess glory- no Pinterest perfect here and it can often be hilarious!

Anyway, I don't know about you, but I seriously love those fantastic chocolate covered almonds at Trader Joe's. It's kind of dangerous because if I buy them, I end up eating the whole container in one day! So I figured they'd be a great gift to make and give.

I also figured you guys would like some good variations to keep it interesting. The first one is Chocolate Covered Almonds with Cocoa and Chili. These have a slight zing from the chili powder (I used Ancho Chili powder for a nice kick- I'm not linking it in here because it's crazy expensive on Amazon but the one I used was featured in the this recipe) and are a nice unexpected twist in your usual chocolate covered almonds.

The second variation are Salty Sweet Chocolate Covered Almonds. For these, I sprinkled a little bit of coarse kosher salt over the chocolate covered almonds before they set which adds a nice bit of savory flavor to the candy sweetness.

A few tips for making Homemade Chocolate Almond Candy:

1. Line your pan- I used my Silpats (which I seriously love in general) but even parchment or wax paper is a great option to keep them for sticking and make clean up a breeze!
2. Don't rush- these come out much prettier if you take take your time. You'll also make less of a mess overall.
3. Don't overload your bowl of cocoa- if you're making the Chocolate Covered Almonds with Cocoa Chili, put each almond into the chili powder individually so they don't stick together. I dropped a few a time into the powder, but aimed for separate spots in the bowl so they wouldn't stick together. And make sure you use a big enough bowl- I used this one.
4. Use course salt- For the Sweet and Salty Chocolate Covered Almonds I used course kosher salt, but a Coarse Sea Salt or even Malden Salt Flakes would also work. Regular table salt or fine salt will heed a candy that is way over-salted. It's all about balance.
5. Store them in the refrigerator- They'll last longer instead of melting into each other.

Homemade Chocolate Almond Candy, 2 Ways

Jessy Freimann

These homemade almond candies are seriously delicious and easy to make- they're ready in under 30 minutes and make a great snack or gift.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Dessert, gift, holidays, Snack

Servings 2 cups

Calories 6 kcal

Equipment

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  mixing bowl
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  Spatula
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  Fork
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  sheet pan
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  Parchment paper

Ingredients

  

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For the chocolate covered almonds:

• 10 ounces good quality dark chocolate chunks or chips
• 12 ounces dry roasted unsalted whole almonds

For the Cocoa and Chili variation:

• ⅔ cup high quality unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2-4 teaspoons chili powder I used Ancho chili powder and the amount can vary based on how spicy you want them
• 2 pinches Kosher salt

For the Sweet and Salty variation:

• 2 pinches Kosher salt you can also use coarse Sea Salt or Malden Salt flakes

Instructions

 

For both types of almonds:

• Place the chocolate chips into a medium microwave-safe bowl.
• Microwave for 30 seconds and stir.
• Microwave for 30 more seconds and stir.
• Microwave for 10 second increments, stirring in between until the chocolate is fully melted.
• Pour the almonds into the melted chocolate and stir until all the almonds are fully coated.
• Add cocoa powder, chili powder and salt in a small bowl.
• Whisk well until fully combined.
• While the chocolate is still wet, use a fork to take each chocolate coated almond and roll it in the cocoa mixture (don't pour them all into the cocoa at once, it will be a big, sticky mess!).
• Gently tap the excess cocoa mixture off the almonds and place them on a lined baking sheet.
• Refrigerate for at least an hour to set and store them in the refrigerator for up to a couple weeks (if they last that long!).

For the Sweet and Salty variation:

• Use a fork to take each almond out of the bowl of chocolate and place them onto a lined baking sheet (do them one at a time so they don't all stick together!).
• While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle course salt evenly over the top to taste (place your hand higher above the pan for more even distribution).
• Refrigerate for at least an hour to set and store them in the refrigerator for up to a couple weeks (if they last that long!).

Notes

If you want to do both variations in one batch, halve the amount of cocoa, chili and pinches of salt from the Cocoa and Chili variation.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cupsCalories: 6kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 0.3gFat: 0.3gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gSodium: 808mgPotassium: 39mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.1gVitamin A: 593IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 7mgIron: 0.4mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Helpful tools:

Another great DIY gift is:

Candied Pecans

I also love these DIY gifts:

M&M's Brownie Truffles

Peanut Butter Brownie Truffles

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