Homemade Chocolate Covered Almonds

This week, Tasty Thursday gets chocolate covered.

There are almost no words to describe how I feel about these chocolate covered almonds. They cause involuntary eye closing and savoring.

Two of them can lift my mood instantly.

One of them can feel like a decadent indulgence.

To me, the gold standard has to be the Trader Joe’s version of these. Perfectly drenched in a thick layer of amazing dark chocolate, the perfect amount of crunchy crystals of sea salt adding contrast and zing, they come in a mundane plastic box that magically goes empty almost before I open it.

Trader Joe’s these are not. I wouldn’t expect that, frankly - this was the first time I’ve ever tried making my own. Still, though the execution and presentation needs some work, the flavor is out of this world.

And an extra bonus? Now that I know how to make my own, I can do it while we’re cruising. That’s the ultimate Tasty Thursday, after all!

Homemade chocolate covered almonds

• 8 oz raw almonds

• 8 oz good quality chocolate (I prefer dark chocolate, but you could do this with milk chocolate)

• cocoa powder (optional)

• sea salt (optional)

1. Spread nuts in a baking pan and roast at 325 for 15 minutes or until just starting to brown. Let cool completely.

2. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. I smack the bars of chocolate on the counter a few times, which breaks them up nicely, then put them in a bowl that's set over a pan of simmering water. Stir as it starts to melt, and stir until smooth. Don't have the bowl touch the water!

3. Toss nuts in chocolate, then remove and dust with cocoa powder. Let cool, then repeat the chocolate coating until you've got the desired amount of chocolate on each nut. (Note: this looks simple. It's messy and clump-y. After the chocolate nuts cool, they're pretty easy to break apart.)

4. Don't eat them all at once.