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.
The sugar crystallized, any ideas? I did it on a low boil? 🙁
That happened to me on first try. I thought perhaps the heat was too low. If you keep it on medium to medium-high (depending on your stove), it should be good- just be careful of boiling too rapidly and pull it off if it turns a nice caramel color (as in my photos) before the 12 minutes is up.
Hi Lori, I have always been intimidated with making anything like this, but after looking at your recipes and pictures, I was excited to try it!
My first attempt, not good, I was trying to go by the time and let brown sugar mixture go 12 minutes, however, it quickly went from caramel looking to burnt!
Second time around, went more by eye, and got a much better result! Finished product So tastey and delicious!
Thank you for the recipe. I am anxious to share the results with friends and family!
Pam
After two attempts I am throwing in the towel. I burned the first batch of toffee. The second batch was going well (at a lower temp), but separated around 9 minutes. Anyone else have this problem? Soooo disappointed!
Shoot. It’s hard to say what went wrong 🙁
Someone @ work made this & it was amazing! I still have a little bag left, trying to savor every bite.
Thanks for the suggestion. I will try that next time. Btw everyone I have given some to love it.
Okay…. saw it… had to make it… did make it but one problem…. when “cutting” it up on about half of the bars, the chocolate layer seperated from the toffee layer…. what happened? It is delicious though – going to chop up all the seperated bits and use as ice cream topping, cake topping, etc… but just curious for next time!
Please see my response to Michele re: the same issue.
Love it! Though a quick question. My chocolate seems to come away from the toffee. Any ideas why ??
I did a little bit of research on this and came up with this recommendation: Since toffee tends to be so buttery, you might try sprinkling a bit of cocoa powder onto the toffee before you place the chocolate bars on top. I’d do this with a sieve or a sifter so you could get a nice, even powdering. The cocoa powder apparently acts as an absorbent for the fat so that the chocolate is able to adhere better. I haven’t tried this yet, but it seems like it’s worth a shot to me! Hope this helps!
I have made this 3 times so far. It is probably the single best recipe I have tried in a very long time. Amazing. Thank you!!!!
Sold! I have a batch in the fridge right now. Almond Roca was my favorite “treat” candy when I was little. Eating it made me feel grown up, but now making it has made me feel like a kid again. Thank you!!
How i wish i could be somewhere nearer to you, so you can gift me those candies you’ve been making… I absolutely loved how it looks… And when i read the steps, i couldn’t believe something this beautiful and complicated is actually so easy 🙂