I’ve been a busy little candy maker lately, anticipating the desire for holiday gifting. So far, I’ve made truffles, peanut brittle, fudge and this Almond Roca.
Watch the video showing you how to make Almond Roca, then scroll to the bottom of this post to print out the recipe so you can make it at home.
Almond roca is my favorite. My TOTAL favorite. My CRAZY-ADDICTING favorite! The best part is- you will NOT need a candy thermometer for this recipe! yahoo-easy!
How to make Almond Roca:
To make homemade almond roca, sprinkle 3/4 cup chopped and toasted almonds into the bottom of a buttered 7×11-inch glass pan. I realize everyone doesn’t have a 7×11-inch pan, so you can certainly use a 9×12-inch if you need to… it will just be more spread out and thinner.
I use salted, roasted almonds (and then toasted them in a dry frying pan after chopping). You can use unsalted natural almonds if you don’t care for the salty-sweet combination in dessert.
Melt some butter in a medium saucepan.
Add brown sugar, and stir it up.
Bring the mixture to a boil. Not a wild, rolling boil… just enough of a boil where you see bubbles popping frequently.
Boil the butter/sugar mixture for 12 minutes exactly (stirring constantly). It should look all cool and golden and toffee-like when it’s done.
I make my almond roca without a candy thermometer with success, but since some readers have noted having trouble with this recipe- you might wish to stick an instant read thermometer in there just to make sure it’s about the right temperature.
Here’s a candy thermometer that has good reviews on Amazon.
Pull it off the heat when it has reached the hard-crack stage (300 degrees F) or when the mixture starts to separate (the oil starts to separate from the sugar). If it gets higher than 320, the mixture will not remain solid.
Pour it on top of the almonds in the pan– drizzling it all over and and filling in all of the spaces with the toffee.
Place four chocolate bars on top of the hot toffee.
Let them sit there for a minute or so and get all gooey and melted, then use the bottom of a spoon to spread the chocolate around.
Spread all the way to the edges.
Sprinkle more almonds on top. Press them in gently. Now’s the hard part.
You can either let the almond roca sit at room temperature overnight to set that chocolate completely, or you can refrigerate it until firm, or you can freeze it for about 20 minutes (until firm).
Once the mixture is firm and set, loosen the sides of the pan with a knife and the almond roca should pop right out of the pan in one, big hunk. Break it apart gently with your hands, or set it on a cutting board and use a large knife to cut across the slab of candy–wedges will break off and appear in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Sample! Just to make sure everything is tasting okay and everything 😉
It’s best to get this almond roca out of your house as quickly as possible. On candy-making day at my house, this was the favorite of all of my taste testers… by far.
SO good. And SO addicting and buttery and almondy and salty-sweet and delicious.
This should keep just fine in a sealed container kept at room temperature for a couple of weeks. Happy holiday gifting!
If you enjoy candy recipes, you might also like my recipes for Key Lime Fudge, Caramels or Fantasy Fudge. Homemade Snickers and Holiday Lollipops are fun choices too!
Almond Roca
Ingredients
- 1½ cups chopped toasted almonds, divided
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
- 4 bars milk chocolate (such as Hershey's)
Instructions
- Butter a 7x11-inch pan (or 9x12 for slightly thinner roca). Sprinkle 1 cup of toasted almonds on bottom of the pan.
- In a heavy saucepan at medium-high heat melt butter and add brown sugar. Stir until gently boiling. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low and boil 12 minutes exactly, stirring constantly. *Edited to add* I make mine without a candy thermometer with success, but since some readers have noted having trouble with this recipe- you might wish to stick an instant read thermometer in there just to make sure it's about the right temperature. Pull it off the heat when it has reached the hard-crack stage (300 degrees F)- or when the mixture starts to separate (the oil starts to separate from the sugar). If it gets higher than 320, it will not remain solid.
- Remove the mixture from heat, give it a good stir to mix up that butter and sugar one more time, and immediately pour the hot mixture into the pan over the almonds. (see *Recipe Notes below) Place the chocolate bars on top. Let them sit a minute or so until melted, then spread chocolate around carefully. Sprinkle with the remaining toasted almonds, and gently press them into the chocolate.
- Cool completely, and then break apart into chunks with a sharp knife. Store in a covered container.
