Once my younger brother and I moved out for college, the refrigerator and pantry underwent a fairly substantial makeover. Boxes of Life, Corn Flakes, and Frosted Mini Wheats disappeared from the cereal shelf; Nature Valley granola bars and Chewy Chips Ahoy sleeves vanished from the snack bins; and the jars of peanut butter in the pantry magically transformed into almond butter in the refrigerator.
Eventually, my parents began to repopulate the snack shelves. Dad supplied the peanuts and pistachios while Mom stocked the gluten-free crackers and cookies. A few months later, Mom also started to buy nuts for the bins, but due to her allergies to peanuts and walnuts, she stuck to cashews and almonds.
With her busy work and travel schedule, she looked for snack-size packages that were easily transportable, ones that she could slip into her purse to nibble on during the commute home from work or a plane flight instead of the complementary peanuts.
She sampled 100-calorie packs of flavored almonds, one with cinnamon and the other cocoa, and now she consistently keeps at least one box of each in the pantry. I always steal a few packages when I visit! One with breakfast, another while waiting for dinner, and as many as I can sneak when we run errands. I am my mother’s daughter!
Since I know how quickly those snacks disappear when we’re both under the same roof (daily trips to the grocery store are practically a necessity!), I created a similar recipe for a big batch of my own Cocoa Roasted Almonds. With just 3 ingredients and 20 minutes to make, they’re almost as dangerous to keep around!
With how easy this snack is to make, it’s almost a “non” recipe. Toast almonds; then toss them in barely sweetened cocoa powder. The first part is my favorite. Walking around the kitchen, smelling the sweet nutty aroma lightly wafting from inside of the oven… It’s almost as tempting as the smell of cookies! Almost. But not quite. (It’s practically impossible to beat the taste of one of these fresh from the oven!)
Then comes the cocoa shower. I was rather doubtful at first, wondering if the cocoa would actually stick to the almonds, but somehow it magically did. Coating the nuts in a dusty layer of chocolate was pure bliss!
It’s important to toast the almonds first before rolling them around in the cocoa powder bath. If you do things in the opposite order, the cocoa begins to melt a little in the oven, gives the nuts tiny dark freckles, and forms a thin, crispy chocolate blanket on the bottom of the pan. They still taste the same, but for the prettiest almonds, toast them first!
In just 20 minutes, you can have a batch of these gourmet-looking Cocoa Roasted Almonds sitting on your countertop! If you double or triple the recipe, you’ll have plenty to give away as last-minute holiday gifts to friends and neighbors, plus enough left over for you to enjoy too.
Or maybe too many, in my case…
| Cocoa Roasted Almonds | | Print |
- 2 c (280g) raw unsalted almonds
- 1 tbsp (5g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp (2g) Truvia
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the almonds in a single layer on a rimmed baking tray, and bake at 350°F for 5 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, shake it back and forth to move around the almonds, and continue to bake for another 5-7 minutes, or until the almonds are lightly fragrant and toasty.
- Cool the almonds on the tray for 1-2 minutes, then carefully pour into a medium bowl. Add in the cocoa powder and Truvia, and stir to coat all of the almonds. Pour them back onto the baking tray into a single layer to cool.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low calorie}
More chocolate almond recipes from other bloggers…
♥ Chocolate-Almond Steel Cut Oatmeal by Very Culinary
♥ Chocolate Almond Date Balls by Something Swanky
♥ Caramelized Almond Chocolate Bark by Bakery by Nature
♥ Vegan Almond Joy Hot Chocolate by The Almond Eater
Oooohhh… so I am going to try this with pecans and powdered sugar and a little sea salt.
That sounds delicious Joanie! I really hope you enjoy them!
Do you think I could sub something instead of the truvia – I am super taste sensitive to alternative sweeteners and it always ruins the nut for me 🙁
Yes! Coconut sugar or brown sugar would be my top two recommendations — or whatever granulated sweetener you prefer. The recipe is very forgiving. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the almonds!
I can’t wait to make this recipe, what kind of cocoa do you recommend?
I use Hershey’s regular unsweetened cocoa powder. I hope you enjoy the almonds Regina! 🙂
My favorite snack has been cocoa mocha almonds (that comes in a 5.5 oz package) – at least until recently when I can no longer find them at my favorite grocery store. I think I’ll take your recipe and add a bit of espresso powder to it and see how that turns out. Thank you for the recipe.
That sounds absolutely amazing Carol! I’d love to hear how that turned out — I love mocha-flavored treats! 🙂
Have a question about the cocoa. I tried pecans with Hershey baking cocoa, agave and coffee. Was not sweet at all. Trying to get some sweetness I dusted them in confectioners sugar still not sweet. What should I have used or what did I do wrong? Thanks.
If you made pecans with a coating of cocoa, agave, and coffee, that doesn’t sound like the recipe that I posted here. Did you use another recipe, by chance?
I love cocoa dusted almonds! I don’t care for the aftertaste of truvia so I used powdered sugar and dark cocoa powder. I love that I can make them as sweet (or not) as I want. Yum! The cocoa-sugar dusts the warm almonds like magic. I put them in snack size resealable bags after they cool so I can grab a pack on the go. Thanks for the “non recipe” Amy!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the almonds Cat! And thanks for including your recipe tweaks. I always love hearing what works! 🙂
What amount of sugar or powdered sugar would be equal to the amount of truvia you used? I’m looking forward to trying this!
Use the same amount of powdered sugar as you would Truvia! You can also tweak the amount to better suit your tastes, if you prefer. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these almonds Angela!
I am making both these and the cinnamon sugar roasted almonds that you also have linked to this recipe. I did notice that you spray
The cinnamon sugar almonds with cooking spray before coating them, but not the cocoa roasted almonds. Is this an accidental omission or do I really not spray the cocoa almonds? Thanks for the recipes, I’m so excited to try these!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes Sarah! The cocoa powder adheres much better to the almonds on its own compared to cinnamon, which is why cooking spray isn’t necessary for this recipe. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of both versions!
hi Amy,
Last weekend I tried this cocoa roasted almonds and I don’t have any words to explain my pleasure. Please suggest me another recipe of almonds.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these almonds Babar! That means a lot to me. I have a few more roasted almond recipes here, here, and here. In the future, the best way to find a specific recipe is to click on the “Recipes” tab at the top of my blog or use the Search Bar (located on the right side, if you’re viewing on a computer, or the bottom of my blog, if you’re viewing on a mobile device). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you try next!