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A holiday plate topped with chocolate almond toffee candy

Homemade Almond Roca Recipe

5 from 5 votes

Buttery, sweet, crunchy and delicious! Great for gifts too

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Buttery Homemade Almond Roca Recipe

A holiday plate loaded with homemade almond roca candy

Buttery, sweet, crunchy and so delicious!

This homemade Almond Roca recipe is a great way to make your holidays a little sweeter! It’s a welcome gift for teachers, bosses, neighbors and family and you won’t believe how easy it is to make, too.

Be sure you really like the people you share it with because they’ll be dropping not-so-subtle requests year after year for you to make it again. Our Almond Roca keeps for up to two weeks and travels well making it perfect for gifting.

If you’ve ever wanted to try and make candy, don’t wait another year. This is a pretty simple recipe with straightforward directions that are easy to follow.

A holiday basket of homemade toffee almond candy covered with chocolate

Overview: ingredients

  • unsalted butter
  • granulated sugar
  • light brown sugar
  • light corn syrup like Karo
  • water
  • salt
  • sliced almonds or whole roasted almonds roughly chopped
  • vanilla extract
  • semisweet, milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips

You won’t spend hours in the kitchen making a batch of this homemade candy.

With 10 minutes prep time and about 20 minutes on the stove, you’re almost there to buttery toffee nirvana. This recipe moves fast so be sure to read through the steps a few times before starting.

When making any kind of candy it’s best to be prepared with all ingredients pre-measured and a prepared pan at the ready.

A stack of homemade chocolate topped Almond Roca candy on a holiday plate

What special tools do you need to make this Almond Roca recipe?

You’ll need a heavy bottom saucepan, a good candy thermometer or instant read thermometer, and a metal sheet pan.

How to make homemade Almond Roca:

As with any homemade candy recipe, it’s best to have all your ingredients measured and ready to go. Once your start, this recipe zips along.

  1. First line a 13×9-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. Combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup, water and salt in a heavy bottom saucepan over medium to medium-high heat.
  3. While stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, bring mixture to a boil, then as it boils, slowly turn down the heat to prevent scorching.
  4. Cook the toffee to hard crack stage at about 310 degrees F on the candy thermometer.
  5. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and almonds. Then carefully pour the hot toffee into the prepared pan.
  6. Once slightly set, carefully and lightly dab the surface of the toffee with a clean paper towel to remove any pools of butter that may form on top. This helps the chocolate adhere to the candy.
  7. While still very warm, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly across the toffee. Allow the chips to melt for a few minutes, then spread evenly on top of the candy. If your chips are not melting, place the pan in the oven on a low setting for just a few minutes.
  8. Cool completely and break into bite size pieces.

A holiday tray with chunks of homemade chocolate covered, buttery almond toffee

This crunchy toffee crumbles beautifully just like the pricey store-bought melt-in-your-mouth Almond Roca candies.

I’ve messed around with this recipe for years with several variations that were very good and all originally based on our English Toffee recipe.

For this final, perfected version I added brown sugar into the mix, and stirred in sliced almonds at the end.

The almonds give this candy a terrific flavor and that amazing crunch factor we all love in a good toffee.

Tips for success:

  1. Use a heavy gauge baking pan lined with parchment paper for best results
  2. A good quality heavy bottom stainless saucepan works best for candy making. The light color of the pan makes it easy to watch the color of the toffee so it won’t burn.
  3. Once the mixture boils, turn down the heat in small increments just enough to keep it boiling. This prevents scorching or overcooking the toffee. Once it starts to turn caramel color, it can go from perfect to burnt in less than a minute.
  4. Use good quality ingredients for best results.
  5. Don’t forget to use a candy thermometer. If not cooked to hard-crack stage, the toffee may be too chewy and not brittle enough. If overcooked the toffee will taste bitter and burnt.