Notes
- TIPS:
This recipe is gluten-free adaptable- just be sure to use a brand of chocolate that is known to be GF. - If you like the sweet-salty combination in desserts, use roasted almonds that are salted (then you can chop them and toast them lightly in a dry frying pan). If you don't care to have much salt, use unsalted natural almonds. I went for the salty kind and LOVED it.
- If you don't have a 7x11-inch pan, it's okay to use a 9x12-inch pan. You probably won't want to go all the way to the edges with the almonds, toffee and chocolate or it will be thin. Leave about an inch all the way around.
- Speed up the cooling process by placing the pan in the refrigerator.
- If you are in a place where it is very humid, you will likely have trouble getting your toffee to set. Toffee doesn't like humidity. Try it on a dry day!
- Edited to add that some people have trouble w/ the chocolate separating from the toffee. This is kind of normal in almond roca since the toffee is so buttery. I've been told that one way to avoid that is to give the toffee a light dusting of cocoa powder before placing the chocolate bars on top. The powder apparently acts as an absorbent for the butter and allows the chocolate to adhere more easily to the toffee. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm told that it works!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ohhh this brings so many memories as my mother used to make something very similar when I was a kid. It has been years since I had some. Thanks so much for posting this. I will be sure to make it soon.
My favorite candy recipe ever!
Made this tonight gluten free and my celiac hubby loved it!
Yahoo!
Since I’m allergic to almonds I would use pecans.
I finally made this last night, it started separating around 260 degrees mark, and being the first time I used my new candy thermometer, I was worried I used it wrong, and didn’t want to overcook the toffee, and pulled it off the heat and poured it into the pan (it had been bubbling for close to 12 min). I did use the cocoa powder tip as a precaution, and melted my chocolate and poured it on top, chocolate stayed attached, but when I cut my roca, I had to cut all the way through, it didn’t break off into funny shaped pieces. the toffee was not as hard as it was supposed to be, maybe I undercooked it? regardless, everyone who has tried the batch LOVES the flavors and mom (who it was mostly for) loves the texture cause it is easier for her to chew with her not so great teeth.
next time I think I will see if I can find a pan that is a little taller and less wide, so the thermometer can sit a little deeper into it, and go more by that then the time, unless making it for mom, in which case I will probably pull it a little early so that it is easier for her to eat.
Thanks for the simple, easy to follow recipe, again, I got nothing but compliments on the flavor from everyone who has gotten to try the batch, not even a complaint about it not being as hard as it is supposed to be
As a lover of Roca, I have to say these turned out perfect! I have not made candy before and did not have a candy thermometer. I also halved the recipe (as asked about by the previous comment) and boiled the sugar/butter mixture for a little under half the time (around 5 mins instead of 12). I stopped just as the color matched with the pictures shown and the mixture just started to shows signs of possibly separating. The result was delicious; crunchy candy that stayed hard throughout the day (I made it the night before for a picnic). The candy also came out in one (satisfying 🙂 ) piece which was then broken into smaller pieces with the help of my husband. The candy came out just like the pictures; thank you for this recipe!! It’s a keeper!
What an EXPENSIVE mess. I followed the directions including the newer ones printed in Comments. I set the timer for 12 minutes and used my old candy thermometer. Two minutes before 13 and long before 300* it was a burned, separated mess.
So I have all that chocolate and all the almonds but no roca.
Just a tip to your readers. If the butter separates from the sugar, add 1 tablespoon of water stirring after until it comes back together. It may take a few tablespoons of water but only add what you have to to get it back together.
First attempt at anything like this. Didn’t even have right thermometer but it progressed just as described and came out perfect!!!!
Thanks
I’ve been making almond roca from a recipe I got over 50 years ago. I’ve always used the same recipe until this year when I decided to try a couple of new ones. I used yours, but adapted it a little bit.
I doubled the recipe, added about 3/4 cup of ground almonds to the toffee mxture when it finished cooking. I used a large cookie sheet, with edges, buttered very well.
So, buttered cookie sheet, pour in toffee mixture, spread chocolate (I used melted chocolate chips), finish by sprinkling one cup+ ground almonds over the chocolate. Chill till solid, turn out onto a dish towel, wipe off excess butter, break into pieces and LOVE IT!