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.
Ok so I made this yesterday, you know just to start getting ready for Christmas……..not to eat it all or anything;) my toffee and chocolate did separate a bit and the toffee was a little grainy. I will try making it again, just wondering if you think I maybe got the toffee too hot? It still tastes super yummy and is amazing ontop of ice cream!
I’m not an expert on candy making, so I’m afraid I cannot pinpoint your problem… but this one does take a little practice to perfect!
ok now THIS will definitely be on the list of things to make for the holidays …. do we start with Thanksgiving or wait till Christmas??? oh heck looks like both!
thanks for sharing.
My mom loves Almond Roca. I think I will make this for her. Yum.
Just gave this recipe a try and 12 minutes at medium/medium low was way too hot for the toffee. I didn’t understand what you meant by, “if it gets higher than 320, it will not remain solid.” Now I know that means when the mixture starts to separate (the oil starts to separate from the sugar). I didn’t use a thermometer, but I never had the stove higher than medium and it started to separate around 7 minutes.
Could you please update your instructions accordingly so other people don’t burn their toffee? The sugar/butter mixture separated or broke when it overheated. I don’t think your description was very clear.
Thanks!
Just did- thank you!
Suddenly my brown sugar keeps curdling. What is causing that?
It probably has something to do with the temperature. Candy making can be tricky!
What good does it do to publish your recipes without proportions? Some butter… I can see it’s 2 cubes, or is it more?… next brown sugar… um? how much please… I mean you’re using Hershey bars…so it’s not like it’s some totally original made up recipe. Please share. Thx
I let my candy start hardening in the pan or a big cookie sheet then wipe the excess oil from toffee off with a paper towel. When completely cool, I melt my Hershey bars over a double boiler and spread it over toffee. I sprinkle finely chopped walnuts on top of chocolate. Then let it set till the next day to let chocolate firm up.
It might be the brand of butter people us that makes it separate when cooking the toffee. But that one man is right just keep stirring and cooking and it will come back together. When the color turns caramel dump in your lightly buttered pan and spread. All is not lost because it separates! Costco butter works best for me. King Soopers seems to separate. I am going to try your recipe with the brown sugar and salted almonds!
THANK YOU for the wonderful recipe for Almond Roca !!! I am especially pleased that it is made with no corn syrup ! YAY!
Just tried your receipe. Looks good but I’m wondering if I used the right size chocolate bars???? I used 1 1/2 – 7oz bars. I’m wondering if I should have used the smaller bars that might be thinner? What do you recommend?
I use the regular-sized chocolate bars.
I made this last night it turned out perfect I used dark brown sugar because that was all I had handy …I sent the recipe out on facebook I was so pleased with the results. Thank you the directions were easy to follow…this is going to become a family favorite I just know it!