I used to have a terrible sweet tooth. Terrible. My dad told me I got it from my Grandma. My mom said I got it from her. Who’s to tell? All I know is that as I’ve gotten older it’s sort of fizzled out. I don’t crave sweets much anymore, it’s savory that gets my mouth watering.
Except for one thing.
There is this chocolate bar at Whole Foods that I treat myself to every now and then. It’s dark chocolate with chunks of almonds and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Heaven.
As heavenly as the chocolate bar may be, I’m not the kind of girl to eat the whole thing in one sitting. I’ll break off a square and tuck the rest away (read: hide in a secret place) to save for another day, another craving. The last time I got my beloved chocolate bar it was a disappointment. The flavor just fell flat.
As I was messing around in the kitchen the other day, chopping almonds for a completely different recipe, I had an idea. Chocolate Almond Clusters with Sea Salt. All the flavors I love, but made fresh and at home.
Sometimes the best ideas come when you least expect them.
These were so good I couldn’t trust myself to have them at home (and remember I’m not even a sweet tooth). I bundled them up and walked around delivering them to neighbors. Why not spread a little neighborly love and chocolate, right?
I used dark, vegan chocolate chips for this recipe, but you could just as easily use semi-sweet if you like.
Dark Chocolate Almond Clusters with Sea Salt
2 cups vegan dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup Roasted, Unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
Sea Salt for sprinkling
In a small saucepan, melt chocolate in a double broiler over low heat. Stir in chopped almonds and add a pinch of sea salt. Spoon into clusters on parchment paper. Sprinkle each cluster with a little more sea salt if desired (I highly recommend this step).
Place in refrigerator until cooled and set.
I dare you to eat just one.
Alison
Yeah, I don’t think I could stop at one. These look so good!
Neither could we…they disappear very quickly.
Cannot WAIT to try these! On the list for the week!!!!
I hope you like them Alyssa! They’ve been a pretty popular treat around our house.
These look great, you could also add a pinch of cayenne for a bit of a kick.
Cayenne would be a great addition!
i would love one of these right now. dark chocolate and sea salt? it doesn’t get any better.
You are right Bentley, it doesn’t get any better.
These look delicious and are quite similar to the Chilled Chocolate Nut Butter Clusters that I made last week. My recipe is improvised and messy, but if you like oatmeal, you should definitely try a variation of these: http://lepetitbasbleu.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/chilled-chocolate-nut-butter-clusters/
Do you have to temper the chocolate?
I didn’t. I’ve done it a couple ways…on very low heat in a small saucepan or in a double broiler.
I adore sea salt on anything sweet…and also adore crunchy anything. Great photo of the mason jars. They can come be friends with the jars in my pantry…
Also! I made something similar to these with the kids – a combination of sunflower seeds and dry roasted pepitas…tasty though not as pretty as yours.
Emily, I will have to try those. My boys love sunflower seeds and pepitas. Sounds like a great combination!
Chocolate and almonds together is pretty much one of my favorite combo’s ever! And to add the salt to make them sweet and salty…that would be heaven! Must try them!
I hope you enjoy them Meg! They are a perfect salty, sweet treat!
whenever christmas rolls around and ppl start coming over with those giant boxes of assorted chocolates, i always reach for the almond clusters first! now i don’t have to wait til christmas to eat these babies with this recipe!
looks great, dark choc and sea salt is one of the latest and greatest food flavor trends, I am going to suggest your recipe to our customers. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Chad!
Delicious, made them yesterday, so simple and so fast. Because my chocolate bar was 85% cocoa and even though I added some brown sugar and sweetener they are a bit bitter. Probably the only reason I won’t eat all of them in one go!