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A holiday plate stacked with pieces of chocolate covered homemade almond roca candy

Homemade Almond Roca

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 24
Course: Dessert
Author: Tricia
Pin RecipePrint RecipeRate Recipe
5 from 5 votes
Buttery, sweet, crunchy and delicious! Great for gifts too.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups unsalted butter (32 tablespoons or 452g)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (222g)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar packed (226g)
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 6 tablespoons water
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups sliced toasted almonds (8oz)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 12 ounces milk chocolate chips dark chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Line a metal (or heatproof) 13x9-inch baking pan (or quarter sheet pan) with parchment paper with a few inches overhanging on all sides. Or, lightly grease the bottom of the pan with butter and set aside.
  • Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the sugars, corn syrup, water and salt.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Once the mixture boils and starts to turn a light caramel color, turn the heat down in small increments to prevent scorching or turning dark too quickly.
  • Cook on medium heat (turn down as the mixture starts to darken) stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 310°F (hard crack stage).
  • Remove the pan from the heat and carefully stir in the vanilla and almonds until well blended. Carefully pour the hot toffee into the prepared pan.
  • Once slightly set, gently dab the surface of the toffee with clean paper towels to remove any pools of butter that form on top. This will help the chocolate adhere to the candy. While the toffee is still very hot, sprinkle chocolate chips over the toffee. When the chocolate chips are melted and soft, spread evenly on top of the candy using the back of a spoon.
  • Cool completely and break into bite size pieces. You can use a sharp metal spatula or knife to help break it apart.

Recipe Notes

  • Store in an airtight container in a cool location (or refrigerate) for up to two weeks.
  • Make sure the pan you're using won't break when going from cool to very hot. To be safe I use an aluminum pan, no glass.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

Nutrition

Calories: 357kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 21mg | Potassium: 162mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 473IU | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 1mg

If you love this Almond Roca recipe, I bet you’ll love our English Toffee candy, too. It’s also great for gifting and a favorite with everyone in our family.

Another one of my favorite candies are these Burnt Sugar Almonds. These are so good and will keep in a cool location for weeks. They travel beautifully and make gorgeous gifts too.

Finally, for our pumpkin lovers, you’ll want to try this Pumpkin Spice Toffee topped with white chocolate. So much flavor and uniquely delicious!

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37 Comments

  2. Rochelle Miller

    5 stars
    My nephew made this for Christmas and it was outstanding!!! I can’t wait to make it. I’ve made toffee before but never this. I also can’t wait to try your toffee recipe. Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply

  4. Kathy

    I love, love, love this recipe. To save time at Christmas to give this to neighbors, im wondering if you can double the recipe? In certain recipes textures and taste can suffer and I wonder if this would be one of them. I may attempt that today to figure it out and share.

    Reply

    • Tricia Buice

      Beth – a stainless steel pot will probably work fine. It just depends on the quality of the pan. Watch the heat to make sure it doesn’t burn if using a lighter weight pan. Good luck!

      Reply

  6. Alicia Lane Sheppard

    Hello! I’ve made Almond Roca every Christmas since I was a little girl. My family recipe is quite different in that we cool the roca and melt Hershey bars and and chopped walnuts to each side of the slabs. Which I will continue to do. But my comment is about the almonds. We have always added the almonds during the cooking process. This has always caused just a bit of drama because it cools the candy a bit during cooking causing a separation “event” that you have to cook and stir through. After reading your recipe, I’m wondering if I might just add them at the end and avoid this. I’m not sure that the cooking of the almonds in with the butter and sugar is worth the stress of stirring through the separation. I do believe the almonds get a unique flavor cooked in though. Something to consider I think. I’ve also never added vanilla. Might try that too.

    Reply

    • Tricia Buice

      Sorry Sara – thanks for catching that typo. The vanilla is added at the end with the almonds. I wrote salt in step 4 but it should have been vanilla. The salt is added in step 2. Enjoy! I’ve updated the recipe.

      Reply

  11. Susan

    I think I’ve been living under the same rock as Sue! It sounds like almond toffee’s second cousin and so it’s welcome to the family 🙂 It looks amazing!

    Reply

  12. Pam

    I’ve never heard of Almond Roca candy but your homemade version looks and sounds delicious! This is a must try goodie, yum! Thanks for the recipe, Tricia!

    Reply

  13. mimi rippee

    Boy do these bring back memories! Although what I remember were more log shaped, and they came in a canister. My mother loved them. Wish I had time to make them and ship them off to her!!! Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

    • Tricia Buice

      Yes! Log shaped is hard to do without a mold, so I went with pieces 🙂 Maybe your mom will need some for her birthday. Hope you get the chance to make this Almond Roca Mimi – it’s very good! Have a blessed holiday and thank you.

      Reply

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